This year’s Fall Coffeehouse has yet again stunned the Hackley community. With performances from a diverse group of Upper School students, many seized the opportunity to perform and showcase their talents.

“I liked this Coffeehouse especially because it was fun to see seniors who haven’t performed over the past few years. It really goes to show how many people have hidden talents you may not know about,” said senior Kelly Saxton. “It was really fun. I was nervous, but I tried to remind myself that I knew the song. Hackley is also just such a supportive and loving community, and it was helpful to know that they were all rooting for me,” said senior Lana Tager, who performed “When The Levee Breaks” by Led Zeppelin for the first time at Coffeehouse.

Similar to Lana, sophomore Jocelyn Blockinger was nervous as she performed for the first time at Coffeehouse. “I was really nervous during the week leading up to it, but once I realized that everyone was so supportive, it was much easier to relax and enjoy it,” she said.

Performing at Coffee House can be very nerve racking, especially for those who do not perform frequently. “I had butterflies before standing up in front of everyone, but after I started to cool down a little,” said senior Greg Chung

Seniors Levi DeMatteo and Alexis Arnold were the MCs. “It was super fun; I loved it so much especially because Levi and I have been planning this since sophomore year. I wasn’t nervous about performing, but I was nervous about making sure we hit all the jokes right,” Alexis said.

“Levi and Alexis were really funny and I especially liked the ‘non-athlete of the week.’ That made my day,” said Lana. “My dad and I made the t-shirts at home because a certain group of kids get athlete of the week, and I thought that it would be funny to award those kids who don’t do athletics. We are such an athletic-based community, so I thought it was fitting,” said Alexis.

“A lot of the jokes were spontaneous, because that’s the kind of person Levi is,” Alexis said. “It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed being able to say whatever I wanted on stage. It almost felt like I was being a stand up comedian and introducing acts and supporting really talented people,” Levi added.

Sophomore Griffin DeMatteo performed with his brother Levi. Griffin has performed at Coffeehouse in the past and has his own band outside of Hackley that performs as well. “It felt pretty great. I rehearsed well enough and I felt confident on the stage. It was a little stressful putting everything together but we put in the proper amount of work to get the job done,” said Griffin.

Sophomore Delia Tager performed “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley. “Whenever I performed by myself at home I would mess up, so I was a little nervous going into it, but when I got up on stage I didn’t mess up. Everyone was supportive, especially when I got up there,” said Delia.

See the full set list from Coffeehouse below.

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