RIT’s festival within the Fringe Festival
Carlos Sanchez/RIT
A cappella group Proof of Purchase will perform arrangements from the Foo Fighters and Laufey alongside a cover of Fitz and the Tantrums’ “Out of my League” during the ESL Rochester Fringe Festival, joining Kaminari and Grace Notes on Friday, Sept. 25.
Visitors attending this year’s ESL Rochester Fringe Festival may not realize they’re also experiencing an unofficial celebration of Rochester Institute of Technology’s creativity. More than 30 performances feature RIT students, faculty, staff, and alumni showcasing the university’s artistic talent.
RIT students, faculty, staff, and alumni are involved in more than 30 performances during the ESL Rochester Fringe Festival, Sept. 15-26. This includes performances by RIT’s Urban Dance Crew and the Brick City Boppers, documentary and animation films, and live music performances. Learn more at rit.edu/gcr/fringefest.
There’s an Indie Book Fair Zine Festival in RIT’s City Art Space, best films from RIT’s School of Film and Animation, and a comic art slideshow. Student dance and singing groups are also performing. The Rochester Fringe Festival, which began Sept. 15, runs through Sept. 26. Most of the RIT performances are on the weekends.
“RIT has been proud to be part of the Fringe community since its founding,” said Lisa Stein, executive director of Events and Conferences. “The festival is a wonderful reflection of RIT’s creativity and vibrant arts community, and we love seeing our students, faculty, staff, and alumni contribute their talent and energy each year.”
RIT’s eight a cappella groups are performing this year, split across several blocks its members call “a cappella hour,” with two to three groups running short, back-to-back sets at The Little Theatre.
Colin Rills, a third-year computer science student and member of Proof of Purchase, said the stretch around Fringe is one of the busiest of the fall semester. The group has to re-learn a semester’s worth of songs from the previous academic year, while also teaching new songs to incoming members in the span of two weeks.
“It’s a real challenge,” said Rills. “But it’s also a lot of fun to just jump headfirst into learning some music. It really gets our brain going.”
Savanah Montanaro, a third-year physician assistant major with a minor in psychology, and the president of Proof of Purchase, researched RIT’s a cappella scene before she arrived on campus. She remembers her first year, where her group only had two rehearsals before their performance.
“We got lucky with a late Fringe slot this year,” Montanaro said.
Proof of Purchase will perform arrangements from the Foo Fighters and Laufey alongside a cover of Fitz and the Tantrums’ “Out of my League,” joining fellow a cappella groups Kaminari and Grace Notes at The Little Theatre on Friday, Sept. 25.
