On Thursday, October 24th, Danvers High School’s two a capella groups, Skywave and Falconize, got up on stage and blew their audience away with some of the numbers they’ve been working so far this school year.
Skywave sang arrangements of four songs. The first song in their set was a medley including many different pop songs, just some of those being “Paparazzi” by Lady Gaga, “She Will Be Loved” by Maroon 5, and “Firework” by Katy Perry. The beginning of that medley featured freshman soloist, Kaitlyn Rosa. Their second arrangement was of the song “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish, and the beginning and end of the arrangement featured freshman Anna Walters as a soloist. The third song was a mash-up of “Don’t Take The Money” by Bleachers and “It’s Time” by Imagine Dragons and featured junior Bella Drakos as its soloist, and the last arrangement was “Love Story” by Taylor Swift and featured junior Ella Guitard (myself) as the soloist. Audience members were impressed with the group, because for so many singers – even two soloists – it was their first time up on stage with Skywave.
Falconize also sang four arrangements. They started off with an arrangement of “Shot Through The Heart” by Bon Jovi, and then sang “I Knew You Were Trouble” by Taylor Swift, featuring freshman Emma Anderson as the soloist. The next song was “Light Me Up” by Ingrid Michaelson featuring sophomore soloist Brooke Wilichoski. They ended their set with the song “Wrecking Ball” by Miley Cyrus, featuring junior Dailin Martinez as the main soloist and Brooke Wilichoski as a featured soloist at the end of the song. This set was very well thought out, and as per usual, many of Falconize’s arrangements gave audience members chills.
Both Skywave and Falconize worked incredibly hard over these past couple months to make this brief performance as enjoyable as possible, and their hard work definitely showed on Thursday night.
Both groups and their directors, Ms. Ivy O’Connell and Mr. Alex Grover, are hoping that Fall Jam brought up excitement for more events to come in the future, such as Danvers High School’s Jazz and A capella Night on February 1st and Performing Arts Weekend at Danvers High School on May 2nd-3rd. Skywave is also looking forward to their competition early in the new year, and are excited to start practicing for ICHSA (International Championship of High School A Capella) within the next week.