Bluenotes and Calliope, the school’s all-male and non-male a cappella groups, are often seen performing in the Chapel and at all-school events. Most students only get to see the final shows, so the Arts section is here to answer everyone’s burning question: what is it really like behind the scenes for the “best looking, best sounding” a cappella groups on campus?
From organizing concerts to coordinating rehearsals, both groups are entirely student-led. The groups perform at events both inside and outside the school, including the annual Courage Garden ceremony, Martin Luther King Jr. Day concert at the Grove, and most recently, Eco Day.
To kick off the spring season, the groups offered a concert in the Chapel on Wednesday, April 15. Calliope performed Ariana Grande’s “We Can’t Be Friends,” Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams,” and the Fugees’ “Killing Me Softly.” Bluenotes sang Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey” and Bruno Mars’s “Treasure”; the group learned these arrangements in the two weeks prior to the concert.
The students are also responsible for selecting song arrangements, which are often sourced from college a cappella groups or MuseScore, an online collection of music. Many songs are also arranged by Victoria Fang ’25 and Ethan Choi ’26. “Arranging music is all about finding the perfect harmony between rhythm and pitch,” Fang said. “Despite the hours-long process, it is worth it to hear your work come together in the end.”
Choi ’26 said, “Though transcribing is the hardest part of Bluenotes for me, I take great joy in showing my final product to the group and the school community. There is a lot of planning that goes behind the scenes, and seeing the Bluenotes boys singing with joy and the audience smiling is our group’s greatest reward.”
The 2025-2026 school year was an exceptionally successful year for both groups. Calliope hit a new milestone with 16 members—their largest group to date. Bluenotes earned a record-breaking total from their annual Valentine’s Day serenades, a tradition of singing romantic songs to individual students on campus: in February, Bluenotes performed over 40 serenades, raising close to $600. The group plans to use this money to purchase custom ties as an addition to their “Bluenotes attire” of suit and tie. Bluenotes also hopes to record a mixtape of songs from throughout the year and make that an annual tradition.
In the coming months, Bluenotes and Calliope will perform at the Senior Induction Dinner and Senior Awards Ceremony, where all Senior singers will perform solos.
“Bluenotes is a very fun experience where I am able to share my musical abilities with students and people both inside and outside of the school,” Callum Rodin ’25, co-head of Bluenotes said. “I have been able to create many strong friendships with other singers, and I will definitely miss it when I graduate.”
