COURTNEY STEWART Awaken A Cappella sings some holiday
tunes inside the Westwood Brewing Company for customers. The group,
consisting of 15 members, will be caroling in Westwood Village for
the next two weekends.
By Angela Salazar
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The holiday season is bringing new voices to Westwood ““
and they’re perfectly in sync.
Awaken A Cappella, a UCLA student vocal ensemble, is caroling in
the village over the next two weekends. Performing a variety of
Christmas and Hanukkah songs, the group will serenade diners in
local restaurants, as well as shoppers and passersby.
This is the third year the Westwood Village Community Alliance
has commissioned the ensemble to do the free public
performances.
Steve Sann, a UCLA alumnus who coordinates the caroling every
year, suggested the group to the Alliance and helped start the
program three years ago.
“I think having UCLA students is so much more energetic
and appropriate for Westwood Village,” Sann said.
“Awaken has an enormous amount of talent and tremendous
energy, and it comes through in their performances.”
 COURTNEY STEWART Christopher Harrison,
center, discusses the songs Awaken A Capella will perform outside
of a Westwood restaurant. This year’s performance schedule is
proving to be beneficial for both Awaken and its audience, as it
continues to bring its talents to the village.
“This is the best arrangement that we’ve had
yet,” said Will Heermance, Awaken’s music director.
“The first year we sang way too much … it was physical
murder for all of our bodies.”
According the Heermance, the first year the group caroled in
Westwood they sang 13 hours a weekend. This year, however, they
arranged to sing only six hours each weekend.
“It’s much more manageable,” he said. “I
think (the Westwood Village Community Alliance) is going to get
much better singing out of us, and we’ll feel better about
the whole thing.”
With more experience and a less demanding schedule, the group is
bringing an upbeat and cheery tone to the village.
“We didn’t know what we were doing the first year
and I think after three years we’re getting it more honed and
we now know what works and what doesn’t,” Sann
said.
Awaken’s holiday song list includes Christmas classics
such as “Silent Night,” and “Joy to the
World,” as well as a swing adaptation of “Rudolph the
Red Nosed Reindeer” and an original techno-pop version of
“Up on the Housetop.” The ensemble also performs the
Hanukkah song “Mi Zeh Hidlik” and a jazz version of
“The Dreidel Song.”
A host restaurant is arranged for each night of caroling, and
sponsors the group by providing dinner before they begin. Awaken
then starts its night by performing at the restaurant.
“The restaurants really look forward to this,” Sann
said. “I think it kind of creates a family feeling, that the
Awaken members really are a part of the tradition of the
village.”
Restaurant owners hope the caroling will help make an inviting
atmosphere for customers.
“Our guests are very happy with this performance,”
said Pietro Smargiassi, owner of Tanino Ristorante and Bar.
“It’s very unusual, especially around Beverly Hills and
Brentwood, you don’t see a lot of performances like this. It
is very unique to Westwood, its very nice and very warm for
Christmas time, it reminds us of Italy.”
Adam Lewis, co-owner of Gardens on Glendon said the carolers
give Westwood a pleasant ambience and infuse it with holiday
spirit.
“Its good for the village, the whole thing is good, it
makes it so alive,” he said. “There’s something
about consistency, what people can expect, and letting people know
that the village is alive and well … this is just a little thing
we do that is so wonderful.”
In addition to the restaurants, Awaken also performs in the
streets in front of businesses and crowds, or by request.
The caroling is similar to the other types of performances the
group does, Heermance said, although the time commitment is
sometimes greater. As a result, not all 15 members of the ensemble
are able to carol with the group. Especially with three of the
members already performing in this years production of
“˜bare’ a musical by Jon Harmere Jr. and Damon
Intrabartolo.
The members of Awaken, regardless of the time commitment, enjoy
the annual caroling in the village, and Heermance said the group
will continue to perform until either the group or the Westwood
community decides they don’t want to do the caroling
anymore.
“I think it’s really nice that we’ve
established a relationship with the city,” he said. “I
think hopefully we’re going to sit down when this is over and
work out next year right now because the city seems
interested.”
MUSIC: If you like the sounds of Awaken A Cappella, visit its
Web site at www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/awaken
where you can purchase the group’s CDs.
WHERE THEY GO ‘A CAROLING Awaken A Capella
holiday caroling performance schedule. Friday, Dec. 8 — 7
– 9 p.m. Â Gardens on Glendon 1139 Glendon Ave.
Sunday, Dec. 10 — 6 – 8 p.m. Â California
Pizza Kitchen 1001 Broxton Ave. Friday, Dec. 15 — 7 – 9
p.m. Â BJ’s Chicago Pizza Grill & Brewery 939
Broxton Ave. Saturday, Dec. 16 — 12 – 2 p.m.
 Jerry’s Famous Deli 10925 Weyburn Ave. Sunday, Dec.
17 — 6 – 8 p.m. Â Palomino 10877 Wilshire Blvd.
Saturday, Dec. 9 — 7 – 9 p.m. Â Westwood
Brewing Company 1097 Glendon Ave.
Â
SOURCE: Westwood Village Community Alliance Original graphic by
YU WANG/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Web adaptation by HERNANE
TABAY/Daily Bruin Senior Staff