Imagine a group sitting around a dinner table, with people in the kitchen and laughter filling the room. This is not a scene in the suburbs. This is the a cappella group Harmonyx taking part in what they consider their core value: being a family.
Harmonyx, founded in 1995 by Raegan McDonald, is one of the five performing subsets of the Black Student Movement. The group welcomes all people with a passion to sing and a desire to stand with a group that operates as a bonded unit.
Junior Gregory Davis is entering his fourth semester with Harmonyx. He said he feels that the group itself means family within music.
“Harmonizing is big for us, and it’s not just harmonizing with song, it’s also harmonizing with each other emotionally,” Davis said. “If you don’t bring the family all together then you can’t have great music — especially a capella music.”
President Tatiana Egbuna said that Harmonyx immediately felt like home when she joined the group her first year.
“Although we are a business, a lot of the way we run is family-first,” Egbuna said. “That’s really important to us to know that everybody in the group is okay.”
Black Student Movement President Qieara Lesesne oversees all groups that operate under BSM. She said she feels the bond of Harmonyx members exemplifies one of her goals for BSM for the 2018-2019 school year.
“That family, close supportive environment is something that I want for our community and something that we’ve kind of been playing around with," Lesesne said. "But really the main focus of this new admin is really inviting people to more inclusive events, social events and educational events so that way we can grow and spend time together as a family.”
Multiple members of Harmonyx said they yearn to extend their own strong ties with its members to people in the greater UNC community. They want to expand the familial bond shared within the group so that even non-members feel included.
