UNH Manchester's a cappella group may make singing look like fun and games, but with the release of their second CD, they prove they are doing more than just "Milling Around."
This summer students from the college’s a cappella group Milling Around are finishing up recording "#That CD," a follow up to their 2012 recording, "Twenty Twelve." The project, which is almost entirely student run, performed and produced, has offered members not only a fun extra-curricular opportunity, but also a chance to hone some 21st century skills.
"Students are learning team work, collaboration, and entrepreneurial skills while putting together and releasing a CD," says Jamie Saucier, club advisor and student activities coordinator. "It has also been an extraordinary opportunity for students to develop their social skills, make new friends and work with different people. It is important for students to develop those interpersonal skills that they can only learn through practice interacting with others. "
Formed in 2009, Milling Around is the first collegiate a cappella group in Manchester and only a cappella group at a commuter campus throughout US. Each year proceeds from events, concerts and CD sales go to support local charities and nonprofits.
As if that wasn't enough, UNH Manchester senior Jola Leary, 21, Manchester, says the skills she's developed since being given the unique opportunity to co-produce the CD will be indispensable in the future. After some initial guidance from Saucier on how to use the recording and editing equipment, Leary took the ball and ran with it, overseeing recording sessions, editing, mixing and mastering the CD.
"When I first started this, I was thinking -- I don't know if this is going to help me at all," says Leary, who is a Sign Language Interpretation major. "I'm not dealing with music in my career. But the whole group process taught me so much. I was usually working one on one with someone who was singing and I was behind the computer. By giving them all the support that I possibly could and encouraging them, that's totally what I need to be a team interpreter which is two interpreters working together in the same situation."
And Leary wasn't the only one. Stephanie McQuaid, who graduated with a Biology degree in the spring, says she prospered within the group.
"My first semester in there, I was a little bit on the shy side," the 22-year-old from Bedford says. "But after that first semester, I was speaking up a little bit more, kind of giving my input on styles of songs and then I started orchestrating rehearsals for the most part and they kept voting for me as a group leader.”
"I definitely flourished after that. I think it's because I felt so strongly about the music and I knew we had so much potential so I just wanted to kind of bring that out in everybody and I think they really appreciated that… Plus, the people there were really friendly, we are like one big family and it kind of just helped me to be myself."
Transfer student and Biology major Morine Duntley, of Concord, says it was one of the reasons she feels so at home now not only in the group but at UNH Manchester.
"It was like a way to be invited into the college," Duntley says of joining Milling Around. "You get to meet different people. I've only been there for a year now, and I feel like I've been there for many years."
Duntley went on to say that in the normal course of her studies, she doesn't necessarily get a chance to work in teams in the same way. "So being put in that position to see how you interact with other group members, people that I didn't even know, to feel confident that I am part of this, really was a wonderful experience," Duntley says.
The CD will be available beginning Sept. 2, although they can be pre-ordered on the Milling Around website, and features songs like Cee Lo Green's "Forget You," The Lumineer's "Ho Hey," Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble," and even Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe."
Once the production costs are recouped from CD sales, each of which goes for $10, the remaining proceeds will be donated to Voices of the (603), a Milling Around sponsored a cappella competition for middle and high school students across the state to sing, learn, appreciate and perform a cappella.
Since forming in the fall of 2009, Milling Around has raised over $11,550 for charities across the state including the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire, YWCA, Families of Fallen Firefighters and Police Officers, Salem Animal Rescue League, Kids Café (Salvation Army), Warmth from the Millyard, DreamCatchers, Community Caregivers of Greater Derry, American Cancer Society, the Boston Burrito and NH Citizens for the Arts.
"Any money we raise goes to a charity that we choose that semester," McQuaid says. "So at the same time you're becoming a well-rounded student, because you are doing music and the arts, but you're also donating money. It gives you a chance to use a skill you have to help other people."
For more information on the CD or Milling Around visit the group's web site.
