{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-article-tsx","path":"/primespringhassung","webpackCompilationHash":"9a0ced8328085ce15e2e","result":{"data":{"primeArticle":{"headline":"Finding a New Rhythm","author":"Juliette Regier","authorbio":"","authoremail":"","authortwitter":"","coverimg":"http://oink.dailybruin.com/packages/prime.springhassung/image/1zjBBs0Fe5LsQUDNxVK5xZ2-WfCkPKjyr/","covercred":"Photos by Selin Filiz and Daily Bruin Archive.","coveralt":"The ScatterTones celebrate their Spring Sing 2026 win.","articleType":"article","updated":"","content":[{"type":"text","value":"When Katie Boeck was in high school, she was moved by an online performance of UCLA alumnus and singer Sara Bareilles – so much so that she reached out to her on MySpace."},{"type":"text","value":"Boeck would be attending UCLA in the fall, and coincidentally, Bareilles had gone there too. Being Bruins was not the only thing they had in common – Boeck was a singer-songwriter herself."},{"type":"text","value":"Later that year, in the cold air of the Los Angeles Tennis Center, Boeck waited in the wings of the Spring Sing stage with hand warmers in her fists. She was minutes away from performing her original song \"Colorblind\" to thousands of members of the UCLA student body."},{"type":"text","value":"Boeck would go on to win the 2007 Spring Sing."},{"type":"text","value":"She won her second year performing to students at the LATC as well. But for her third year in the contest, the event was relocated to Pauley Pavilion – a venue with an almost 3,200-capacity increase."},{"type":"text","value":"From the inaugural event in Royce Hall in 1945 to the Hollywood Bowl in the '50s to the many locations where students have come together to share their work with the world, the culture surrounding one of UCLA’s longest-standing traditions has evolved. Even in years when the event lacked a physical venue, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic, the performance has prevailed."},{"type":"text","value":"Budget cuts to the Student Alumni Association – which orchestrates every step of the event – have moved the event back to its birthplace of Royce Hall, said Shirin Dunker, director of 2026 Spring Sing. However, alumni and students involved in the tradition throughout the years do not see the change in venue as a negative but rather a natural evolution of a decades-long tradition."},{"type":"text","value":"Boeck had first tried out for the acapella group Awaken after hearing classmates speak about the competitive process. She didn’t get in."},{"type":"text","value":"Instead of giving up, she frequently found herself practicing piano in Dykstra Hall."},{"type":"text","value":"Songwriting became her way to process the world around her, and when Spring Sing rolled around just two quarters after Awaken had turned her away, she said she knew she had to audition – it was her only chance to perform that year, after all."},{"type":"text","value":"A few months later, she found herself on the stage at the LATC."},{"type":"text","value":"But Boeck's last time performing at the LATC – for her second Spring Sing – wasn’t the last time students took its stage for the signature event. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the venue became part of the modern Spring Sing tradition."},{"type":"largeimageC","value":"{\"alt\":\"Actor Jeremy Renner announces the winner of Spring Sing 2023.\",\"url\":\"http://oink.dailybruin.com/packages/prime.springhassung/image/1qKAN719WkK1YJL7DaoFeDRvuypuBBxUW/\",\"credit\":\"Daily Bruin file photo\",\"caption\":\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"Alumnus Kayla Samuels, who was Spring Sing director in 2019, believes many benefits stem from allowing Spring Sing to continue changing over time."},{"type":"pull","value":"{\"caption\":\"Why not make it a space where all of Los Angeles wants to come, but also to have another iteration of envisioning what else it could feel like?\\\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"\"Spring Sing and SAA as a whole were adaptable and had to do it outside. But I love that they're taking a step to have the ability to have more people, if that's possible, because why not make it a community event?\" Samuels said. \"Why not make it a space where all of Los Angeles wants to come, but also to have another iteration of envisioning what else it could feel like?\""},{"type":"text","value":"Jon Augustine, winner of the UCLA Mortar Board Award for Best Solo in the 1991 Spring Sing, gave his performance at the LATC, a space which has hosted many highly ranked tennis players over the years."},{"type":"text","value":"Walking by the tennis center is an everyday experience for many UCLA students, Augustine said. Shaping it into an amphitheater transformed the space so it felt \"electric\" and even intimate – despite the venue’s 8,100-person capacity – the night he won, he said."},{"type":"text","value":"The lighting created an especially warm atmosphere at the LATC."},{"type":"text","value":"2023 Spring Sing director and alumnus Laura de Beer spent much of the night of their event worried about a slight drizzle over the tennis stadium and pinning the stage down for safety. Rather than blowing the stage or any of its equipment away – a genuine concern of organizers that evening – the drizzle added to the atmosphere."},{"type":"text","value":"\"Someone was doing a solo, and the lights were kind of dim, and I was just looking out at the audience instead of looking at the stage,\" de Beer said. \"Everyone just looked so entranced in the moment, and that was something that really stuck with me.\""},{"type":"text","value":"But in Pauley Pavilion, Samuels explained how the athletic environment translated into a venue for performances by the creation of an indoor concert environment."},{"type":"text","value":"\"I love outdoor venues more than the next person when it comes to concerts and live music,\" Samuels said. \"But there's something really unbelievably earth-shattering about being in a building where people are just shrieking in joy and excitement for things that are so specifically UCLA.\""},{"type":"text","value":"Samuels held the performance in Pauley Pavilion. After the show ended, the entire team stayed to break down the stage. In their little bubble, Pauley Pavilion became a place where sports and art events blended together, creating an atmosphere where the sounds reverberated off the walls in all directions."},{"type":"text","value":"\"Traditions can change, and they should change with the times and with what's realistic,\" Samuels said."},{"type":"largeimageC","value":"{\"alt\":\"Pictured are the judges of Spring Sing 2019, which was held in Pauley Pavilion.\",\"url\":\"http://oink.dailybruin.com/packages/prime.springhassung/image/1U1j27-25UEe829ezA9mux4FwIvq1GKx8/\",\"credit\":\"Daily Bruin file photo\",\"caption\":\"\"}"},{"type":"text","value":"But not every Spring Sing has had a physical venue."},{"type":"text","value":"The 2020 and 2021 Spring Sing events were online. During de Beer’s freshman year, she had worked on the Spring Sing committee online. When it was time for the performance, de Beer had flown in from London, where she was living at the time, to join the rest of her peers in a watch party of the performances. While this was the first time she was meeting so many people on the committee, it was a way to celebrate all the work that had gone into the preparation."},{"type":"text","value":"De Beer said students who had experienced events such as Spring Sing or Dance Marathon exposed the events to students who hadn't attended them yet. She noticed the excitement of those who were experiencing those events for the first time and how special passing along the traditions to them was."},{"type":"text","value":"\"My hope is that this is a tradition that can withstand cultural shifts, and it's really just about empowering students and letting students have a space to speak up and show their craft,\" de Beer said."},{"type":"text","value":"Boeck said Spring Sing was about the moments of togetherness that a performance brings."},{"type":"text","value":"Regardless of the venue, Boeck said it is an opportunity for the student body to share their creativity and artistry in a world where people are becoming more and more divided. As a professional musician now, Boeck performed a high number of cover songs within the year to be able to play her own original music at a festival. Spring Sing allowed her and other UCLA students to play those original songs."},{"type":"text","value":"\"It's a privilege, really, to have a stage that big to share your original music on,\" Boeck said."},{"type":"text","value":"Spring Sing gives the performers an opportunity – not only to share their songs but also to build their credibility as artists. De Beer said that many of the performers can use Spring Sing as a platform for their music. Oftentimes, there are talent agencies in the audience, ready to give opportunities to students."},{"type":"text","value":"After Augustine’s Spring Sing performance, a talent scout approached him and asked Augustine if he was interested in going on a show called \"Star Search.\" The talent scout said Augustine was the kind of talent they were looking for."},{"type":"text","value":"While the LATC and Pauley Pavilion each had their own benefits and limitations, Boeck did not recall feeling particularly drawn to one venue over the other and focused more importantly on how the performance moved the audience and performers."},{"type":"text","value":"The excitement surrounding Spring Sing has not dissipated. At the 2025 Spring Sing, director Jaden Oquendo recalls peeking through the curtain on the night of the performance and seeing the crowd with their flashlights and excited faces engaging with the performance."},{"type":"text","value":"In 2026, for the first time since 1947, Spring Sing was held in Royce Hall. Dunker said switching the location this year built new excitement for the event."},{"type":"text","value":"\"If they've been in the past three years, they've seen the tennis courts,\" Dunker said. \"But now maybe this is something new, and then in the future, if they change it again, it'll be a new experience, new kind of culture and vibe to the show in general – that allows us to keep things creative for something that's just been around for so many years.\""},{"type":"text","value":"While the seating has decreased from approximately 8,100 at the LATC to 1,800 in Royce, those involved in Spring Sing are looking to the future of what the event might hold. Oquendo said many of the performers are already comfortable with performing in Royce since it is a venue that the performing arts departments use frequently. Physically, the building is central to campus, and students are already familiar with it."},{"type":"text","value":"De Beer said Royce is already a performance venue, and there would be no effort needed to convert the space into a stage. Royce Hall also alleviates the LATC’s concern about the weather, making it a predictable venue. Dunker added that Royce is an elevated and exclusive experience, allowing for a more intimate feeling for the audience."},{"type":"text","value":"While Samuels wants to see Spring Sing return to Pauley Pavilion, she explains it is understandable because her years of experiencing Spring Sing occurred there. Her longing for the nostalgia of what she remembers of her Spring Sing is normal. However, it is important to revitalize the traditions of Spring Sing, Samuels said."},{"type":"text","value":"\"I don't know if anything's lost by going to Royce, as much as what it's gained by creating a new iteration of a tradition,\" Samuels said."}]}},"pageContext":{"isCreatedByStatefulCreatePages":false,"term":"spring26","slug":"prime.springhassung"}}}