What is the name of your group and the meaning behind it?: Our group is called Mezumenet, which is Hebrew for the phrase “you are welcome” or “you are invited” in the feminine grammatical form.
Who are your e-board members?
President/Music Director – Hallie Silvermetz, senior, kinesiology major
Business Manager – Nicole Flaskes, sophomore, business major
Public Relations Manager – Ariella Gluckstadt, junior, kinesiology major
Why did you choose to join Mezumenet?
Silvermetz said, “I chose to join Mezumenet because I wanted to be a part of a Jewish a cappella group, and I felt that I could contribute a lot to Mezumenet at the time that I joined. I also loved how close all of the girls in Mezumenet were with each other, and have continued to be as the group expands.”
Why should incoming students join Mezumenet?
Incoming students should join Mezumenet because we sing a whole lot – both on purpose, and accidentally, when we’re hanging out together and find ourselves bursting into harmonies! We are a close group of girls, and we have each other’s backs through thick and thin. We know how to work hard and have fun while doing it. Since we are still a newer group, we just keep on improving, and anybody is lucky to be a part of a group as wonderful as Mezumenet.
What upcoming events does Mezumenet have planned this school year?
For the rest of this school year, Mezumenet will be traveling to other schools and communities and going on our first ever Spring Break Tour! We will be participating in various Jewish a cappella festivals and competitions during the semester. Throughout all of this, we will be taking time to promote our debut album, called Mezmerized, that we released in late October. We also have a final concert at the end of each semester.
Could you explain the audition process of Muzumenet?
The audition process for Mezumenet includes two rounds of auditions. During the first round, anyone can audition. After warming up as a group and telling the girls auditioning a little bit about Mezumenet, we have each girl come in one at a time to do scales and pitch matching, and then sing a verse and chorus of a song of her choice. At the end of the night, we decide which girls we want to hear again at Callbacks a couple days later, and we send these girls a part of a song to learn. At callbacks, we teach the girls a part of a new song, and go over the song that they learned at home. We then call each girl in individually, and have them do scales and pitch matching again, sing a different song of their choice, and sing each of the new songs they learned with the group.
Who created Mezumenet and what led to the creation of Mezumenet?
Mezumenet was founded in December, 2008 by four girls who had spent a year together in Israel and loved to sing together. When they came to Maryland, they realized they wanted to continue singing together, and Mezumenet was born. Soon after, they found some other girls interested in being a part of an all-female, Jewish a cappella group and they began to expand.
If someone is interested in joining Mezumenet, how can they contact you?
Everyone should feel free to contact us at mezumenet@gmail.com. Alternatively, check out our website – www.mezumenet.com – and you can contact us through the website!
The president of Kol Sasson, sophomore Agricultural & Natural Resource Economics Major Alex Gilden, mentioned to me the struggles of receiving funding from SGA as a club. Is this an obstacle that you have faced this year and what other obstacles (if any) have you faced since as a new female acapella group?
Mezumenet does not receive funding from SGA, because they see us as discriminatory due to our all-female nature. This has created a huge obstacle for us, and resulted in a slower start to do what the other groups have been able to do, such as going on tour and recording CDs. As we are entirely funded by our paid performances and by our generous donors, and we cannot know what our budget will be from year to year. We were fortunate enough this year to be able to record our first album, and we are currently planning our first Spring Break Tour, keeping in mind our minimal budget.”