Explore UNC-Chapel Hill’s lively a cappella scene
Tar Heels explain why singing is central to their Carolina experience.
No student expects an exam on the first day of classes.
But when you’re a member of one of Carolina’s many a cappella groups, you get tested right out of the gate at Sunset Serenade.
These singers take the stage at Polk Place and perform for thousands of Tar Heels, from friends and classmates to community members and the chancellor. The annual tradition is a fun way to end FDOC and sets the stage for a school year full of activities.
“It’s a great way to kick off the year,” said junior Zane Buckner, music director of the Clef Hangers, the University’s oldest a cappella group, founded in 1977. “It’s a great way to hear all the groups.”
Several of the groups began practicing weeks before the semester began.
The Clefs, an all-male group, closed out the show with five songs, including “Carolina on my Mind,” “She Got the Best of Me” by Luke Combs and “Hark the Sound,” a collaboration with the all-female Loreleis.
Buckner said all of Carolina’s a cappella groups “have something that’s super unique to them.” For the Clefs, he said, that’s “an air of professionalism.”
For the Loreleis, it’s musical range, said junior Veronica Quiett. “We don’t just do pop, and we don’t just do R&B,” she said. “We do a mixture of everything.” Her group sang Ne-Yo’s “Closer” and “Fall in Love Alone” by Stacey Ryan at Sunset Serenade.
“There’s something for everyone,” said Tarpeggios president Valentina Fernandez Escalona, a senior now in her third year with the mixed-voice group. Their Sunset Serenade setlist included “Small Worlds” by Mac Miller and Troye Sivan’s “What’s the Time Where You Are?”
“That’s why auditions work. You can audition for as many groups as you want, and then that way you can pick a group that matches your vibe and your people. I think that’s why everyone in a cappella is so close because you can find your niche within the community.”
A cappella groups at Carolina
Tar Heel Voices performing at New Student Convocation on Aug. 17, 2025. (Jon Gardiner/UNC-Chapel Hill)
Great experiences, great friendships
The groups in Carolina’s a cappella community all share the experience of making great friends and memories.
One Tarps tradition Fernandez Escalona cherishes is performing for new members. “We gather them all up that night, and we sing to them for the first time,” she said. “It’s so exciting to get new people and introduce them.”
Throughout the year, groups perform across campus and in the community. Each typically puts on a signature event each semester and sings at other gigs as well, sometimes even performing the national anthem at Tar Heel sporting events. The Clefs perform at Spring Commencement and are even booked for weddings.
“My first ever gig with the group, I got to sing for somebody’s first dance,” Buckner said. “We were the group they requested, and that was really special just to have that moment.”
The Tarps compete in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, a competition like the one in the “Pitch Perfect” film, Fernandez Escalona said.
The Achordants (top) and Cadence (bottom) performing at Sunset Serenade on Aug. 18, 2025. (Johnny Andrews/UNC-Chapel Hill)
Many in the a cappella community cherish the opportunity to continue their longtime love for performing.
“I did choir all through middle and high school,” said senior Kate Cherry, the Loreleis’ president. “My mom actually went to Carolina, and she had told me about the Loreleis. She put it in my head from when I was a little girl.”
Beyond the singing, it’s the connections formed and friendships gained that stick with a cappella group members. “I would consider every single guy in the Clefs right now my brothers for life,” Buckner said.
Fernandez Escalona of the Tarps echoed that sentiment. “We’re a huge family. I’ve met some of my best friends in this group.”
