Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashlyn Quinly.
Hi Ashlyn, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I joined the Naturelles my freshman year at the University of Missouri – Columbia. I was walking through speaker’s circle when I saw a girl, who later turned into one of my really good friends, handing out posters for an a cappella group on campus. I have been involved in choir since 6th grade, so this peaked my interest and I decided to try out. I went and auditioned against about 40 other girls and was one of 5 selected that year to join The Naturelles. I have had an amazing experience and being a part of this organization has truly given so many cherished friendships and some of my favorite memories throughout college. During sophomore year, I was elected to be Vice President and held that role until the end of junior year when I was elected to be Co-Presidents with my amazing friend Emma for our senior year.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Overall, I would say that this journey has been a fairly smooth road, don’t get me wrong there are always ups and downs with anything that you are a part of for 4 years, but we have always found ways to overcome them. We compete in an annual a cappella competition called ICCA, International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella. We have been fortunate enough to be accepted into the competition for the last 4 years that I have been a part of the group and gotten to compete against some truly talented groups. This is our most challenging performance of the year because not only do we have to create our own arrangements to perform, but we also come up with our own choreography and formations. We have some absolutely amazing talent in our group who is able to arrange and choreograph an amazing set, but learning our full performance, is what I would say, is our biggest struggle during the year, simply because we want it to be as amazing and perfect as possible. We all come together and have put on spectacular performances for many years.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
We are an a cappella group at the University of Missouri – Columbia. We have 2 concerts, one in the fall and one in the spring, compete in ICCAs annually, and perform throughout the year for various other functions, like singing the national anthem at Mizzou sports games. One thing I take pride in saying about our group is that none of us are music majors and we participate in this group for the love of music all of us share and the love for each other we all have. We also arrange our own music as well as use arrangements that previous Naturelles have created.
Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
I feel honored to have gotten to be a part of this group. I am graduating this May and saying goodbye to my friends who I have gotten so close with is the hardest part about leaving Mizzou. I will forever be grateful for the amazing memories that I have with them and cannot wait to see what they do in the years to come.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @munaturelles
- TikTok: @mu.naturelles
