The Treble Makers have come a long way from their humble beginnings. There was talk back in 1998 of starting a girls’ a capella group soon after 8 to the Bar (8ttb), Drexel's all male a capella group, started. A co-ed group, including some 8TTB members, was also considered, though nothing formed officially at that time.
Then near the end of January, 2001, senior Michelle Hollins, a close friend and follower of 8 to the Bar, decided it was time Drexel had a female a capella group. Fifteen girls showed up to the first meeting, and the Treble Makers (TMs) were born. The name "Treble Makers" was suggested by Kathe Esterheld, as it was the name thought to have been used by the 1998 group. After three months of organizational meetings, the Treble Makers were officially recognized by Drexel University on April 4th, 2001, with ten founding members.
After only a month of rehearsals, the TMs first performed as the opening act for 8ttb at the boy's annual concert on May 19, 2001. Our debut set included "Amazing Grace", Madonna's "Like a Prayer", "Possession" by Sarah McLachlan, and "River So Wide" by Phil Collins, which was performed with 8ttb members.
The summer of 2001 saw the departure of our graduates and the election of new officers. New girls were auditioned at the beginning of fall term to restore the group to 10 members. On March 2nd, 2002, the TM's held their first annual concert featuring eight songs and a ninth that premiered at 8ttb's annual concert on May 18th, 2002.
The TMs jumped into the 2002-2003 year with enthusiasm, working throughout the summer with only five performing members. We arranged 10 new songs (6 for performance that year), amended the constitution to make ours an open group, and planned out goals for a exciting year. In the fall, we welcomed 7 new performing members into our contingency and proudly boasted our first official male member, Peter Marinari - Peter has been with us from the beginning, and we owe him many thanks.
The TMs performed for the first time that school year at the Calcutta House on December 7, 2002 with great success. In the spring of 2003, the TMs hosted our first Annual Acappella Fest and performed on a street corner in Old City for First Friday. On May 31st of that year, at our 2nd annual concert, we performed 14 musical numbers on the stage of Stein Auditorium.
In September of 2003, with the help of our recent graduates, we performed the Star Spangled Banner at Veteran's Stadium (Phillies vs. Marlins). A few weeks later, we again accepted 7 new and talented members and, only four weeks after that, performed four songs at an Admissions event. Winter of 2003 saw the TrebleMakers singing at Ladies' Night at Villanova as well as at Swarthmore college and the University of Delaware. The TMs' Second Annual Acapella Fest, featuring groups from four different states, was a great success all around.
The spring concert of 2004 featured 15 songs, four of which were new that year. The concert also included the first audience selection of one song to be kept through to the next year's spring show. The winner of "Election 2004" was the song HeartBreaker.
During the summer of 2004, the TMs prepared three songs to use in fall recruitment, two of which were newly arranged.
In October, the TrebleMakers welcomed seven new singers into their ranks as well as acquiring their first non-performing officer, Suz Paulinski, in the position of Business Manager. They began the year with an ambitious goal, to learn an entirely fresh repertoire for the 04-05 season, with the exception of Heartbreaker, and learned six songs to performance level in their first six weeks of rehearsal. 2004 also featured the first ever Fall Retreat--an event for bonding and rehearsing early in the TMs' season.
In early 2005, the TMs hosted their Third Annual Acapella Fest featuring an unprecedented four guest groups. Acapella Fest 2005 was also the first time the TrebleMakers ever hosted a visiting all-female a capella group. During the winter, they also began actively raising funds to record their first CD ever.
The spring concert held on May 21st included 13 entirely new arrangements as well as one of the new songs from the summer of 2004 and Heartbreaker from the 03-04 season. The songs learned in the 04-05 year expanded the TrebleMakers' all-time repertoire from 21 songs to 35. They also helped welcome the newest addition to Drexel's a capella scene by featuring guest group Drexel Shor.
In January 2006, the TrebleMakers released their first CD, Sunglasses at Night. It features the repertoire from the 04-05 singing year.
A new yearly event, PhilACappella was established in December 2007. It is a benefit concert featuring local a cappella groups, with all proceeds benefitting PhilAbundance, the Philadelphia region's food rescue organization. Every year, around the holidays the TrebleMakers have been able to make a donation to this organization. Additionally the group talked of recording a second album...
In 2009, the group released a second CD, "Classy Girls Drink Boone's," including highlights from 2006-2008!
Currently performing members are in red