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The Filharmonic will harmonize on Valentine’s Day

There’s some new Acafellas in town, and they go by the name of The Filharmonic. The A Cappella group will arrive on campus Valentine’s Day for Activities Council of Bradley University’s free “Love Is An Open Door” event.

The Filharmonic first came together in December 2013. The Filipino-American A Cappella group has six members: VJ Rosales, Joe Caigoy, Trace Gaynor, Barry Fortgang, Jules Cruz and Niko Del Rey. Although most of them attended different universities, they met through competitions and music festivals and immediately bonded over their common heritage.

The boys officially began their journey on the fourth season of NBC’s “The Sing-Off,” and although they placed fourth, they left a lasting impression, which landed them a cameo spot on “Pitch Perfect 2.”

For the film, they sang in their native language, Tagalog, as they were representing the Philippines in an A Cappella world championship competition.

“Some of us are familiar with [the language], whether we are fluent or not, so we were able to pick up on the language pretty fast,” vocalist Caigoy said. “For the most part, we have heard our family talk, and we know what it sounds like.”

But that’s not the only thing that makes the group distinctive. Their music is considered to have an “urban-esque sound with a 90s vibe,” which Caigoy and Rosales said is a great spin to put on covers and riff off of.

“Being Filipino-American, a lot of us grew up listening to 90s R&B, and especially nowadays, as teenagers and young adults, we have that 90s nostalgia, and it’s really current right now,” Rosales said.

When choosing which songs to cover, the boys look at Billboard’s top charts, listen to the radio and then twist the songs in their own musical way. While the group’s two albums only feature covers currently, its working on some original music. Some of the artists they have covered include Maroon 5, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Bruno Mars and Taylor Swift, but they have sworn off one artist in particular.

“I’m very picky about Beyoncé songs because she’s really hard to cover,” Rosales said. “You’ve got to do Beyoncé right.”

For its “Get Up and Go” tour, The Filharmonics traveling to major cities and locations such as Carnegie Hall, but the members said it’s important to stop at small colleges, as well.

“We like to have an intimate audience because it’s really fun to do those types of venues,” Rosales said. “We appreciate it, we love it and we’re excited for Bradley.”

The “Love Is An Open Door” event includes a light dinner and is from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Student Center Ballroom.

Students can find the link to sign up for the event by looking at the Hilltop Happenings email.

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