Carolina Alumni Review - May/June 2009

Students
Star Power
Loreleis’ inclusion on Ben Folds album could boost endowment effort

Loreleis President Katie Paxton’s passion for her all-female a cappella group is evident — she smiles the whole time she’s talking about it.

The junior has even more reason to smile lately, as the Loreleis were chosen by rock star and Winston-Salem native Ben Folds as one of 18 a cappella groups out of 200 submissions to record for his new album.

Folds put a call out to university a cappella groups across the country to make a You Tube video covering one of his songs to go on a compilation album that will support VH1’s Save the Music

The Loreleis participated in opening the show at the Ben Folds concert in Durham on Feb. 25.

Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring instrumental music education in American public schools and raising awareness about the importance of music as part of each child’s complete education. Ben Folds Presents: University a Cappella! was released April 7.

The Loreleis turned in their cover of Jesusland the night before deadline. Folds came to campus in December and recorded them at Swain Hall with just his computer and a couple of microphones. Paxton said

they sang Jesusland almost 30 times in three hours, a far cry from their usual recording process, when each member sings her part with no one else around.

“It’s kind of hard to hear ourselves sing
like that because we sound so raw,” she said.

But she was more than willing to deal with the challenges because of the amount of exposure the GAA-sponsored group is set to receive. The Loreleis already reaped some of the benefits from having a rock

Loreleis High Notes

The Loreleis were nominated for four awards in the

2009 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards. We

Ride, a rendition by Meghan Lumsden ’08 of Mary J.

Blige’s hit that is featured on the group’s newest album, On the Record, was nominated for Best Hip-Hop/R&B Song.

The album is nominated in the category for Best Female

Collegiate Album. Another song, In the Backseat, is nomi-

Among their recent successes: The

nated for the Best Female Collegiate Song. Also, Jillian

Loreleis’ new album, On the Record, garnered four nominations

Bauman ’07 has been nominated for Best Female

in the 2009 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards.

Collegiate Solo with her vocals on Magic Man.

Among many career highlights, the Loreleis sang the national anthem at Yankee
Stadium during the second game of the American League Championship Series in
2004. While in New York, they visited Trump Towers and serenaded Donald Trump.

In 2003, the group won first place at the first-ever SoJam, an a cappella competition featuring Eastern and Southeastern collegiate and professional a cappella groups.

ANDREW SYNOWIEZ

star friend when they opened Folds’ show at the Durham Performing Arts Center in February.

“It was a lot bigger audience than we are used to, and we got to expand our fan base and get our name out there,” Paxton said.

The publicity also will help draw attention to the group’s effort to create an endowment. Paxton said they are trying to raise $20,000 for a nest egg to grow and provide support for future Loreleis for expenses such as concerts, recording and travel.

The group, named after the mythical siren on the

Rhine River who lured sailors to their deaths with her enchanting voice, is a nonprofit organization and has been active since 1981. They perform for campus and community events, produce a new album every other year and tour nationally and internationally twice a year.

“With the economic situation right now, student groups can really suffer when it comes to funding,” Paxton said. “I think Loreleis is so important and such a cool thing on campus, and I wouldn’t want to see it flounder because of financial issues.”

Group members are reaching out to former members (aptly named Loralumns), as well as UNC alumni in general for donations.

Kat Butler ’07, GAA coordinator of student programs, said though the results might not be seen immediately, an endowment is a smart idea.

“It’s hard to get started, and it’s hard to follow through, but so much will be owed back to when it was created,” Butler said. “Hopefully, it will open up other opportunities that were not there beforehand.”