By REGINA IANNIZZOTTO
Features Editor
Every member of the Saint Rose community is familiar with the all-female acapella group The Girls Next Door. They make appearances at Saint Rose events, hold concerts, and have recently put out a ten-song record available on iTunes.
Although the Spring semester has ended, that does not mean the girls have kept quiet.
According to the Albany Barn Facebook description, Arbor Hill created the “Arbor Hill Neighborhood Plan”, which “was heralded as a breakthrough in collaborative community planning”. The main part of the project is to find use for the abandoned St. Joseph’s Academy building. The building resides in Arbor Hill at the corner of North Swan Street and Second Street. Albany Barn has joined forces with the City of Albany and Albany Housing Authority to turn the building into a community area.
This area includes “…apartments, work and rehearsal suites, a dance studio, a digital media lab and ample exhibition, and performance and programming space.” This project is known as “The Barn” in regards to barn rising where a community works together to build a barn as a team.
On June 6, The Girls Next Door performed at The Barn. The director contacted the group through Facebook after hearing about their performances in downtown Albany during finals week.
The event “imPRESSive” exhibited artwork featuring the work of printmakers Chris Skaggs, Kristine Monohan, and Audrey Hammond, according to the Albany Barn Facebook. The Barn promotes local artists and creates events that will help support them.
“I know I speak on behalf of all the girls when I say it was so nice to support local artists,” said Vice-President and Member of The Girls Next Door Elizabeth Tryon.
Minus four members of the group, the girls performed a portion of their set for the audience members. “…It was a super small event,” said the group. They performed their hits ‘Kiss Me’, ‘Disney Medley’, and ‘I Won’t Let Go’.
Tryon said, “The Barn itself looks beautiful so far, and I’m very excited to see how the finished product will look.”
The girls are popular at Saint Rose, but have been venturing off campus to perform.
“We do a few events throughout the year off campus, and always love them, but this one was different since it was during the summer,” said the group. “It was like a small reunion.”
The girls usually stick to performing during the school year. For instance, at the ICCA’s where they were champions in 2012 and the 1st Runner-Up in 2013. “We were more than happy to sing together and in a positive and inspiring setting,” said Tryon.
No other performances are scheduled for the summer, but the girls said, “If the opportunity arises and we are able to pull together enough girls, definitely!” Since their performances are ordinarily linked to colleges, their performances outside of schools are few and far between. However, the girls are very excited to perform outside the college setting if the opportunity arises.
Although there are no performances scheduled, the group has announced GND Day. It will take place on July 18.
“We wanted to create an event during the summer that reminds out fans we exist and to promote out group a bit,” said the girls. “It’s difficult to promote a group that only…sees their fans during the academic year.”
On this day, all fans are encouraged to wear a Girls Next Door t-shirt, post a status regarding a favorite Girls Next Door moment, and (most importantly) tell one friend about the group who is not aware of their presence.
According to the group, “Sometimes you have to think of something silly, like GND Day, to remind people of your presence.”
