Show me love
Sara Bareilles is bringing her ‘Love Song’ to Syracuse students.
Iin honor of Women’s History Month, Bareilles as well as other student female talent will offer a free concert to Syracuse University this weekend.
A rising singer, songwriter and pianist artist, known for her hit ‘Love Song,’ Bareilles will be performing in Goldstein Auditorium as a part of the Third Annual Women in Music concert series, sponsored by Orange Night Live and the Office of Student Life.
Alongside Bareilles, several Syracuse students will perform a little something for every music taste, from John Lennon to Lauryn Hill and Alicia Keys.
Tickets for the concert will be handed out in the Schine Atrium starting at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Show organizers chose Bareilles to perform because of the singer’s growing status as a hit female artist. She will be opening for Maroon 5 and the Counting Crows on a tour this summer. ‘Love Song’ is among the top 10 most purchased songs on iTunes and plays continuously in the background of Rhapsody music commercials.
‘The message is to celebrate Women’s History Month through music. Music is a great way of expression, and we want to highlight that importance,’ said Jenn Vasquez, a junior communication and rhetorical studies major and an Orange Night Life intern who helped arrange the concert.
Orange Night Life is an organization designed to support student performing arts programs.
Selina Wangila, a senior communication and rhetorical studies major; Bette Miller, a sophomore in The College of Arts and Sciences; Leslie Ann Picazo, a freshman biochemistry major, Emily Elkin; a junior cello performance major; and Erica Scarano, a freshman music education major, all won the ‘Women in Music’ talent competition and will open for Bareilles.
‘I’m a big Sara Bareilles fan and was planning on going to the concert anyway,’ Wangila said. ‘So, I just decided I was going to audition. So it’s cool I can open for an artist I really like.’
The girls will be performing both cover songs and original compositions before Bareilles, one of VH1’s ‘You Oughta Know’ artists, hits the stage.
‘They are each bringing their own uniqueness to the event,’ Vasquez said. ‘We have acts who have written their own songs and are playing various instruments like the
cello, guitar and piano. It’s great to see how musically diverse and talented students are in this campus.’
The experience of the women ranges from those who belt songs in the shower to music majors performing their original pieces.
‘I wanted to be able to share my talent with the university,’ Picazo said in an e-mail interview. ‘Last semester, I was trying to adjust and had no opportunity to. I wanted to be able to sing again and do what I had passion for.’
In addition to the solo acts, other opening acts include female ensembles The Mandarins and Main Squeeze.
The Women in Music series started in 2004 when Jen Bevilacqua Kirkegaard, now associate director in the Office of Student Life, wanted to showcase student talent during Women’s History Month, which takes place in March. When Orange Night Live signed onto the project, the event was able to attract more people and obtain a nationally known act to headline. Past artists include Katrina Elam and Toby Lightman.
‘Though this event is about highlighting women in music, it is also about highlighting music in general and its diversity,’ Vasquez said.
Published on March 27, 2008 at 12:00 pm
