A cozy, small space, combined with incredible talent standing two feet in front of the audience brought artistry to life in an intimate way on Friday at Simona\u2019s outdoor cafe in Colton House Hotel. UT students and community members experienced that intimacy at the Longhorn Singers\u2019 semi-annual Coffeehouse concert.<\/p>\n
Longhorn Singers, UT\u2019s official show choir, perform multiple main stage concerts a year. Despite being well acquainted with the spotlight, members agree the Coffeehouse concerts, established two years ago, show audiences something new.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe started this as an opportunity to get to hear everyone\u2019s voices in a casual way,\u201d said Aiden Madaffri, electrical and computer engineering and business senior, and Longhorn Singers president. \u201cIt\u2019s very free, and that\u2019s really nice for us to get that kind of environment. The audience gets to see a different side of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Members said their enjoyment of the original shows led to it becoming an official performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone gets to shine in their own element,\u201d said Anna Follin, an English senior who attended Friday\u2019s concert.<\/p>\n
Follin said she feels a connection to the performers because of the close proximity Simona\u2019s venue provides. \u201cI think the word that comes to mind is intimate,\u201d said Follin.<\/p>\n
Anna El-Assaad, public relations and psychology senior, joined Longhorn Singers as a sophomore and said as a performer, she relishes the change of scenery.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no elevated stage,\u201d El-Assaad said. \u201cEveryone\u2019s at their little table \u2026 and we get to talk to each other \u2026 because we\u2019re in a more intimate environment that allows us to be social, and encourage each other more and enjoy the music a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n
Madaffri said he appreciated having a moment away from the main stage to simply contribute to Simona\u2019s vibe.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like you\u2019re the ambiance, not the main thing,\u201d Madaffri said. \u201cIt makes (the Coffeehouse concert) really relaxed and really personal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Madaffri said the Coffeehouse shows cultivate an elevated sense of community compared to typical Longhorn Singers shows.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe get to connect with a different group of people \u2026 friends, families, people at UT in general will come to Coffeehouse, \u2026 and they\u2019re always like, \u2018Wow, this is so different!,\u2019\u201d Madaffri said. \u201cYou get to hear everyone in a different way, and I think people really enjoy that.\u201d<\/p>\n
From the auditorium stage to an outdoor venue, the structure of Coffeehouse puts emphasis on connection.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt our big shows, we sing, we go home. The audience comes in and they leave,\u201d Madaffri said.<\/p>\n
\u201c(At) this show, we get to talk to the audience \u2026 and learn about them.\u201d<\/p>\n
El-Assaad said musical appreciation radiates through the Coffeehouse atmosphere like nowhere else.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoffeehouse is one of those spaces that\u2019s able to bring you back to your love of music,\u201d El-Assaad said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A cozy, small space, combined with incredible talent standing two feet in front of the audience brought artistry…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":450098,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-450097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450097"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450097\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/450098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}