History of Spam Jam

Every June, harmonies reverberate across campus as the hard work of Hopkins’ a cappella groups culminates at Spam Jam. Spam Jam started as a small gathering in Upper Heath and has evolved to an annual concert under the graduation tent. On June 6 at 7:00 pm, Triple Trio and Harmonaires, the two acapella groups on campus, will end their year with a performance that features both fast and slow melodies, celebrates their seniors, and fills campus with music.

The a cappella groups have developed unique, but parallel traditions. Zach Haywood ’24, the co-head of Harmonaires, stated that at Spam Jam the Harmonaires perform “an alumni song [where] past harmonaires can come up and sing with us.” Leila Hyder ’24, the co-head of Triple Trio, delineated that Triple Trio also performs an annual alumni song, which she views as “one of the best parts" of Spam Jam. Giulia Crosio ’24, another co-head of Triple Trio, elaborated that “in Triple Trio's case,” the alumni song is “‘And So It Goes’ by Billy Joel.” Crosio loves this tradition because “it’s amazing seeing girls who have loved the group enough to come back and sing with us once again.” Another Spam Jam tradition for the groups is their concert attire; Haywood shared that the Harmonaires normally “wear tuxedos in the second act” and Hyder describes a similar tradition, saying “Spirens, a group that merged with Triple Trio, typically wore white and blue and Triple Trio always wore pink and white.” Hyder also mentioned that the concert typically features a “costume change” where both a cappella groups “change into black, for the more mellow and slow songs.” 

Traditions aside, a cappella members’ preparation for Spam Jam includes steadfast dedication, fastidious organization, and fun rehearsals which Hyder described as “busy.” Hyder also explained that Triple Trio had created a “master document with a schedule, all of our songs and the people on each part, any upcoming performances, and our weekly dinner rotation,” in order to stay organized while preparing for performances. Despite the hard work, Crosio has  “loved getting to funnel all of [her] effort and creativity into arranging all the music this year and helping organize” Triple Trio. Throughout the process of rehearsing, Crosio found it “rewarding to hear everything that we'd been practicing all year come together.” Haywood mirrored this statement and stated he watched “the group grow from the fall to where it is now, which has been super rewarding.” Rehearsals are not only a time of growth, but for James Liu ’25, a member of Harmonaires, the rehearsals to prepare for concerts were also “the most fun part” of being in Harmonaires.

While members of the a cappella groups enjoy performing at Spam Jam, the weeks leading up to the performance were still nerve-wracking. Shriya Vaid ’26, a member of Triple Trio, performed in her first Spam Jam last June. Vaid felt “nervous” leading up to Spam Jam and hoped that “we get more people than last year,” since audience attendance has decreased since COVID. Vaid communicated that there are “some tricky and complex songs,” but that they are “beautiful, beautiful, beautiful music.” Hyder was most nervous for a song Triple Trio and Harmonaires collaborated on: “All For Us” by Labyrinth. She explained the source of her worry: “it’s a really long song with lots of different tempos and key changes/melodies, so it’s a lot to memorize.” Crosio agreed that “it is definitely our hardest song and there are a lot of complicated, moving parts,” but affirmed that she and Haywood, who solo in the song, “have been practicing for months.” She referred to “All For Us” as a “high-risk high-reward song,” and, despite the song’s difficulty, “thinks it's going to sound great.”