Trinity’s all-female acapella group, Trinity Belles, are one of the four choirs within Trinity College Singers Society. They were founded by Raeghnya Zutshi in 2013 and were officiated into Trinity College Singers in September 2015. We caught up with the Directors, Sinead Alari and Sara Mitchell Garcia; and Public Relations Officer, Áine Flanagan, to find out more about this captivating group.
Alari and Garcia are both final-year music students. They’ve been members of the group since the beginning, and recall it as being initially very casual. Recently, however, this has changed dramatically. When asked about how much they practiced now, the girls agree: “a lot!”. They went on to explain that they usually rehearse twice a week. Alari takes the sopranos for an hour and Mithcell takes the altos. They then spend another hour and a half rehearsing together. Their flurry of upcoming gigs means practices have been increased to three times weekly. As Flanagan, afinal-year Business, Economics and Social Studies (Bess) student, explains, “a three-minute song could take three weeks to get right. And if it’s not absolutely perfect, it’ll set the whole thing off”.
When the question of whether there is a lot of organising is broached, there is a collective sigh. The girls are quick to credit the hard work of everyone in the choir, which has “lifted a weight” from the director’s shoulders. It’s clear that Trinity Belles requires an enormous amount of work, but Alari is keen to emphasise that successful events make all the rehearsing and organising worth it. She sees the Belles as aiming to push beyond the simple amateur level to reach a professional standard.
The group has grown substantially. Originally, there was just four members. This has grown to fifteen. Trinity Belles held auditions and callbacks at the start of the year and found that their group seems to fit together really well. For one thing, as Alari remarked, they now had experience running an official choir and “knew what [they] were doing better”. But, most importantly, as Flanagan puts it: “We’re all genuinely really good friends.” Knowing that the Belles have her back means that she is able to get over preshow nerves quickly: “It’s not just a college extracurricular. I’m doing something that I want to do with my friends, which is really nice”, she elaborated. Even the way the girls choose to stand on stage, in a semi-circle, means that the soloists can look around and feel supported by their friends. The Belles do have an unusual pre-show ritual that involves rehearsing in the bathroom before the gig. Flanagan recalls other gig-goers complete bafflement: “someone will come in like, did I interrupt something?” she says, laughing.
Trinity Belles distinguish themselves from other music societies by the unique styles of their songs. Furthermore, there’s no conductor separate from the rest of the group. The Belles are much more democratic. “We direct and give notes, but that’s it”, Alari elaborates. “As directors, we are as much part of the performance as everyone else is.”
The Belles are often asked to sing at society events, including the Society for International Affairs’s (Sofia) Ambassadors Ball, a recent reception at the University Philosophical Society (the Phil) and Charity Ball. In November, they performed as Trinity was announced as the first and only Irish university accepted into the prestigious League of European Research Universities (Leru), a group of 21 leading European universities with strong influence on EU research policy. They have performed for the Provost, at Trinity Arts Festival (TAF) and at the Rose of Trinity hosted during Raise and Give (RAG) Week by Trinity Vincent de Paul (Trinity VDP) and Trinity Ents. In April, they took part in the Battle of the Bands in the Button Factory, battling it out for a Trinity Ball ticket. For Mitchell, this was an event that really stands out for her, as it was an event in which they were all working together to try and win something.
In October of last year, Trinity Belles performed with Enya. “It was really soon after officially becoming group and the first time we had sung at all [in public]”, Flanagan recalled, going on to mention how nice it was to perform with such a celebrated figure. This opportunity came about through an email from the music department. Alari remembers leaping at the chance, replying to the email as soon as it came in (during her music class, incidentally). “It was almost too good to be true”, Flanagan tells The University Times. They had two full days recording a music video in Dublin Castle and then performed about a month later at All Hallows College. The experience also involved a very dramatic makeup look and “rock hard” hairspray.
Most recently, on November 29th, the group performed in a winter showcase event that also featured DU Dance, Trinity Musical Theatre and DU Music. The event took place in Powerscourt, with afters in South William. The girls were full of enthusiasm for the performance. “[That] night was great”, Alari says with obvious, deserved pride. “Everyone performed really well, the girls had great fun on stage, they meshed really well and the reaction from the crowd was amazing!” She went on to tell us that “every year is just better and better and better” – music to our ears!
We recommend taking a much-deserved library break this evening to see the Belles performing in their Christmas concert, Sleigh Belles Sing, in the Grand Social. This short but sweet performance will feature old classics, seasonal favourites and some new hits. In our conversation, they hinted to listen out for their Twelve Days of Christmas mashup, and there will also be some delicious treats to enjoy following the performance. This event is open to the public, with tickets priced at €6, with a €3 concession for children and students. Doors open at 8pm, with a small number of tickets left to purchase at the door. As Trinity Belles’s last two concerts completely sold out, we recommend getting there early to ensure you get a ticket!
