With a dual album release and concert Saturday, Hoos in Treble made their mark on the University a cappella scene this spring. The all-female singing group shared months of dedication and talent in their collection of cover songs entitled “SNAPs” — an acronym for “something nice about a person” — and culminated their success with a riveting and powerful performance.
Founded in 1999, Hoos in Treble celebrates a cappella as a way of life, and its members pride themselves on sisterhood and community in addition to musicality. The group dynamic encompasses women across different class years and majors, all tied together by a shared love for music. For fourth-year College student Leigh Young, who joined the group after transferring to the University before her third year, Hoos in Treble has been a source of friendship and genuine connection.
“U.Va. can feel so big sometimes, but we all come from such different backgrounds, and we all just love each other so much and love to sing together,” Young said.
The bond of being a “hitta” — a term used by members of the group to refer to one another — extends beyond the hours of rehearsals. Niamh Kierans, third-year College student and current president of Hoos in Treble, emphasized the relationships that accompany the hard work behind each performance or release.
“Some of the alumnae described it as a group of friends who just happened to sing together,” Kierans said. “Which sounds so cheesy, but it's really true, because we are friends first … You can kind of forget that you're surrounded by such talented musicians.”
This defining sense of closeness is memorialized in Hoos in Treble’s recorded work, now encompassing seven albums. The release of “SNAPs” features songs selected from the past four semesters of the group’s repertoire and honors both this year’s and last year’s graduating hittas with the members’ solos included on the album. Claire-Warner Coleman, third-year College student and publicity chair for Hoos in Treble, commented on the holistic nature of the album and the excitement of seeing the group’s energy preserved so meaningfully.
“Every [Hoos in Treble] album is a reflection of where the group was at that time, and [‘SNAPs’ is] just a collection of all of us coming together to commemorate this certain period of time in the group,” Coleman said.
The name “SNAPs” alludes to a group tradition that connects generations of Hoos in Treble women, which several group members noted as a symbol of the group’s authenticity. Coleman explained the annual ritual — in which each member writes letters of affirmation and love to all of their fellow hittas and receives the letters addressed to them at the group’s annual beach week — and how this sentiment extended to the release of “SNAPs.”
“This album really feels like a SNAP to Hoos in Treble essentially,” Coleman said. “It just feels like a love letter back to the group.”
The road to the polished final product began with studio recordings in spring 2025, followed by months of meticulous arranging and mixing. Hittas recorded their designated parts individually, in contrast to the usual group-centered nature of performance preparation. Kierans described the emotion and excitement of the process as solo recordings transformed into a seamless group sound.
“It all felt kind of siloed, and then all of a sudden, seeing it appear into these beautiful mixes that sound like we're all together in the room is really fun,” Kierans said. “It's kind of a cool magic trick.”
The tracks on the album showcase a diverse range of musical styles and the group’s overall vocal versatility, spotlighting each soloist's strengths. With each individual contribution woven into a cohesive ode to the sisterhood, “SNAPs” embodies the group’s signature sound and depth of musicality.
“There's a really slow, beautiful ballad on there [‘Mirror’ by Madison Ryann Ward], and then there's pop music, like Normani's ‘Motivation,’ which is the unofficial, official song of the group,” Kierans said. “It really shows off how many different styles we can pull off … with the same set of 15 voices.”
While “SNAPs” preserves the group’s highlights in recorded form, the hittas brought the same magnetic energy to the stage at their spring concert, titled “Treble in Paradise.” A culminating moment of celebration, Hoos in Treble channeled months of rehearsal and a semester’s worth of effort in a series of passionate performances.
The range of genres and styles captured by the album translated into live renditions, as melodies and harmonies reverberated throughout the auditorium. The setlist spanned from the delicate, graceful melody of Olivia Dean’s “So Easy to Fall in Love” — soloed by first-year College student Ellie Harper — to the high-energy boldness of fourth-year College student Caroline McLaughlan’s rendition of “Holdin’ Out for a Hero” by Bonnie Tyler. Highlighting the group’s vocal skills, the set delivered moments of softness combined with head-bopping jams. Following a semester of progress and preparation, Coleman reflected on the full circle feeling of sharing the showcase with the audience.
“I always find myself the week after [a concert] missing it because we take a break just to let everyone rest,” Coleman said. “But I always find myself being like, ‘Oh, I almost wish it was last week again, and I saw everyone every day.’ And it's really exciting … to see all of the hard work that you put in every semester pay off.”
A strong sense of connection remains central to the group even in the minutes before taking the stage. Brynn Guerette, third-year College student and Hoos in Treble’s social chair, spoke about another of the group’s traditions, in which the singers pause for a moment of quiet reflection backstage together to recenter themselves right before the show. She described how these conversations set the tone for the night and show appreciation for the hours of commitment devoted by each hitta.
“[Circle time] is always really special to me,” Guerette said. “Someone always ends up crying, but it just feels like a nice little quiet in the midst of the storm, and that's something I always look forward to.”
With the concert behind them and “SNAPs” now streaming on all platforms, Hoos in Treble concludes the semester with a monumental week for hittas old and new. Both the album and live performance reflect the talent and skill of the group, honoring the relationships close to the hitta’s hearts as well as their classic sound. Kierans highlighted the value at the root of the Hoos in Treble experience — sharing a love for music.
“It's easy to get lost in the logistics, but what it really comes down to is making music with your friends, which I think is one of life's greatest joys,” Kierans said.
Read More
Festival of the Moving Creature amazed crowds with its beauty and scale
By Calla Mischen | 13 hours agoMassive whimsical creatures took over Arts Grounds and the Rotunda Thursday evening.
Zayn’s ‘Konnakol’ lacks cohesion, innovation and ‘Direction’
By Siddharth Sharma | 2 days agoThough flashes of talent present themselves embedded in the fabric of this album, the lack of focus on this project belies the need for a greater clarity of thought in Zayn’s art going forward.
University Museums Internship shapes the next generation of curators
By Eloise Diffley | 2 days agoRanging from 10 to 13 students per year, the program provides pre-professional experience to undergraduate students deeply interested in the world of art.
