By Katy Korstange, Sports Editor

Xavier’s AcaBellas celebrated the end of the 2025-2026 school year with their spring performance, Voices in Bloom, held Sunday in Kennedy Auditorium.

The XU AcaBellas are an all-female a cappella group. They arrange and edit their own vocally instrumentalized pieces and perform on and off campus year-round. 

Sunday’s performance featured 10 members of the AcaBellas. The group opened the performance with an a cappella version of “We Can’t Be Friends” by Ariana Grande. The song was performed without a central soloist, with members alternating lines and joining together in full-group sections.

The next song featured was “The End of Love” by Florence and The Machine, featuring a slower tempo and softer dynamic compared to the opening piece. The song showcased themes of love and loss which were brought to life through sustained chords and layered harmonies from the group. 

“I think the hardest part of performing live is that we all have very different voices and trying to make them all blend together is difficult. And also, obviously we have no music, so just our voices are the music which is challenging,” junior digital media major and Vice President of the AcaBellas Claire McManamy said.

Continuing with the slower tempo, the group performed Whitney Houston’s “Run to You.” This song featured sustained harmonies and syllables which had a more serious dynamic. 

“Honestly, run to you is just such a beautiful song. I really love the harmonies in it and when they click together it’s very nice sounding,” freshman philosophy and English major Lily Dean said. 

They ended the performance with “Put Your Records On” by Corinne Bailey Rae, a song that became popular when Ritt Momney covered it on TikTok in 2020. It featured two soloists who were backed by group harmonies. 

“Every performance, we normally have a solo or duet in it. It is highly encouraged that everyone in the group does audition for it, then we do blind voting to see who gets it. So, I auditioned and got the part,” Dean said. 

“We had been struggling to perfect “Put Your Records On,” but I feel like in the past few days we kind of pulled it together. Everyone was just looking at each other and having fun on stage. It was really meaningful that we all had just got it together and had fun together,” McManamy said.

The group includes members from multiple class years and is divided into vocal sections based on range. Sopranos I and II perform the higher parts, and altos I and II perform the lower parts. Rehearsals are held twice a week for two hours, where they split into sectionals then come together and run the songs as a group. 

“I feel like as a group, we’ve gotten a lot closer and we actually hang out, have fun, and love each other. So that’s been the best part of it honestly,” McManamy said. 

This is the last on campus performance that the AcaBellas will have this school year. However, next week, they plan to visit the Marjorie P. Lee Retirement Community where they will perform a few of their songs for the residents. Some of the residents are Xavier alumni and fans who enjoy talking to the group members about their experience at Xavier. 

Next year, the AcaBellas will continue to perform on and off campus at various events. They plan to perform at AcaFest alongside other college a cappella groups from around the area. AcaFest is held annually at the University of Cincinnati in November. 

XU AcaBellas hold auditions to become part of the group at the beginning of every semester. They also put on various events like Karaoke and Name That Tune throughout the semester that are open to students who are not a part of the group. Together, these performances and events highlight the AcaBellas’ continued presence on campus and their outreach to the broader community.