History of the UNCG Sapphires

In the Beginning..

The UNCG Sapphires got started in the Spring semester of 2000 when Nick Lyons and Scot Weir of the UNCG Spartones, UNCG's male acapella group, decided that UNCG needed a similar female acapella group. Nick and Scot held interest meetings and auditions and selected an initial group of 16 women. These women were:

Shana Adams
Holly Brazell
Sarah Cox
Kellie Davis
Leanne Elias
Erin Fox
Beth Harris
Caren-Ann Jackson

Erin Lovejoy
Cathy Meyer
Jennifer Parnell
Jennifer Smith
Amelia Stevens
Rebecca Stevens
Anna Swenson
April Thornton

Nick remained in contact with the group over the summer, encouraging them and explaining what being in the Spartones was like. In the Fall of 2000, the group started rehearsing, not knowing what to expect. Nick stepped back at this time, allowing to group to fly on its own. The first elections were held, a preliminary constitution was written, and music was arranged and selected by the members. Jennifer Parnell and Caren-Ann Jackson were selected as the group's first musical directors. Erin Fox was elected Secretary and April Thornton was elected business manager. In an early October meeting, the group finally decided on a name for itself. UNCG's before nameless women's acapella group was now The Gate City Sapphires. Since then, the Sapphires continued to rehearse, and through a variety of circumstances, lost several of their initial members. Those that remained stuck to it, and kept the group going. The group decided to drop the "Gate City" off their name, since nobody knew what it meant. FYI: Greensboro, NC, is known as the "Gate City" because back when the railroad was a big business, all lines in this region went through Greensboro. You had to go through Greensboro to get anywhere, thus, "The Gate City".

Winter Retreat 2001

The Winter Retreat to a mountain cabin in Marshall, NC was a great success! The six members who were able to go all thoroughly enjoyed their time together. The Retreat was held over Martin Luther King Weekend, from January 12 through January 15. The six Sapphires rehearsed a little, but mostly got to know each other better through spending a relaxing long weekend in the mountains, leaving them fresh and ready to really make progress the rest of this semester!

Auditions Fall 2001

The Sapphires held their first interest meetings on their own, and turnout was wonderful! Auditions were held on Monday, August 27th. New members selected were:
Holly Daquioag
Lindsay Fox
Kelly Higgs
Jennifer Husser
Pam Mangan
Mary McClellan
April Walker

It was truly hard to pick these seven from all the excellent voices we heard at the auditions! Congratulations!

More Auditions

At a last minute audition at the end of the semester, the Sapphires selected Laura Azzarello to be a new alto. Congratulations Laura!

Winter Retreat 2002

Every last member was able to attend this year, all 12 of us! We had a blast in Seven Devils, NC. More soon!

UNCG Affiliation

The Sapphires are now officially affiliated with the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. As of Spring, 2002, we are now the UNCG Sapphires!

Auditions Spring 2002

Auditions will be held Thursday, February 7th. Good luck!

All complaints, suggestions, comments, or praise about the format, design, layout, or functionability of this webpage should be directed to uncgsapphires@yahoo.com.
Thank you.