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THE DEAR ABBEYs

-DUDES WHO SING-

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about us

 

In February of 1992, three gentlemen gathered to change the course of aca-history. Their goal: to create an all-male a cappella group at Boston University. After several attempts—and a few close calls—the Dear Abbeys of Boston University were born. The idea was simple: assemble a small group of men who enjoy music, camaraderie and “no show-tunes”, arrange popular songs for voice, and sing.

Now—over 30 years later—The Dear Abbeys have gained a reputation in the a cappella community for musical precision, complex and unique arrangements and an energetic style of live performance that’s difficult to match. After winning the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA’s) in 2005, the Abbeys have performed in stadiums, on street corners and everywhere in between. Their unique style is frequently heard at weddings, corporate events, charity functions, high schools, and the greater Boston community.

Most recently, the group has shifted towards broader uses of acappella, producing a number of short films and documentaries. The Abbeys aim to inspire, inform and entertain—introducing young thinkers to the arts with the hope of initiating positive change.The group has toured the U.S. and beyond, traveling to Florida and California, Alaska and Colombia. In the past they have been so lucky as to team up with musical heavyweights like Steven Tyler, Ben Folds, NOTA, Pentatonix and Ball in the House. To date, the Abbeys have produced twelve studio albums. Check out our latest album, Under A Rest, now available on Apple Music and Spotify!

Learn more about the history of the Abbeys HERE

 
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UPCOMING SHOWS

 

Dear Abbeys Parents Weekend Show - Friday, October 18th | College of General Studies, Jacob Sleeper Auditorium


MEET THE ABBEYS

TOMMY NGUYEN - ‘26 | PRESIDENT

Hailing from the Biggest Little City, this Abbey is the only West Coastie in this group of ragtag a cappella singers. As the third successor of the Abbeys film presidency, he hopes to faithfully document the Abbeys’ charm to someday be presented on the big screen to audiences around the world. Will his West Coast flair carry the Abbeys to Hollywood stardom, proving once and for all that west is best? Beyond his love for performance and storytelling, this gamer spends his days off golfing in preparation for the immense amount of country club wealth that he is manifesting for himself.

Will Hanley

WILL HANLEY - ‘25 | BUSINESS MANAGER

If you blended Joe Jonas’s looks, a middle-aged man’s charisma, and Shinji Ikari’s insecurity together, then you’d likely end up with Will Hanley. Hailing from the mean streets of Cranston, Rhode Island, Will may be a journalism major and sports broadcaster by day, but by night he’s a degenerate weeb and The Dear Abbeys’ resident Bruno Mars imitator. When he isn’t deluding himself into believing he’s the second coming of Jim Nantz, Will spends his time deluding himself into believing he’s a concert caliber tenor. Will also loves watching New England sports, listening to prog rock, consuming copious amounts of ramen, and sleeping in VERY late. An interesting specimen indeed.

ETHAN WANNER - ‘26 | MUSIC DIRECTOR

Hailing from the suburbs of Wisconsin, this MD is excited to add some Midwest diversity to the Abbeys. When he’s not running his hand through his hair or fantasizing about the Packers getting to the Super Bowl, he’s probably getting harassed by Apple Music haters or drinking tea and honey in an attempt to recover from a terrible disease called: singing Tenor One. His professional goals include proving that white men CAN jump; and as the current Abbeys standing broad jump record holder, he seems to be well on his way.

MATTY BAGLIO - ‘27 | ASSISTANT MUSIC DIRECTOR

“The best lover I’ve ever had,” say multiple ex-girlfriends of Matty Baglio. The almost 19 year old sophomore is gonna be kicking ass and taking names in his second year of collegiate a cappella, especially because he is officially the best (only) Dear Abbeys Assistant Music Director of all time. Hailing from the historically rough and tumble town of Princeton, New Jersey, he’s been in the background of local news TWICE, probably. Special skills include singing every word to Newsies from memory, throwing a baseball 75mph+, a lifeguard certification, and writing skits for the Winter Show that will never see the light of day.

CAM WARD - ‘25 | MARKETING DIRECTOR

Coming all the way from Haverhill, Massachusetts, and currently a senior in Architectural Studies with visual arts and urban studies minors, Cam has made his home here with the Abbeys. Cam is an Aquarius and enjoys rescuing cats from treetops, helping the elderly cross the road, and doing his skincare routine. See his Instagram @cameronward28 if you’re a cat in a tree or an elderly person in need.

LUKE COOPER - ‘26 | TREASURER

After escaping the swamps of Sarasota, Florida and setting up camp in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Luke found his way to Boston with the Abbeys. As a Junior majoring in Math and a former resident of Florida, when he isn’t studying, Luke loves to take long walks along the Charles River thankful that he no longer has to fight off hordes of alligators. Luke’s very useful traits include actually enjoying Calculus, not having a big enough attention span to finish watching anything, and being able to name every single Pokemon.

TY RENNA - ‘25

Hailing from the suburbs of Long Island, New York, Tyler (tytyliketoilet7 on snapchat) is a true force to be reckoned with. Ty is a junior studying Film and Television at BU. He feels at home with The Dear Abbeys, and the Abbeys feel right at home with him. Ty’s greatest accomplishment was starring in the Dear Abbeys original film “The Abbey Code” as Beaufort H. Nerr (Bo Nerr). During his free time, Ty likes to act, sing, write, and drink as much caffeine as humanly possible. If you happen to see Ty walking down Commonwealth Avenue, don’t fret! You’ll most likely see him holding a cup of coffee or listen to him sing a song from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

OSCAR SOUCY - ‘25

Oscar dreams of becoming a great French chef despite his family's wishes. When fate places Oscar in the sewers of Paris, he finds himself ideally situated beneath a restaurant made famous by his culinary hero, Auguste Gusteau. Despite the apparent dangers of being an unlikely visitor in the kitchen of a fine French restaurant, Oscar’s passion for cooking soon sets into motion a hilarious and exciting race that turns the culinary world of Paris upside down. Oscar eventually gets the chance to prove his culinary abilities to a great food critic, but is the food good?

ALAN HU - ‘25

Born and raised in Shanghai, China, the Questrom senior stays true to his heritage. He’s extremely obsessed with badminton, beatboxing, Call of Duty, and stirring up good stuff with his wok. According to this guy, the secret to mastering vocal percussions involves neither sweat nor tear, but one is required to eat an amplifier for supper and a microphone for dessert on a daily basis. Therefore, don’t be surprised to catch him frying up mics on his kitchen stove.

JASPER LIU - ‘26

Hailing from Taipei, Taiwan, Jasper spends his time playing poker, hitting the gym, and cooking when he’s not singing (sometimes while singing). As a chronic procrastinator, he finds thrill in doing assignments last-minute and says it’s one of life’s great pleasures. Jasper is a reformed Yankees fan but still hasn’t gone to a Red Sox game, so that’s gotta change. As of right now, he’s watching season 4 of Sex Education and has a gigantic crush on Maeve.

NICHOLAS HARRIS - ‘27

When Nick isn’t terrorizing Comm Ave with Taylor Swift, he’s busy as a journalism major, part of the class of 27! His favorite food is the Warren Towers tomato basil soup.

ETHAN SUSILO - ‘27

Unfortunately from the wretched hive of scum and villainy otherwise known as the New Jersey suburbs, Ethan "E. Sussy" Susilo is a now 17-year-old sophomore, and more importantly, a proud bass. His favorite ways of spending his time (besides sleeping) include going on 90+ mile rides away from deadly drivers, cornering a little too hard during close-quarters cycling races, speaking/listening/writing/reading/breathing the Japanese language whenever possible in an attempt to become 上手, getting into debates about the most insignificant things, and reading random historical Wikipedia articles. He also has approximately two braincells remaining, whether as a result of the time he got impaled on a guardrail, of drinking too many hydrocarbons during lab, or a combination of both. You can probably find him between classes if you look for the one guy going 20mph down the Comm Ave bike lane (or the traffic lane, if the cars are too slow). Alternatively, look for a backpack with a keychain of Shinobu Oshino from the hit franchise known as the Monogatari Series by NisioisiN (shameless plug).

Coming from the very far town of Norfolk, Massachusetts, Mason found his haven with the Abbeys. He is a freshman studying Hospitality Administration at BU. He is a world traveler and may be found at the top of the Matterhorn. If you ask him anything about Disney related and he will have the answer. Mason will never turn down a night out and you can most often find him on the dance floor. Follow @masonsanfordd on instagram if you like aesthetic stories and pictures with his friends.

Bio: Coming from the small village of Larchmont, NY, Ian Morris spends his free time playing the clarinet or flute, going on runs, or maybe doing accounting. While Ian is a business major, he thoroughly enjoys performing as he has been performing since he was 8 years old and even won the most prestigious award of best comedic actor in the metropolitan area. Some special skills of his include, but are not limited to: knowing the lyrics to every Ariana Grande song ever released (and unreleased), doing a jazz split, and hopefully one day excel!

Coming from the amber waves of grain in Wisconsin, Brett Mitchell, not to be confused with Luke Cooper, is beyond hyped to be singing his heart out in the Dear Abbeys. Brett is a Freshman studying film and television, meaning he is just a Dear Baby (they grow up so fast). Beyond trying his best to sing baritone, Brett loves spending all of his money on thrifting, watching a random-movie-of-the-day, and playing Wii Sports Resort on the Wii (he will beat Matt someday). If you see Brett taking his daily 25 minute walks to class from West Campus, say “hello!” He is probably jamming out to Rex Orange County or Bruno Mars. Brett cannot wait to get old with the Dear Abbeys for the next four years.

Hailing from “around Chicago” as he calls it, nobody has ever seen what’s underneath his hat. Is it an evil twin? A third eye? A black hole? A metal helmet to stop Professor X from reading his thoughts? A bald spot? A fashion sense he hasn’t updated since 7th grade? The world may never know. Besides hats there are definitely a couple more interesting things about him. He’s pretty tall! That’s something right? If you want to find him, look under the nearest rock and he’ll probably be there chillin with some worms. 

RECENTLY GRADUATED:

NICOLAS DOS ANJOS (‘24) | JASON CAVANAGH (‘24) | JULIAN WESTERFIELD (‘24) | ELI CARROLL (‘24) | JOHN DELUCIA (‘23) | BRANDON SWAIN (‘23) | NEIL BAKER (‘23) | MATT MICHAUD (‘23) | JACKSON MACHESKY (‘22) | FRANCISCO FIGEUEIRAS (‘23) | ANTOINE BAIZE (‘22) | AARON RAMTULLA (‘22) | MARTIN DIMO (‘23) | DEVIN HUBBARD (‘21) | JACK HUMPHREY (‘21) | FINN DAVIDSON (‘21) | WILL BURNETT (‘21) | MATTYAR ALBORZI (‘20) | ERIC SHUREN (‘20) | JEFFREY WANG (‘19) | MATT FALCONE (‘19) | ELI ELMAN (‘19) | CHRISTIAN LAWRENCE (‘19) | LUCAS CHAVES (‘19) | RAFAEL SIREGAR (‘19) | TODD REISS  ('18) | JACOB NIKOLAJCZYK ('18) | BRADY MOSES ('17) | YANNI METAXAS ('17) | MATTHEW VERA ('17) | BENJI HADAR ('16) | ALEX MILLER ('16) | NICHOLAS GRIGGS-DRANE ('16) | KENJI GULDNER ('16)

MEDIA & MUSIC

YOUTUBE

ALBUMS

INSTAGRAM

THE DEAR ABBEYS - Current Tracks

CURRENT REPERTOIRE

I WILL SURVIVE
GLORIA GAYNOR | ARR. ETHAN WANNER

ALL FOR US
LABRINTH FT. ZENDAYA | ARR. MATTY BAGLIO

AD.1928/ROCKIN’ THE PARADISE
STYX | ARR. JACKSON MACHESKY

GIMME LOVE
JOJI | ARR. ETHAN WANNER

SNAKE EATER
THE 8-BIT BIG BAND | ARR. MATTY BAGLIO

PITCH PERFECT MEDLEY: BRIGHT LIGHTS/BIGGER CITY/MAGIC
THE TREBLEMAKERS | ARR. TBD

LIVIN’ LA VIDA LOCA
RICKY MARTIN | ARR. JASON CAVANAGH

IMPOSSIBLE
WASIA PROJECT | ARR. MATTY BAGLIO

AND SO IT GOES
BILLY JOEL | ARR. ETHAN WANNER

BANG BANG
JESSIE J | ARR. ETHAN WANNER

CANNED HEAT
JAMIROQUAI | ARR. JASON CAVANAGH

ABBEY ANTHEM
THE DEAR ABBEYS | ARR. ABBEYS PAST

RECENTLY RETIRED

Nights - Neon Trees | It’s Raining Men - The Weather Girls | Stone in Love - Journey | Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight - The Beatles | Goodbye Stranger - Supertramp | Hell’s Comin’ With Me - Poor Man’s Poison | Accidentally in Love - Counting Crows | Doomsday - Lizzy McAlpine | In Your Own Sweet Time - Zaska | Runaway Baby - Bruno Mars | Unholy - The Wrecks | Thoughts From The ER - Lawrence | Helix - Origami Button | Sound of Silence - Simon & Garfunkle | The Way Things Were - edbl | Copacabana - Barry Manilow | Movin’ Out - Billy Joel | Fly As Me - Bruno Mars | Skyfall - Adele | Holding Out For A Hero - Bonnie Tyler | Why’d It Have To Be You? - Zoe Sparks | Big Yellow Taxi - Counting Crows | Beggin’ - Maneskin | One Direction Medley - One Direction | Valerie - Amy Winehouse | Treasure - Bruno Mars | Think About Things - Daoi Freyr | Do You Wanna Do Nothing With Me - Lawrence

Bringing shows to you since ‘92


I will prepare and someday my chance will come.
— President Abraham Lincoln

the abbeys are back and we’re ready to roll

so scroll on down and book us for a live show!

 

We will generally only travel up to 40 miles outside of Boston but exceptions can be made.

AUDITIONS

 

JOIN US!

Thank you for your interest in The Dear Abbeys!

As all of our members and alumni will tell you, being in the Dear Abbeys is a unique and fulfilling aspect of "the college experience".

We love to welcome new members and are are happy that you’re considering auditioning for the group. Auditions will be held in the College of Arts & Sciences on September 14th and 15th.


SIGN UP FOR OUR EMAIL LIST!



On Diversity and Inclusion

As an all-male identifying acapella group on Boston University’s campus, The Dear Abbeys is committed to being a musical organization within the larger community that fosters acceptance, growth, talent, and individuality by accepting members, audiences, and music of singer/songwriters of all races, genders, sexualities, abilities, and more.

 

CONTACT US

For business enquiries, bookings, social media & marketing, and more.

Tommy Nguyen

PRESIDENT
EVENT, INTER-GROUP, & COMMUNITY
INQUIRIES

budearabbeys@gmail.com

ETHAN WANNER

MUSIC DIRECTOR
MUSICAL ARRANGEMENTS

dearabbeysmd@gmail.com

Will Hanley

BUSINESS MANAGER
INQUIRIES ON EVENTS, BOOKINGS, BUSINESS & MORE

dearabbeysbm@gmail.com

Cameron ward

MARKETING DIRECTOR
INQUIRIES ON SOCIAL MEDIA, PROMOTION AND MARKETING

dearabbeysmarketing@gmail.com

Luke cooper

TREASURER
FINANCES & ADMINISTRATIVE REQUESTS

dearabbeyst@gmail.com


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The first photo of The Dear Abbeys taken in the Warren Towers laundry room at Boston University circa 1992.

 

A Brief History

The Dear Abbeys were founded in 1992 by Cooper Olson and Jamie Kirkpatrick. Cooper Olson was an advertising major at Boston University and Jamie Kirkpatrick had been involved in theater and choir in his early years while majoring in film at BU. Cooper came to Jamie with an idea for a group, and together they went to the BU Student Activities Office to officially instate the group. At the office, they were tasked with naming the group by the head of the office. Her name was Abby, and initially the group had thought of the name The Westminster Abbeys, so upon further deliberation, they decided the name should be a combination of the two. Hence, The Dear Abbeys. The initial members of the group were Cooper Olson, Jamie Kirkpatrick, Stevie Wong, and Brian Reichelt, now known as the “four founders.” The first auditions were held on February 6th through 7th of 1992 calling for “nine fun guys to arrange and sing the songs of Elvis Costello, Joni Mitchell, Terrence Trent D’arby, and many more.” This was the first official branding of The Dear Abbeys as an all-male a cappella group, but 1992 was the only year where a female was allowed in the Abbeys. Carrie Pine is the only female Abbey, and while she wouldn’t perform with the group, she would run rehearsals.

Early Marketing

In January 1992 the first flyer was created. The flyer was advertising for auditions to be held on February 5,6, and 7 of 1992 and calling for men to be part of BU’s only all male a cappella group (a title which The Dear Abbeys still hold). This flyer was also the introduction of the group slogan “no showtunes.” This flyer was also the first appearance of Abraham Lincoln in a promotional material. Ever since, Abe Lincoln has been used in one way or another in almost all of the show posters and flyer over the years. When questioned on why Abe Lincoln was chosen to be in the flyers, The Dear Abbeys had no comment. The first Winter show flyer featured a depiction of a street sign with streets “The”, “Dear”, and “Abbeys” as a nod to Abbey Road. This flyer was printed on t-shirts for advertisements for the show, and was the first of many creative designs and ideas that The Dear Abbeys have become known for.

Claim to Fame

In 2005 The Dear Abbeys came in first place in the ICCA’s. This competition was and is the largest a cappella competition in the country and the win skyrocketed the popularity of The Abbeys. In 2008, the book “Pitch Perfect” written by Mickey Rapkin was published. This book mentioned The Dear Abbeys by name and discussed the 2005 ICCA’s in depth. In the book, it is implied that The Abbeys “stole” the title from Divisi (a women’s a cappella group at the University of Oregon), while The Dear Abbeys themselves adamantly deny this commentary. Nonetheless, in 2012 the movie “Pitch Perfect” (an adaptation of the book) was released, and the main antagonist of the film was an a cappella group known as the Treblemakers. This group was based strongly off of The Dear Abbeys, and has been their claim to fame ever since “Pitch Perfect” grossed 115.4 million dollars in the box office.

Winter Shows

Every year just before winter break at Boston University The Dear Abbeys host their annual winter show. The first winter show was hosted at Morse Auditorium (the biggest on-campus auditorium at the time) on December 12th 1992 at 8 PM. This show featured the Tufts Beelzebubs, The Yale University Baker’s Dozen, The Wellesley College Widows, and Boston University’s Terpsichore. The night before the show, Boston received 27 inches of snow. Ross Dickman, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boston said “This is a very strong Nor'easter, one of the strongest New England has ever seen . . . on a scale of one to 10, this is 11.” All of the groups that had signed up to perform except for Terpsichore cancelled. Still, Cooper Olson reached out to all the local radio stations telling them to broadcast that the show would still be happening. Despite the inclement weather, Morse Auditorium was completely sold out. Ever since, The Dear Abbeys have hosted their annual winter show in Morse Auditorium up until 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spring Shows

The Dear Abbeys Spring Show is historically held in the end of April right before the study break that precedes final exams at Boston University. In the early years of the Abbeys there were multiple shows in the spring, but by 1994 the spring show became a yearly extravagant event. A show at the end of the year meant that the Abbeys could showcase more songs and more complex arrangements that they had cultivated throughout the year. While the spring show was not regularly held in Morse over the years, it came with other traditions. In 1995 Brian Reichelt brought to the Abbeys a 4 foot wooden sword to be kept by the group. Every year, graduating Abbeys would carve their name in the sword to cement their legacy. At every spring show from that year onward, the “sword bearer” as they were called would pass the sword down to an Abbey who was “worthy”. That was, until 2020 when the sword was lost in shipping as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, at an alumni gathering in the BU pub in celebration of the group’s 30th anniversary, a new sword was purchased and presented to the group. All attending alumni carved their names into the new sword in an effort to restart the tradition.

Men Being Manly

In 2009 The Dear Abbeys hosted a show titled “Men Being Manly”. This show featured the Tufts Beelzebubs (another all-male a cappella group) and was titled as it was in an effort to be funny in that it juxtaposed being “manly” with a cappella. The first flyer featured a man wrestling a bear, and the designs have only increased in absurdity over the years. The meaning of the title has also evolved over the years. The show quickly became an outlet for redefining what it meant to be “manly” and other male stereotypes. Soon after, the show became a philanthropy concert where being “manly” was redefined as giving back to the less fortunate and women as well. In recent years, Men Being Manly has been retitled “MBM: The Dear Abbeys Philanthropy Show.”

Attire

The Dear Abbeys are now known around the BU campus for their matching black suit jackets, black jeans, white shirts, and red ties. However, The Abbeys weren’t always so sharply dressed. It wasn’t until 2012 that they had their own uniform. In 2012, Steven Oranges placed a bulk order for custom ties through Vineyard Vines. The ties were red with white and black stripes and images of Abe Lincoln’s head stitched throughout. The Abbeys first debuted them at the 2012 Spring Show on April 28th celebrating the 20th anniversary of the group. The ties were an immediate hit, and thus the uniform Abbeys call “AbbeyWear” was born.