Correction appended

Last Wednesday, the first cold night of fall, singers and listeners alike hunkered down in the South Campus Commons for the debut coffeehouse concert of Starving Artists, one of Brandeis' prized coed a cappella group s. The microphone was abandoned on the side of the stage, a testament to the intimate atmosphere, as if the singers did not need the electronic assistance to help their voices belt through the hall.

The performance took place at a coffeehouse organized by members of Margaret, A Tiger's Heart, the upcoming play from Hold Thy Peace and the Brandeis Players. Several other groups also performed at the event, including Proscenium, Up the Octave and Company B.

The group started its  first song, "No One," a cover by Aly and AJ, one of Disney Channel's actor/singer duos. With tight, soaring harmonies and a unique style of vocal percussion, one could quickly tell that the Starving Artists were not newcomers to a cappella.

The zenith of the show was undoubtedly the group's cover of "Accidentally in Love," a song made famous by the Counting Crows on the Shrek 2 soundtrack. Jason Dick '14 took on the lead part with unparalleled gusto and confidence. While the singers behind him reveled in air guitar antics and cute sound effects, Dick ventured out in the crowd and started serenading members of the audience. I almost thought everyone around me would soon burst out in a choreographed choral arrangement, like an episode of Glee. That was the type of energy Starving Artists brought that night: a hopeful, almost-too-happy but contagious vibe.

The middle of their half-hour set featured new first-year talent: Leila Pascual '15, Marlee Rosenthal '14, and Elan Wong '15 on vocal percussion. They covered Rob Thomas' 2009 hit "Her Diamonds" without a hint of hesitation in their voices and were rewarded by a long applause from the encouraging audience. Rosenthal, who was president of her a cappella group in high school, explained that her experience with Starving Artists has been entirely positive and that they are a "talented and attractive" group. With the heightened responsibility, she now knows that "It's obvious when you do not memorize your parts." However, the average listener would never know that these mistakes even existed based on Wednesday's performance.

Starving Artists ended their night with a medley of easily recognizable and lovable songs. In the mix, I heard Ray Charles' "Hit the Road, Jack" and "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" by Steam, a popular song at sporting events, but the arrangement was not cliché. The group sang these songs over each other and gained momentum, ending in a fantastic crescendo of sound. The professionalism and charisma of their group, as Brown explained, came from a rigorous practice schedule and a democratic decision-making model. Starving Artists practices six or seven hours every week. They all bring in pieces and arrangements of songs they want to perform and they all get to solo on one song. The arrangements are brought in, written out—from a former music major, this is arduous work— voted on and then finally rehearsed to perfection.

As the clock struck midnight, Starving Artists promptly ended their set and sent the fulfilled audience back to their and into the cold October air, humming the troupe's arrangements on the way. The debut coffeehouse concert was a success, to say the least, and I urge you to make the trek out to Cholmondeley's or any other venue this school year to see Starving Artists perform.

Correction: An earlier version of this article contained numerous errors. The article omitted the fact that the performance took place at a coffeehouse organized by members of Margaret, A Tiger's Heart, the upcoming play from Hold Thy Peace and the Brandeis Players. The article also omitted the fact that several other groups performed at the event, including Proscenium, Up the Octave, and Company B. Additionally, the article misstated the name of the soloist for "Accidentally in Love"; it was Jason Dick '14, not Jordan Brown '12. Furthermore, Marlee Rosenthal is actually a member of the Class of 2014, not the Class of 2015. Additionally, the club practices six or seven hours per week, not six or seven times per week.