Curious about whose voices filled the Rose Room during lunch the other day? They belonged to Something Extra, a Yale University women’s a cappella group founded by Yale undergraduate Lori-Anne Wynter in 1977. The group remained unnamed until its first public performance, when an unprepared emcee introduced the ensemble as “a little something extra,” a name that has remained since.

Nearly five decades later, Something Extra performs as an exclusively soprano and alto ensemble, a tradition the group has maintained since its founding. On Jan. 6, the group opened the lunchtime performance with their theme song, before performing “Read My Mind” by The Killers, “Killing Me Softly” by Fugees, “Jealous” by Labrinth, “A Case of You” by Joni Mitchell and “Bills, Bills, Bills” by Destiny’s Child. Amongst the performers was Archer alumna Isabelle Verdery, who graduated in 2023.

Throughout her time at Archer, Verdery was a member of APSU and a cappella, and she participated in theater since seventh grade. Director of Middle School Reed Farley said he remembered the drive and tenacity Verdery exemplified at such a young age. He said these qualities led her to being chosen for the role of Belle in Archer’s performance of Beauty and the Beast in 2018.

“I was very involved with performing arts at Archer,” Verdery said. “I was in a cappella at Archer for a little while, and I did all the musicals. So I was just very excited to get to see all of my friends at Archer who are still here.”

Farley said that before the COVID-19 pandemic, Archer would host collegiate a cappella groups that were on tour. He said whenever he got a request from a group that included an Archer alumna, he always made sure to bring them in for a performance.

In the fall, Verdery reached out to Farley, Director of Academic Operations Kasey Nott and choir director Kevin Cornwell, to request that Something Extra perform at Archer. Verdery said this performance felt overdue because Something Extra had been planning to go on tour in LA for a long time, since it is her and alto two singer Alexi Skovitz’s hometown. Verdery said the group often visits places where members are from.

Verdery said that during her seventh grade year, Harvard men’s a cappella group, The Krokodiloes, performed at Archer. She said that since then, it’s been a dream of hers to do the same.

After their performance, Something Extra taught Archer’s Unaccompanied Minors their arrangement of “Bills, Bills, Bills.” Cornwell said Verdery initially only asked to perform during lunch; however, he convinced the group to also teach students how to sing one of the pieces they were working on.

“They’re learning the fundamentals about a cappella music, so not just singing it, but how to work in a group and how to sing in a group,” Cornwell said. “They need to know what things to look out for because a cappella is different from choir because there’s no accompaniment, so it’s a lot more exposed.”

Over the course of the hour-long session, members of Something Extra worked individually with each of the vocal sections, teaching them their parts and providing guidance on how to improve them. After 30 minutes of coaching, the Unaccompanied Minors and Something Extra sang together to enhance what they’d been practicing. They also did a Q&A at the end so students could learn more about the process of joining and participating in a collegiate a cappella group.

“I’m a huge person on giving experiences to all my students. What better way to give a firsthand, real-time experience than having an actual a cappella group come in,” Cornwell said. “The students get to learn full-on arrangements with many of these members that take a cappella really seriously.”

By performing and working directly with Archer’s Unaccompanied Minors, Cornwell said Something Extra provided students with a rare look into collegiate a cappella. Farley said the visit demonstrated how Archer’s performing arts community continues to extend beyond graduation.

“Watching students grow up is one of the beautiful parts of being an educator,” Farley said. “It’s just so rewarding to see how they develop and mature.”

Additional reporting by multimedia reporters reporter Georgia Lebowitz (’28) and Leani Al-Midani (’28).