Baruch College is commonly known as a business-oriented school with mostly commuter students. In between the never-ending internships and side hustles, surprisingly, there are some Baruch students who care about music as well. Baruch’s only a capella group, Blue Notes, name inspired by the famous jazz club in New York, is run by students who share a passion for singing. Founded in 2005, Blue Notes is a relatively new a capella on the collegiate a cappella scene. Ayse Kelce is reporting from one of their semiweekly practices.
It is a typical Thursday at Baruch College during club hours. As hundreds of students gather up for their on campus club activities, there is an unusual sound coming from the 9th floor of Newman Vertical Campus, room 135. Under the bright fluorescent light, about a dozen of Baruch Blue Notes members are singing. The president of
the club, Rebecca Dhala, steps out from the circle of performers to talk to Kelce about Blue Notes.
“We sometimes feel like we are a little unsupported. The music departments in other colleges are a lot stronger. But, being the only a cappella group on campus can be a plus, it allows us to get closer with the music professors here at Baruch,” Dhala says.
Dhala is a Music Major with a concentration in Management of Musical Enterprises. Students like her are hard to come by in Baruch, but Blue Notes is full of students with special talents.
Kevin Seise is the owner of the beat in the background in Blue Notes performances. He brings sound diversity to Blue Notes with being the only performer in his own category in an a capella group.
“Originally, I was a beatboxer. But, through the help of practice, I figured out that I am a baritone as well. My time here at Blue Notes has been very enlightening, and it definitely gave me an opportunity here to practice my singing. Now I am ten times more comfortable singing in front of a crowd. Being an a capella in a business school. We do not get enough recognition, ” Seise says.
Blue Notes is allocated a budget of $2,785 by the Baruch College Undergraduate Student Government. $2,430 of the budget goes to Fall and Spring Showcases. The club only has the rest $355 to plan any events on campus or hold General Interest Meetings.
Altynai Eshinibaeva says that they do not get enough funding like the other clubs on campus, even though we are a big. She comments on the lack of recognition they are getting due the business focus of the school.
In addition to 19 current performing members, Baruch’s Blue Notes has two members for marketing purposes. It is the first se
mester that the club has a marketing team. They are hoping to get more recognition on campus.
“There are a lot of a capella groups out there. But the only groups that get noticed are actually the Ivy League groups. Being i
n New York, there are NYU a capella groups, Columbia a capella groups… I feel like we can do more, and the school can do more for us. Especially in a business school, because most times, business and music can u
sually fall into each other in some areas. That correlation exists,” Jonathan Paul Michaelian says, and he is right about the competition.
NYU and Columbia both have nine a capella groups on their campuses. Yet, Blue Notes is gaining more recognition by attending other a cappella groups’ showcases, and using business and marketing strategies, what Baruch is actually famous for, to promote their music.