Shades is a co-educational a cappella group founded to celebrate music of the African Diaspora and African-American tradition. It is our objective to offer a unique, musically excellent, and spiritually enriching performance experience at Yale University and beyond. Drawing from the diverse backgrounds of our members and the oral traditions of Black people everywhere, we strive to authentically portray the true depth and complexity of the Black experience. In addition to mastering our style of music, we develop an appreciation of its history and roots in order to educate audiences about our music's lineage.

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We acknowledge and accept that we are endowed with the privilege of uplifting voices that are not always listened to, and we aim to do so through the richness of our repertoire and its power to inspire and unite us with our audiences.

 

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