By Spencer Hurbis | Managing editor
Seventeen young men dressed in black and white marched down the aisle of the Marshfield auditorium; their rich, vibrant sound echoing throughout the vast room and bouncing off the walls straight into the hearts of their audience. This past Monday evening, the Yale Spizzwinks(?) performed a concert at Marshfield High School, the last stop of their winter tour to the home towns of their junior members.
The Spizzwinks(?) are the first college a cappella group ever, started in 1914. The group takes a tour of the home towns of their junior members every year, giving concerts for the community and workshops with some of the local school choirs. This was their first time performing in Coos Bay.
Junior member Dan Stein, the new M.C. for the group, opened the performance with some dry humor and by poking a little fun at returning alumnus Markus Boesl, a 2010 graduate at MHS and now a junior at Yale and a member of the Spizzwinks(?).
“It’s a fun opportunity to get the position I have and every home town we go to, it’s my responsibility to make fun of the person whose town it is,” Stein said. “It’s a chance to give a face to the group and make the audience laugh.”
Sophomore member Jeremy Weiss said they spent a couple of weeks in California and then made their way up the coast to Coos Bay.
“Coos Bay is one of the most beautiful places we’ve traveled to in the U.S.,” Weiss said. “Seeing the beautiful beaches, the northwestern foliage and scenery has been amazing.”
Before their performances on Monday, the group got to spend a little time immersing themselves into Oregonian culture. Junior Spizzwink(?) Nathaniel Dolquist said they were taken crab fishing by a few guys and claimed it to be a little bit scary.
“I touched one of the crabs and it decided to try to kill me,” Dolquist said. “It was a blast though and we had a lot of fun, although I was in a lot of pain.”
On Monday morning, the Spizzwinks(?) gave a brief preview of their concert at an assembly for MHS and afterward, exchanged a couple more songs with the Marshfield choral groups. The MHS concert choir and the New Horizons shared a few songs and received feedback from the Spizzwinks(?).
“I really enjoyed getting to sing in here today,” Dolquist said. “Marshfield’s choir is phenomenal and easily one of the best high school groups I’ve ever heard and worked with. When the level of musicianship is higher, it’s more fun for us because we don’t have to be as critical and can just enjoy the time singing music together.”
As they travel, the Spizzwinks(?) perform many concerts and according to Weiss, try to do at least one or two free ones for people who are less fortunate. They do many workshops with choirs around the world and Weiss said that is one of the highlights of being in a group like the Spizzwinks(?).
“One of my favorite things that we do is our work with students,” Weiss said. “It’s a time when we get to inspire kids and help them discover the beauty and the power of music.”
