Double Stop wins Ovation: RIT Performing Arts Showcase

Double Stop, consisting of a pair of cellists and a drummer who performed  an original arrangement of Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now,”  won best performance and a $1,000 prize in this year’s Ovation: RIT Performing Arts Showcase, held Friday night in Ingle Auditorium.

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Carlos Ortiz/RIT

Kiki Ajayi, a computer science and economics double major from Lagos, Nigeria, sings “Feeling Good” during Friday’s Ovation: RIT Performing Arts Showcase in Ingle Auditorium.

Brandon Faunce, a software engineering major from Fairfield, Conn.; Gavin Palmer, an electrical engineering major from Goffstown, N.H.; and drummer Charles DiGiovanni, a cybersecurity major from Centereach, N.Y., will split the cash prize. Faunce and Palmer also took first place in the 2024 Ovation competition for their rendition of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal.”

Second place and $500 was awarded to a percussion trio of marimba players Kelsey Mulrooney, a cybersecurity major from Wilmington, Del.; Mia Ciarizio, a graphic design major from Forney. Texas; and drummer Jeffrey Gross, a mechanical engineering major from Olney, Md. They performed a rendition of “Am I Wrong?” by Nico & Vinz.

Their performances were among 12 acts in dance, vocals, variety, and instrumental music in the ninth annual student performing arts showcase. Although not a requirement to enter, many of the students were among the more than 2,000 current RIT students who have received Performing Arts Scholarships.

Ovation was created nearly a decade ago by then-RIT President Munson, who pushed to recruit more students involved in the performing arts because he believed they tend to be more creative, innovative, complex thinkers, and work well with others, traits that are desirable with prospective employers. Munson strived to make RIT the leading school in the country for performing arts for non-majors.

Bill Sanders, who became RIT’s 11th president in July, said at the start of the show that he was looking forward to seeing his first Ovation competition.

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Carlos Ortiz/RIT

Members of Yishu, a club that performs traditional Chinese lion dancing, performed during Friday’s Ovation: RIT Performing Arts Showcase in Ingle Auditorium.

“I’d like to congratulate every student who is performing here,” he said. “Even before coming here, I knew RIT students had extraordinary performing arts talent. As you know, technology and the ability and desire to perform in the arts go hand in hand. But performing arts isn’t limited to any one group on campus. We have thousands of students on campus who seamlessly blend performance with their academic pursuits, often in STEM disciplines or American design.”

Emcee Thomas Warfield, professor of practice, who has taught dance at RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf for decades, introduced the diverse acts, which included soulful singing, colorful Chinese lion dancing, classical piano, Japanese drumming, a cappella groups, hip-hop dance, even a yo-yo demonstration to live piano music. “The innovation never ends,” Warfield said.

As Sanders and the other four community judges deliberated, last year’s Ovation winner, The Jive, entertained the audience with their jazz music.

Then the performers, 84 students in all, assembled on stage for the announcement of the winners, who stepped forward to receive their applause and giant checks.

“It was such a hard decision,” Sanders said. “These students are all so talented. I loved seeing it. It just shows the kind of talent we have here at RIT. I really enjoyed it.”

So, what’s next for Double Spot, especially since Faunce graduates this spring?

“That’s a good question,” Palmer said. “I guess it’s onward and upward. And we’ll definitely be in the Unlabeled Music Festival this spring.”

“We just won’t stop,” Faunce said.