History
In the Fall of 1995, sophomore Alfred Goodrich decided that Connecticut College was in need of a fifth a cappella group to add to the already existing ConnChords, Shwiffs, Co Co Beaux and Williams Street Mix. Employing the piano skills of freshman Irina Telyukova, the two embarked on an audition process that netted the talented singers that made up the founding members of what would later be Christened The ConnArtists. The original core group was Alfred, Irina, Zach Bagdon, Courtney Walker, Colin Crowe, Laura Ludvigson, Eric Long, Samantha Myers, Maren Innis. The first song the ConnArtists ever learned was “Closer to Fine” by the Indigo Girls. The first two years of the group’s existence saw many ups and downs, some turmoil and dramatic shifts in group composition. During the first year the group saw the addition of Laura Williams and Barrett Myers and the departure of founding members Colin and Laura L. as they transferred out of Conn. Going into their second year, the group was excited at the prospect of an incoming freshman class that would hopefully bring a new crop of great singers. New additions to the group that second year included Ryan Bull, Anne Stameshkin, Liza Gray, Jessica Dietz and Julie Bigelow, a junior from Smith College spending a year at Conn. At the end of year two, the ConnArtists said goodbye to their first graduating senior, Zach, from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy across the street. Entering its third year, the group made plans to record their first album. With three new additions: Jason Ihle, Randy Perkins and Sara Bouchard, the group spent Fall Break in Boston singing their hearts out and splattering their emotions on the walls of the recording studio. It was a tiring four days, laden with many conflicts of personality. Some of us were ready to kill each other, but in the end we had a product of which we were all extremely proud. “clearly” made its debut in November 1997. John Battista came on board in January 1998. In the Fall of 1998 two freshman, Sara Roth and Natalia Tauziat (who transferred after one year) were added to the group. In May 1999 the group went back into the studio for one day to lay down two tracks that would later find their way onto the second album. With hopes of recording a second album at the end of the year, Fall 1999 was a time for rebuilding. Four of our members had graduated, 3 were on study abroad and one member departed the group. With a core of 5 remaining we heard nearly 60 auditions and chose 6 freshman additions to the group: Paul Bovet (transferred after two years); Chloe Schon; Rebecca DiBari; Whitney Tenney; Erik Kling (departed the group in Spring 2000); Alex Mroszczyk-MacDonald. During Spring Break 2000, 13 ConnArtists once again entered Room 9 From Outer Space in Boston, MA and recorded “Exposed” which finally made its debut in the Fall of 2000. Since then, the ConnArtists have continued to grow and to expand their repertoire and add new members every year.