Many students on IU’s campus are not aware of the booming A Cappella community on campus. The ladies of Ladies First A Cappella want to change that.
How will they do it? With song.
Ladies First, an all-women A Cappella group on campus, has been singing since 1999, and currently has thirteen female members. The group sings completely A Cappella, meaning they make music with only their voices and no other musical instruments or accompaniment. This level of musicianship requires many rehearsals a week.
On top of rehearsing, Ladies First also arranges all of their own music.
The group hopes to bring visibility to the A Cappella community on campus, and to make it a more mainstream experience for the average IU student, along with the other A Cappella groups in Bloomington.
The group held their annual spring concert on Friday April 1, 2022 at the historic Buskirk Chumley theater in downtown Bloomington. The concert was a mix of genres, from pop, to soul, to folk songs, with a special appearance by Another Round, the all male A Cappella group on IU’s campus.
Marjana Risteska, a sophomore in the group, said “This show is really exciting because we have so many new songs. More than we’ve honestly ever had. We’ve been arranging a lot this semester, and then learning them immediately as soon as that arrangement is ready.”
Ladies First sings Parting Glass, an Irish folk song that the group arranged and released as a single in 2022.
Aside from their final Performance at the Buskirk Chumley theater, the group regularly performs in Bloomington and the surrounding communities, gigging as far as Carmel, Indiana. Ladies first is looking forward to their upcoming performance at IU’s Famous Little 500 bike race in late April 2022. These performances are both paid and volunteer opportunities.
The group is doing much more than just performing live. They recorded an album in 2021 titled In Full Bloom. The album features the group’s singers and includes nine tracks in all different genres. Ladies First also recorded two singles in March of 2022. The first is the Irish folk song Parting Glass, followed by What a Wonderful World. The jazz standard by Louis Armstrong.
Maria Kraus, a senior in the group said, “Last year we had recorded an album that that we were super excited about, and we wanted to get to do that this year with some singles. This year being able to come back from the pandemic and everything and have everyone back in the recording studio was amazing.”
Maria Krause and Marjana Risteska speak about their experiences in the Ladies First group.
Ladies First isn’t just about singing, however.
When asked about her favorite parts of the group, Marjana said, “The girls. We are just the best of friends. and it’s just the best environment. We are such a team, and we just have so much fun outside of rehearsal and inside of rehearsal, and it’s the coolest thing to be able to share this with people too.”
To learn more about Ladies first or to keep up with their concerts and events, follow them on instagram at @iuladiesfirst.
