Walk-Ons in Wonderland: UNC a cappella group celebrates seniors and beautiful voices

On Saturday evening, the UNC Walk-Ons, a mixed voice a cappella group, held their spring 2025 concert to a full house of students, friends and family — delivering a dynamic and emotional setlist.

The Walk-Ons opened strong with an upbeat performance of “Never Enough” — originally written by Rex Orange County and sung by senior Will Kleinschmidt. The concert as a whole featured a variety of songs, from a Katy Perry medley to an Aretha Franklin song, which showcased the range and personalities of the performers.

Each semester, the group selects an overarching concert theme and puts together original video skits, a signature Walk-Ons tradition. This concert was themed “Walk-Ons In Wonderland." The videos followed an “Alice in Wonderland”-style story, with some members acting out chaotic tea parties and others going mad. While there were a few technical difficulties with the projector in the first act, the Walk-Ons handled it by joking with the audience. 

“We do a theme every concert, so our last two themes, we did 'Walk-Ons Go To Work' last semester, the semester before we did 'Walk-Ons Go Greek,' where we started a frat,” Mason Roth, current president of the Walk-Ons, said. “They're always very silly.”

With a decorated stage and eccentric outfits, the evening wasn’t just a showcase of musical talent — it was a celebration of growth and connections, especially for the group’s seniors, who were honored with heartfelt senior speeches from other members of the group. Roth gave a speech to senior member Robbie London. 

“I think the senior speeches are such a great way to honor those people and picking who you give your senior speech to is really special,” Roth said. 

Miasol Yara, who joined the Walk-Ons during their first semester at UNC in fall 2021, reflected on the evolution of the group over their four years. Yara received a speech from first-year member Kate Guthrie. 

“There was a little bit of disarray when [the current seniors] started," Yara said. "But I feel like the years that I've been in it, the group has really grown and it's been so nice to be a part of that."

One of the night’s memorable moments came during a cover of an Aretha Franklin song, “Ain’t No Way,” sung by London. 

“The courage it takes for somebody to do an Aretha Franklin song,” Empress, the emcee at Speakeasy karaoke who performed at Saturday's concert, said. 

Empress met the Walk-Ons at a karaoke night at Speakeasy in Carrboro. She said that they just came in one Thursday night, and she’s become friends with them over the months. 

Empress sings “Last Dance” by Donna Summer to close out karaoke every Sunday and Thursday night. Her guest performance of the song at the concert had the crowd clapping their hands, and the Walk-Ons joined her on stage to dance along. 

“I enjoy that they bring love into my event, and I wanted to bring some love into their event today too,” Empress said. 

In the audience, friends and supporters of the performers cheered after every song. Eden Rosenbaum and Agustin Orozco, UNC students, came to support their friend, Kyle Murphy, who was one of the senior performers. 

“It’s very different from hearing him sing in the shower,” Rosenbaum, Murphy’s roommate, said jokingly.

She said that it was cool to watch Murphy shine onstage and support his passion for music. 

The spring concert wrapped up with final bows from seniors, ending their Walk-Ons experience on a celebratory and bittersweet moment. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: Two members of the Walk-ons, Will Kleinschmidt and Morgan Brenner, work for The Daily Tar Heel. Kleinschmidt is a Lifestyle staff writer and Brenner is an assistant Lifestyle editor.

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