Last Thursday, over a hundred people-students, parents, and faculty members-gathered in the Rat for the Campus School’s annual a cappella concert, a music fest featuring seven of Boston College’s talented singing groups: the Sharps, Shaan, Acoustics, B.E.A.T.S., Dynamics, Bostonians, and Against the Current.

The Campus School, founded in 1970, is a publicly-funded private school at BC that educates and assists students with severe mental and physical disabilities. It provides education, healthcare, and therapeutic services to children aged 3 to 21. Some 400 BC volunteers that aid the organization in some way, serving through the Campus School Volunteers of BC (CSVBC), the PULSE program, Creative Kids, and work-study programs.

This is the third year that the CSVBC has set up the concert, and, as in previous years, it turned out to be a great success.  All of the groups performed well with a mix of popular and classic songs, the atmosphere was set with Christmas lights, and the entire room smelled of baked goods as CSVBC ran a bake sale out in the hall.

During the event, many volunteers shared some of their thoughts and experiences with the Campus School between group performances, and the powerful messages centered around two words: home and family. A slideshow presentation ran during all of the performances on a projector screen-pictures from past Campus School events-daily images of picnics, games, families, smiles, triumphs, camaraderie, and overwhelmingly, community.

The seven a cappella groups involved in the concert performed some impressive renditions of popular songs. The Sharps sang “I Won’t Give Up,” the Acoustics, “Uncharted,” the Dynamics, “Under the Bridge” and “Royals,” (Jason Mraz, Sara Bareilles, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Lorde, respectively).

Against the Current raised the crowd with an amazingly energetic and vocally stunning “Shake it Out” by Florence and the Machine, which featured some spectacular solo work.

The Bostonians riled up the crowd with a humorous and energetic performance of “P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing),” and the group kept with this playful spirit, performing “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor.

There were also many traditional songs, representative of the heritage of several of the culturally focused performance groups. Shaan, BC’s South Asian a cappella group, introduced traditional South Asian sounds and styles into the concert.

Against the Current performed a vitalized hymnal that powerful captured the atmosphere of love and family echoed in the anecdotes of the campus volunteers throughout the night.

Overall, the night was a powerfully executed benefit for a worthy cause. The spirit of the Campus School’s mission was alive and well in the work of the evening’s many musical acts represented at the event.