Donning a Truffula Tree hat, emcee Grace B. ’26 read a joke from her stack of index cards to set up a cover of “Vienna”: “Good news! Vienna waits for you, but you won’t have to wait too long.” The performance—with Alex A. ’28 singing, James A. ’28 on the accordion, and Veer C. ’28 on the keyboard—kicked off Spring Coffeehouse on March 6.
Organized by arts representatives Camille C. ’27 and Hayes S. ’27, the biannual event showcases a range of performing arts at Nueva.
“It’s important to give student artists a place to perform and share their music,” Schwarz said. “For students who are not performing, I think it’s useful for them to see what those students are doing and also de-stress, especially in the spring semester.”
After sending out a sign-up form, Camille and Hayes created a setlist that included spoken word poetry and fiction, two Olivia Dean songs, classical guitar, and an original song finished at lunch just earlier that day. Two Nueva groups—a cappella and dance—performed before and after intermission.
“I hope that the audience can see the depth of Nueva’s arts community, because there aren’t many opportunities for Nueva artists to share and express their work,” Hayes said.
After confirming the performers, the arts cabinet planned rehearsals to ensure the Writing and Research Center (WRC) was performance-ready. The crowd sat in sofas and lounge chairs conformed in a semicircle, keeping the venue intimate and making audience interaction easy.
“We wanted to bring the coziness,” Hayes said. “Make it a better experience for the performers, and a more inclusive experience for the audience.”
In between performances, Grace continued to deliver jokes to lighten the mood and segue into the proceeding performances.
Behind the scenes, Charlotte A. ’28 and Walter A. ’28 ran sound for the event, with Walter joining just that night. “It was stressful, but thankfully I had the community to support me, especially Walter,” Charlotte said. “Everyone really helped.”
Occasionally, a technical issue would arise between a Bishara joke and the subsequent act, and in that liminal space, some of the night’s most genuine moments came to be.
“If any of you have tickets to that San Francisco [Strokes] show please,” Emma W. ’26 joked while waiting for the track to be ready. “I missed the presale and now I don’t have tickets.” The audience laughed, and when Emma finished singing “Someday” by the coveted band, they erupted in applause.
Following a closing performance by the Jazz Band, Coffeehouse ended with open-mic time. Archie B. ’26 performed “Careless Whisper” followed by a group of sophomores’ “Someone Like You.” Remaining audience members sang-along as the crowd slowly dissipated, finishing the night on a high note.
