Written for The Argo by Esmeralda Rivera

On Sunday, November 13^th, 2022, Stockton’s a cappella organizations— Stockapella, Stocktones, and Stockata—held a collaborative concert in the Campus Center Theatre at 7:00 p.m. Many groups from different universities in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland were invited, both competitive and non-competitive.

The concert also welcomed groups like the Trentones and the I-Tubes from The College of New Jersey, Hawkappella from Saint Joseph University, among many other vocal groups. Each group’s voices filled the theatre with passionate beats, impressive high notes, and emotions that made the audience’s hearts sigh. The wide list of popular songs pleased fans of the original artists, including songs like Harry Styles’ “Late Night Talkin’,” MIIA’s “Dynasty,” Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” Miley Cyrus’s “Night Crawling,” and many other incredibly-performed songs.

Susana Hresko, a member of Saint Joseph University’s Hawkappella group, enjoyed singing with her fellow a cappella members and listening to the other groups’ performances. “We’re very excited and very happy that Stockton was able to host us, and it’s great to meet different groups and all come together and have a good time. We’re just here to have fun and hear some talent,” said Hresko.

Emily Magyar, a senior majoring in Health Science, is the President of Stockata. She was very excited to attend the invitational, stating that it was Stockata’s “first invitational ever, and it’s awesome to get everyone to come to Stockton and enjoy the arts together.” She felt that the arts were lost over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, and thought it was “nice that everyone is finally getting back together and doing this again.” Magyar expressed a deep love and passion for music. “Music is the universal language of the world, so it’s so awesome to be able to share it with everybody,” said Magyar.

The Vice-President of Stockata, Nicole Lampariello, also expressed her excitement. “It’s really exciting to have our first invitational here! I hope it becomes a lasting tradition,” said Lampariello. She is a Hospitality and Tourism Management major, graduating this Fall.

Third-year Environmental Science major Leah Kowalski, the Vice President of Stocktones, enjoyed the musical night. “All of these groups from different schools are coming out, we’re having so much fun, [and] it’s great to see everybody performing together,” said Kowalski.

Stockton’s a cappella fall concert will be held on Monday, November 28^th, at 6:00 p.m. in the Campus Center Theatre.