All proceeds from the YellowJackets’ April 5 concert were donated to FARA, as well as money raised through the sale of limited edition YellowJackets fan t-shirts. Gelbard and Dole also started a page through GoFundMe, which allows visitors to make online donations.

“Like Sarah, I have watched someone I love lose her mobility and confront hardships that no one should have to confront—all with the sunniest of dispositions,” says Dole. “In honor of Sara and Laura Ferrarone and Marlise, the YellowJackets are proud to raise funds for and awareness of this rare, devastating, and life-shortening disease.”

A nonprofit organization dedicated to curing Friedreich’s ataxia, FARA grants and activities provide support for research, pharmaceutical/biotech drug development, clinical trials, and scientific conferences. FARA also serves as a catalyst, between the public and scientific community, to create worldwide exchanges of information that drive medical advances.

“I know that the curing of a tremendously complicated genetic disease is, well, tremendously complicated—but I also know that it is possible,” Gelbard says, pointing to the Ferrarone family’s work creating a worldwide patient registry for the disease as an important first step. “Sara was the first person to be entered into the worldwide patient registry in Rochester, and perhaps Laura will be the first person to see the benefits of a cure.”

In a little less than two months, Gelbard, Dole, and the YellowJackets have raised more than $20,000 through GoFundMe and concert proceeds. But, their work isn’t done yet. This week, they are making one last push to raise funds through GoFundMe before closing the page on Wednesday, May 1.

“We hope members of the Rochester community will continue to answer our call to action by giving a small amount or by passing this story along,” Gelbard says. “For these efforts to be meaningful for the 15,000 people across the globe living with FA, they have to be continued, and for that, we need your help.”

The University of Rochester’s co-ed a cappella group After Hours emerged victorious at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella Mid-Atlantic Quarterfinals at Penn State on Saturday, February 9th, beating 10 other highly competitive groups and placing first in the competition.

The ICCA competition, of which popular comedy “Pitch Perfect” is based, is the only international tournament that showcases the art of collegiate a cappella.  Each year, the tournament takes place from January through April in six regions: West, Midwest, South, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast America, and Europe. Each region holds several quarterfinal events and the top two college groups advance to semifinals. A final event is held in New York City’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, where groups compete for cash prizes and the coveted title of Grand Champion.

After Hours’ set of three songs featured the smooth solo vocals of Rei Ramos ’15 on “Too Close” by Alex Clare, which stunned the audience and the judges with its dub-step drop in the last chorus. And, according to The A Cappella Blog, “Too Close” showcased the “monster vocal percussion” skills of Ethan Lobenstine ’12 (T5). The set also included a choral take on Regina Spektor’s “Samson” featuring soloist Michaela Reichert ’16 and David Guetta’s “Titanium” featuring powerhouse soloist Rohini Rege ’14.

Video: After Hours Performs at ICCAs

In addition to winning the competition, musical director Ben McCormack ’13 and Lobenstine were given a special award for “Best Arrangement” for all three songs in the set.  After Hours, along with the 2nd place group, the Penn State Statesmen, will perform at the Mid-Atlantic semi-finals at Rutgers University in New Jersey on March 30.

In other University a cappella news, Rochester all-male group, The Yellowjackets, were recently named a “Top 10 Must-Hear College A Cappella Group” by schools.com.  The website praised the Jackets new album “United We Sing” and their after-school program (also called “United We Sing”) designed to cultivate a passion for a cappella in local schools.

Audio: Hear “Wavin’ Flag” from “United We Sing”

 The group also was recently nominated for a 2013 Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award (CARA) for their song “I Smile” off of “United We Sing” in the Best Religious Song category. The winners will be announced on April 5 at a live awards ceremony at BOSS, Boston Sings, and then posted to casa.org.

The University of Rochester grabbed 28 offensive rebounds and turned those into 32 second chance points to post an 80-53 victory over RIT in the quarterfinal round of the Wendy’s Classic at William Smith College.

UR (3-1) won its 22nd consecutive game in the Classic and its 13th straight opening round game. The Yellowjackets will play in the semifinals at the Palestra on Thursday night against SUNY Brockport, which defeated St. John Fisher, 72-62. The first semifinal game at 6 pm pairs SUNY Geneseo (a 75-50 winner over Nazareth) against William Smith, which held off Roberts Wesleyan, 79-74.

Rochester head coach Jim Scheible earned two milestone victories with UR’s effort. The win was his 259th at UR, putting him into the career lead, one ahead of Joyce Wong who coached from 1978-1999. This is Scheible’s 14th season at UR. It was also his 400th career victory. This is his 22nd season as a head women’s basketball coach. He coached previously at Clarkson University and at Elmira College before coming to UR for the 1999-2000 season.

Forwards Danielle McNabb (eight), Loren Wagner (seven), and Emily Trapani (six) combined for 21 of the 28 offensive boards. Wagner scored 11 points, McNabb had 10 – seven in the second half when the Yellowjackets pulled away – and Trapani scored a career high 13, all in the first 20 minutes.

Ally Zywicki led UR in scoring with 17 points which equaled her career high.

Leslie Havens and Courtney Tennant paced RIT (0-1) with 11 points apiece. Kayla Wheeler had eight points. The Tigers will play in the Thursday consolation doubleheader at Geneseo against the loser of the Brockport-Fisher game.

Rochester finished with an overall 49-18 advantage on the glass, 21-6 at the RIT end of the floor and 28-12 under its own basket.

Trapani scored seven points in a 14-3 run that turned an 8-5 deficit into a 19-11 lead midway through the first half. The Tigers got within one point twice, the last time on a basket by Wheeler with 3:20 left (27-26). Rochester went on a 10-4 spree to finish the half. Zywicki drained a three from the top of the key, then added two free throws. Katie Weiner made one free throw and Breanna Madrazo sank both ends of a one-and-one. Wagner finished the first half scoring for Rochester with a layup. It was 37-30 at the break.

RIT got as close as three, 41-38, just over two minutes into the second half. The Yellowjackets held the Tigers without a field goal for the next six minutes and used a 17-2 run to take command for good. Zywicki scored seven of the 17. Woods dropped in a pair of layups. Wagner made one layup and McNabb scored three points – one field goal, then one of two from the line. That gave Rochester a 58-40 lead.

Story and photo courtesy of University Athletics.

Rochester received its first-ever berth into the NCAA Division III field hockey playoffs and will host a first round game on Wednesday at 2 pm. The Yellowjackets will face Rowan University of the New Jersey State Athletic Conference.

The Liberty League received three bids to the 2012 championships, including two of the six available Pool C (at-large) bids. William Smith won the Pool A automatic berth by winning the Liberty League championship. The Herons defeated the Yellowjackets, 3-1, in Saturday’s title game. The other Pool C bid from the league went to Skidmore College. Rochester defeated Skidmore, 3-2, in overtime in the semifinals of the Liberty League playoffs last Thursday at Edwin Fauver Stadium.

The first round match between Rochester and Rowan will be played at Fauver Stadium at 2 pm. It is one of eight first-round matches scheduled for that day. The NCAA took 24 teams into its 2012 championship field. Seventeen teams received Pool A bids. Christopher Newport University earned the sole Pool B bid. Six squads received the Pool C invitations.

Tickets are priced at $6 for adults and $3 for students with ID. They can be purchased at Fauver Stadium beginning one hour before the game begins.

Rowan lost in the NJAC playoffs to Montclair State University. The Profs were 15-6. Rochester was 16-5 this year, setting a single-season record for victories. The winner of the Rochester-Rowan game advances to play Salisbury University in a four-team regional on Saturday at Salisbury. The other game in that regional matches second-seeded Montclair against the winner of the Christopher Newport-Gwynedd Mercy match (played Wednesday at Christopher Newport).

Winners of the four regionals will compete in the 2012 Final Four at William Smith College on November 17-18. The four regional hosts this year are Salisbury, third-seeded Mary Washington, fourth-seeded William Smith, and top-seeded Middlebury College.

Skidmore opens at home against Mass-Dartmouth on Wednesday. The winner advances to Middlebury to play the top-seeded Panthers.

Rochester had seven players selected for the All-Liberty League team this year. Freshman forward Michelle Relin was named the Liberty League Rookie of the Year. Head coach Wendy Andreatta and assistants Ashley Smeltzer and Alexis Vangellow were named the Coaching Staff of the Year. Rochester finished in a three-way tie for second place in the league with Skidmore and RPI.

Yellowjacket goaltender Madison Wagner ranked third in the NCAA Division III statistics in save percentage and 10^th in goals-against average. She has allowed 21 goals this year (1.12 GAA), made 114 saves, and has a save percentage of .844.

The top scorers are senior Shelby Hall and freshman Relin, both with 17 goals and eight assists for 42 points. Junior Katie Flaschner has 10 goals and 5 assists for 25 points.

Rowan is making its 18^th appearance in the national tournament, its first since 2009. The Profs won the 2002 national championship with a perfect 21-0 record. Rowan reached the semifinals in 1998 and 2000 and made six other appearances in the quarterfinals: 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008.

Nine different players have scored gamewinning goals for Rowan. Sophomores Jenna O’Sullivan and Karlee Henderson have three apiece. Sophomore Kellie Campbell tops the scoring chart with 18 goals, three assists for 39 points. Senior Erin Bernat is second in scoring with seven goals and six assists for 20 points. Junior Amy McKeever is third in scoring (6-6-18) and Henderson is fourth (6-4-16).

In goal, senior Jen Goldberg has a 1.40 GAA with 19 goals allowed, 62 saves, and a .765 save percentage. Junior Steph Colombo has a 2.41 GAA with 18 goals allowed, 57 saves, and a .760 save percentage.

Article and photos courtesy of Rochester Athletics. Read more about the field hockey team here.

He finished 11 for 17 for 151 yards and the two scores. He ran 15 times for a net of 72 yards which included four sacks. Rochester finished with 306 yards in offense – 155 rushing (Chris Lebano rushed 24 times for 79 yards) and 151 in the air.

Thiel produced 229 yards in offense. The Tomcats rushed for 101 yards (Taylor Fink had 60 yards on 15 carries) and passed for 128. Andrew Smith hit 17 of 31 passes. He was sacked twice and intercepted once – by Rochester’s Cole Valko on the final Thiel drive in the last minute.

Kennedy threw a screen pass to Lebano that turned into a 19-yard touchdown with 9:01 left in the first quarter. That climaxed an 11-play, 69-yard drive which started the game. After a three-and-out by Thiel, he drove the Yellowjackets 63 yards in eight plays, finishing with a 50-yard strike to Garrett Kesel who got behind the Thiel defense for the score.

Alex Antonucci kicked both PATs for Rochester. He made a 40-yard field goal with 2:34 left in the game to clinch the victory.

Down 14-0 at halftime, Thiel reorganized and cut the deficit in half midway through the third quarter. The Tomcats converted two third downs and one fourth down in a 13-play, 61-yard drive to get within 14-7. Fink plunged one yard on 4^th-and-1 from the Rochester 28 to keep the drive going. Three plays later. Smith found Berend Grube inside the one-yard line for an 18-yard gain. Fink scored on the next play and Cody McClelland’s PAT made it 14-7 with 3:48 left in the quarter.

Rochester’s defense held midway through the fourth to preserve the win. The Tomcats drove from their own 25 to the Rochester 26 where Smith’s pass for Grube on 4^th-and-1 fell incomplete.

Kennedy drove Rochester 51 yards in 11 plays, eating up 4:24 on the clock. Antonucci kicked his 40-yard field goal on 4^th-and-7.

Defensively, Jordan Honjiyo and Zach Cicero led Rochester with 10 tackles. Brendan Pidgeon had nine stops, one sack one forced fumble, and two pass breakups. Shawn Burke had eight tackles and one sack.

Thiel’s leader was Dustin Baker with nine tackles, including 2.5 tackles behind the line. Jack Sindlinger and Terry Gensel had six tackles apiece.

Notes: It was Kennedy’s second career start. He directed Rochester to a 16-13 road win at St. Lawrence last year…. Rochester won its home opener for the first time since the 2001 season.

Article and photo courtesy of the University of Rochester Athletics Department. For more sports news, visit http://www.uofrathletics.com/index.aspx.

VIDEO: YellowJackets Recieve Key to City, Perform with World of Inquiry School

“The YellowJackets have spent countless hours working with youth here in our city and have taken their mission across the world to Kenya,” said Richards, who also is a University Trustee. “We are proud that they are making lives more fulfilling through their commitment to music and education. That’s why it is an honor to present the University of Rochester YellowJackets with a key to our city.”

For Pittsford native Aaron Sperber ’11, who has been a member of the YellowJackets for five years, receiving a key to Rochester is an unparalleled honor.

“We have had the privilege of traveling far and wide to share our music and our message, and while being on national television was an honor that we only dreamed of, nothing is quite like home,” said Sperber, an international relations major in the College and a vocal performance major at the Eastman School of Music. “As proud Rochesterians, we found that more exciting than the glamour of Hollywood is the knowledge that we are representing all the people who have supported us and made us who we are.”

Jamal Moore ’11, also a voice performance major at Eastman and a four-year member of the YellowJackets, agreed.

“Being given a key to the city is an amazing honor that few people receive,” Moore, a native of Augusta, Ga., explained. “I am so grateful that we were selected as the latest recipients of it.”

The YellowJackets, who recently competed on NBC’s hit reality television show The Sing-Off, have a history of community service in the city. Over the last decade, they have performed concerts and hosted workshops throughout the Rochester City School District.

In 2009, the group organized the Harmony for Hope concert in honor of one of its members, Alexander Hunter, who was undergoing treatment for lymphoma. Through a benefit concert, the YellowJackets raised funds for the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center.

This past summer, the group traveled to Maseno, Kenya, on a goodwill tour and musical exchange. The group spent three weeks in the African village, where they conducted workshops in the village schools, learned traditional native songs from local children, and taught students popular songs from the United States. Additionally, the group participated in community outreach, working with victims of AIDS through the nonprofit organization Joining Hearts and Hands. For the group, the trip underscored the importance of music programs in schools as a way of providing students with a fun, creative way to engage in learning, said Sperber.

This fall, the YellowJackets took that message to heart and teamed up with the Rochester City School District to create an extra-curricular a cappella group at the World of Inquiry School. Nearly 100 students at the school spend two hours every Thursday with the YellowJackets, learning a cappella arrangements and vocal performance tips. The group, called ROC-appella, will join the YellowJackets on stage at two sold-out concerts on Dec. 11. See a video about the partnership here.

Article written by Melissa Greco Lopes, editor of The Buzz and student life publicist in University Communications. Photos courtesy of University Communications.

The next episode airs on Monday, Oct. 24, at 8 p.m. EST.

VOTE FOR THE ‘JACKETS: Make the YellowJackets your #1 pick this week.

For more updates, visit http://www.rochester.edu/news/singoff/.

The YellowJackets, the University’s oldest male a cappella group, will compete against 15 of the country’s best groups, working to win over celebrity judges Ben Folds (Ben Folds Five), Shawn Stockman (Boyz II Men) and solo artist Sara Bareilles, while vying for the ultimate prize – a Sony Music recording contract and a $200,000 cash prize.

The series premiere is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 19 at 8 p.m. on NBC. Watch extended sneak previews for the show here and here. Tune in to see if the YellowJackets advance through the multi-episode series.

Be a part of the “Sea of Yellow” Sing-Off Campus Watch Party

Members of the community are invited to come out and rally behind the YellowJackets at a free, campus-wide Sing-Off Watch Party on Monday, Sept. 19, in Hoyt Auditorium on the River Campus. Doors open at 7 p.m. Members of the YellowJackets will perform a selection of songs from their repertoire prior to the start of the pre-taped premiere, and will take questions from the audience during commercial breaks. The evening also includes a free t-shirt give away, and in an effort to create a “Sea of Yellow,” audience members are asked to wear yellow t-shirts.

Connect with the Jackets through Social Media

Connect with members of the YellowJackets on Twitter @ URYellowJackets and on Facebook, or follow updates from the series premiere at the University’s official twitter account @UofR. Connect with the show on its official handle @thesingoff or use the hash tag #thesingoff.

(Photo Courtesy of NBC Universal.)

The University of Rochester Men’s Soccer team beat SUNY Fredonia in the final game, 2-1.  After a scoreless first half, Fredonia got off to a quick start in the second half with several offensive attacks ending with good scoring chances.  However, UR goalkeeper Mike Moranz (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Sutherland) kept the ball at bay. Nevertheless, eight minutes into the second half, the Blue Devils got one past Moranz. The goal put some fire underneath the UR players and they immediately started pressuring the Fredonia defense. In the 56th minute, Rochester freshman Jarvis D’Souza (Powell, OH/Olentangy Liberty) set up classmate Alex Wanger (Penfield, NY/Penfield) on an outstanding pass. The combination ended in a goal by Jakob Seidlitz (Vienna, VA/Georgetown Day) to tie the score. The Yellowjackets didn’t waste any time adding another to the score sheet; freshman D’Souza scored his first goal of the year giving his team a 2-1 lead to win.

Meanwhile, the UR women’s team scored one goal early in each half to clinch the 2-0 victory over Skidmore College.

In the first half, junior Rachel Wesley (Millwood, NY/Horace Greely) and seniors Ellen Coleman (Wauwatosa, WI/Wauwatosa West) and Beth Martens (Hughesville, PA/Blair Academy) played a great offense to put Rochester up 1-0 six minutes into the game. The Thoroughbred defense kept the score at 1-0 throughout the rest of the first half.  But five minutes after half-time Wesley fired from 25 yards out into the back of the net, giving Rochester a 2-0 lead. Skidmore continued pressuring the Yellowjackets throughout the remaining time, but the Lady YellowJackets retained a tight defense to maintain their lead and secure the victory.

Men’s Tournament Awards:
1st Place Team: University of Rochester Yellowjackets
Most Valuable Player: Rochester D Tom Sorrentino
Top Offensive Player: Fredonia F Cory Paine
Top Defensive Player: Rochester D/M Jakob Seidlitz

Women’s Tournament Awards:
1st Place Team: University of Rochester Yellowjackets
Most Valuable Player: Rochester F/D Rachel Wesley
Offensive Player of the Tournament: Skidmore M Kelsey Yam
Defensive Player of the Tournament: Rochester D Danielle Crean

Read more about the Men’s Soccer Team here.

Read more about the Women’s Soccer Team here.

Story courtesy of the Athletic Department, including reports written by Scott Sabocheck, Athletic Communications Asst. Story compiled by Maya Dukmasova, University Communications Intern. Photo Credit: Jamie Germano