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Kirby Music Festival

Celine Fong ’25 and Charles Potter ’25 in News | May 12, 2023

Last Saturday on May 6, the Kirby House hosted the Kirby Music Festival, an annual spring event, to celebrate talented musicians on campus. Members of the Lawrenceville community gathered around the Crescent Green to enjoy ice cream from a Mister Softee truck while watching the student performances.
Reflecting on the planning for the event, Maggie Blundin ’24, one of Kirby’s two Social Representatives, said that it took “a lot of hours and a lot of teamwork” planning together with House President Ava Jahn ’24, fellow Social Representative Aleyna Aksu ’24, and the Heads of House Mary Calvert and Christine Ding. Blundin noted that she was also looking forward to “seeing everyone dressed in festival attire.” “It was a great opportunity for everyone to have a fun night on a spring evening,” she said. 
Aksu said that the festival required “a lot of preparation over the past four weeks.” Her and Blundin’s main goal was just for “everyone to have fun.” 
Kirby Music Festival was Busola Babatunde’s ’25 first time performing in front of the student body. She, along with Sofi Keith ’25, Emma Marston ’25, and Tenji Sithole ’25 performed the song “Daydreamer” by Adele. Babatunde was glad her friends “pushed her outside of her comfort zone to perform.”
Locke McMurray Jr. ’25 and Macklynn Harper ’24 performed the song “Burn Burn Burn” by Zach Bryan. “I haven’t played guitar since my [II Form] year, but seeing the artists enjoy themselves at All Arts Night this year made me want to start playing again,” McMurray said. After hearing about the Kirby Music Festival, he was “excited to try performing.” 
The festival’s final performance featured a four-song performance from The Disciples, Lawrenceville’s student rock band. Lead singer Eric Han ’24 was “very excited” as it was “the band’s biggest performance of the term.” The band played “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” by Frankie Valley, “Mr Bright Side” by The Killers, “Until I Found You” by Stephen Sanchez, and “If I Got You” by Alicia Keys. 
Lilly Gessner ’23 described The Disciples’ performance as “immaculate…I was on my friend’s shoulders, looking down, observing the absolute magnificence of the performance…This is exactly how I wanted to spend my senior Spring,” she said. 
Other members of the community expressed feelings of anticipation, bittersweetness, and excitement. Lana Kim ’26 enjoyed the ice cream and performances, noting that the event had “a really good environment.” 
Kirby prefect Ashley Lee ’23 noted that she was “feeling sad” because it would be her last Kirby Music Festival, but she was “happy [the event] happened because it is the biggest Kirby event in the spring.” 
Overall, the Kirby Music Festival was a way for students to come together and watch musicians on campus showcase their talents. 

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