2025 Dillon Moran Musicians in Residence Midtown Deliver a Transformative Experience

Throughout their two-day residency, Midtown conducted impactful workshops and masterclasses with all of Severn's musical performance groups. They also performed for both the Upper School and the Middle School and held several open rehearsals. They concluded their time at Severn by hosting a characteristically high-energy performance that was open to the community.

One group that benefited from Midtown's residency was The Gentlemen of Severn, an all-male a cappella group founded in 2024. Fletcher Warner '26, a founding member of this new student-led group, was grateful for the opportunity to learn from these professional singers. Over two sessions, the members of Midtown taught the Gents some short Barbershop harmonies called "tags". "They taught us technical ideas in a way that made so much sense – like how to shape your voice," said Warner. "They were also so nice! It would be easy to be intimidated by them, but it wasn't that way at all."

Warner is also part of Jam Band and Breakwater, Severn's competitive a cappella group, giving him two additional opportunities to learn from Midtown. The quad of singers offered feedback during Jam Band's weekly class and attended the evening Breakwater rehearsal.

"It was incredibly productive," said Warner, on having Midtown observe and critique Breakwater. "They focused in on these little things and had us make small changes that made a big difference." Not only did they expand the students' understanding of things like dynamics, balance, and vocal placement, but they also worked with them on the choreography for their upcoming competition set.

In each session, the members of Midtown were positive and upbeat, while also offering valuable insights and practical tips to the student performers to help them improve – like altering a single drumbeat, gaining consensus on how long to draw out a word in a vocal arrangement, or encouraging a singer to remember to smile.

One highlight from Midtown's performance for the Upper School was when the performers invited self-described "huge fan" Matt Fisher '25 on stage to sing with them. "I was super nervous but also psyched to harmonize with one of the best a cappella groups in the world," said Fisher. "It was an experience I will remember for years to come.”

Fisher is also a member of The Gentlemen of Severn, so in addition to his on-stage moment, he spent time on both days learning from them and had high praise for the experience. "They have this outstanding ability to take a piece of music that sounds good and make it sound great," he said. "With the vocal exercises and tips they gave us, we were making the music ring out and sound way better than it had sounded before."

"Sometimes they say don't meet your heroes, but this was not the case with Midtown as they were wonderful to work with while being super encouraging and funny," he added.

Rob Redei, Chair of Upper School Arts and Choral Director, called the visit "transformative."

"Ideally, when we bring musicians in to work with our students, those students have new goals to work towards by the end of the visit," he said. "That happened in spades this year – the student artists look at how they create sound and how they approach performing differently than they did just a couple of days ago."

Based out of Manhattan, NY, Midtown is a dynamic, international, award-winning vocal quartet that provides an exceptional entertainment experience. Well-versed in a variety of styles, their high-energy show takes the audience on a ride that will leave them wanting more.

In 2023, Midtown was crowned the best Barbershop Quartet in the world after winning the Barbershop Harmony Society's Quartet Championship.

The Dillon Moran Musician in Residence program was created in Fall 2012 to commemorate the passion, exuberance, and solid musicianship exemplified by Dillon Moran, Severn School Class of 2013. Dillon's life was tragically cut short in the fall of 2011 as the result of an accident at his home in Davidsonville, Maryland.

The program invites outside musicians to spend a defined period of time at Severn working with students, faculty, and the entire community to inspire, create, and perform great music. The visiting musicians will share their talents with Severn students and provide a fresh approach and new ways of bringing music to life in the Severn community.