Music Program Hosts First Performing Arts Fair

Marist Sirens A Cappella group performing during the Performing Arts Fair. Photo by Ava Battinelli '26

Every year, Marist University hosts an Activity Fair outside on the green, where first-year students can browse the tables set up by various clubs, speak with representatives and sign up to join those that pique their interest. 

However, for clubs in the Music Program, the Activity Fair doesn’t capture their defining quality: their performance. To showcase exactly what membership entails, Marist’s Music Program hosted its first Performing Arts Activity Fair on Sept. 3.

“This is kind of their genesis, their event,” said Mike Napolitano, the interim Director of Music. “One of the things that we wanted to make sure that we could do was have a musical showcase so that students can see the activity that they would be joining.”

This event offered a smaller, specialized alternative to the campus-wide Activity Fair. Representatives from Marist Theatre, Band, Singers and more displayed tables and spoke with prospective members. Between conversations, groups took turns performing and showcasing their talents to those interested in joining. 

“We're doing this to give students an avenue to be able to see all the different activities in different clubs within the music program, because we didn't really have an option to do that otherwise,” said Bella Obligado ‘26, a co-director of the Enharmonics, Marist’s all-voice a cappella group.

Napolitano, the brains behind the fair, said the idea grew from a discussion about meeting the a cappella groups at the Activity Fair. With there being so many clubs at Marist and an extensive Music Program, Napolitano acknowledged that there simply isn't enough room at the Activity Fair to represent all of the different sectors, especially the three a cappella groups: the Enharmonics, the Sirens and Time Check. 

“When all of our students came back before the semester started, we started a conversation about how to build awareness and exposure for our groups. It just kind of made sense; let's build the event for ourselves,” Napolitano explained. 

The three-hour event gathered more than 100 students and 80 sign-ups with various clubs, in addition to those who showed interest at the Activity Fair. 

“This is something to consider for future fairs where we highlight specific clubs, as long as we have the support of those departments,” said Robert Lynch, the director of student activities. “This was a great way to showcase the talents of the music program and the performing arts.”

Only time will tell whether or not this will start a trend of various programs hosting their own fairs, but as for the Music Program, Napolitano hopes that this is the first of many.