A Night Full of Music: The Resident Benefit Concert
At 7:00 pm on a Wednesday, people hustled into the Chevron Auditorium to get a good seat for the Resident Benefit Concert. When I entered and saw some people at the back of the room with paintings, a resident told me the paintings were for auction to help the earthquake victims of Turkey and Syria. Once again, I-House kept to its purpose of bringing the different communities together and helping them through challenging times.
The show kicked off with a jazz performance of “Misty” by the band Brown Noise.
From left: Vighnesh Nagpal, Smruthi Balasubramaniam, Kashyap Ganesan, Arogya Koirala,
The next performance was “What a Wonderful World” by Elijah Jacob and Jillian Flynn.
The performance by Elsa Dai and Tiffany Cheung was as adorable as their green beanies. They sang “Green Tea and Kermie” and took the audience’s breath away.
Tiffany Cheung, said, “I find it really fun to collaborate with friends that I made in I-House and it is an amazing experience to share joy with my peers through music.”
The audience was enchanted by the mystical voices of Holly Pilling and Marie Kishimoto. They performed “Caro Mio Ben” and “Bocchi the Classical” one after the other. It was the most delightful way to unravel the stress of midterms.
Right before the intermission, the audience was exhilarated by a vibrant breakdance performance by I-HOUSE FUNK 2.0 members Derek Lin, Eric Lin, Jaewon Joung, Neo, and Yin.
Marcus Lannie, one of the emcees for the resident benefit concert, said, “The resident benefit concert is an opportunity for I-House to showcase the incredible talent of the residents while supporting an impactful cause. The concert features performances from the residents’ native countries, and this year the concert raised money to support efforts following the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.”
Paige Destiny, the other emcee for the Resident benefit concert, said, “As an International House resident of Turkish descent, I found it imperative to support the cause to help Türkiye and Syria as the countries’ inhabitants recover from the earthquake that left many without shelter, food, and family. It is in the spirit of I-House to unite in the community, especially when our global parts are in need. I am proud to have been a part of this event and dazzled by the turnout and support we received from the Berkeley community that night!”
After the intermission, there was more to come to entertain concertgoers. The next performance by the band Metro (Michael, Greg, Alex, Otto), was “This Just In.”
Later, Carina Samson played the ukelele and sang “It Will Be Alright,” casting a spell on everyone.
The Next three performances, “Gnossiennes: No.1 Lent” by Wudi Fan, “Writing’s on the Wall” by Kathy Nguyen Pham, Srishti Misra, and “A Song For You” by Smruthi Balasubramaniam kept the vibrancy high in the audience.
The last performance in the concert was “The Dances of India,” performed by Naach@Berkeley. They performed on a mashup, including the “Natu Natu” song, which has received the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. With that, it was the end of a beautiful night.
The piano, guitar, and the beautiful voices of artists filled the room with magical sounds. The concert reminded me of a Disney fairy movie with everyone dressed in beautiful outfits and mesmerized by the mystical sounds.
The Group Picture
You can watch all of the performances in a video captured and edited by Aneta Felix, I-House Social Media Ambassador.
Click the time code links below to watch individual performances:
01:25 Misty – Brown Noise: Kashyap Ganesan, Arogya Koirala, Vighnesh Nagpal, Smruthi Balasubramaniam
06:23 – What a Wonderful World – Elijah Jacob, Jillian Flynn (ISAB)
09:29 – Green Tea and Kermie – Tiffany Cheung, Elsa Dai
14:14 – Caro Mio Ben – Holly Pilling
18:30 – Bocchi the Classical! – Marie Kishimoto
21:03 – I-House Funk 2.0 – Neo Yin, Derek Lin, Eric Lin, Jaewon Joung
23:32 – Metro – This Just In: Michael, Greg, Alex, Otto
29:33 – It Will Be Alright – Carina Samson
32:59 – Gnossiennes: No.1 Lent – Wudi Fan
38:24 – Writing’s on the Wall – Kathy Nguyen Pham, Srishti Misra
43:54 – A Song For You – Smruthi Balasubramaniam
48:14 – Dances of India – Raghav Mittal, Pavan Reddy, Sivani Voruganti, Harini Voruganti, Sfurti Gaudani
We raised $1,297.86 from Eventbrite, and all the donations were dispensed equally to the Syrian Emergency Task Force and Turkish Education Foundation.
Members of the Arab Student Union, International Student Association at Berkeley, and the Turkish Student Association speak on relief efforts for Turkey and Syria earthquake survivors at the Resident Benefit Concert on March 22, 2023.
https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~turk/
Timestamps:
00:22 – Arab Student Union
06:44 – Turkish Student Association
09:46 – Inanç Karaçaylak – Artist
12:40 – Art Exhibition