On March 13, the Nor’easters hosted its annual Best of Northeast Region, or BONR, showcase in Blackman Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. The performance featured Berklee College of Music’s Pitch Slapped a cappella and Northeastern’s Kinematix hip-hop dance troupe.

“We try to bring the same good energy every year, and I think we were able to do that this year, hopefully even more than the last, and more every year,” said emcee Anya Monchak, a second-year behavioral neuroscience major and content creator for the Nor’easters. 

BONR dates back to 2012 and has had a range of guest performers from the Northeast region, including The Dear Abbeys of Boston University and The Jabberwocks of Brown University to Fermata Town, a Boston-based mixed-vocal band in the Contemporary A Cappella Society.

“Being in front of an audience any time is super rewarding,” said Owen Austin, a second-year political science and business administration combined major who serves as the brand manager for the Nor’easters. “Everything that goes into building that has just been really exciting to share with people.”

The Nor’easters began the show with a new arrangement of “After Hours” by Kehlani, soloed by Jacqueline Pottle, a fourth-year biology major and business manager for the group. This was followed by an arrangement of “Plum” by Troye Sivan, soloed by Austin.

After two songs, the Nor’easters left the stage and Monchak introduced Kinematix, the first non-a cappella group to be featured in BONR, though it previously choreographed dance numbers to accompany The Nor’easters’ arrangements.

“I think adding Kinematix was a big, big push in a cool direction for us. I think it’ll definitely inspire years going forward, maybe incorporating different sorts of arts in our Best of Northeast Region concert,” Monchak said.

The Kinematix segment began with a mesmerizing duet to “Remember (feat. Ty Dolla $ign)” by KATIE. Yurika Kan, a third-year computer science and business administration combined major, and David Bahang, a third-year business administration and design combined major, performed the duet and the latter choreographed. 

The following number was a small-group dance to “Please Me” by Bruno Mars and Cardi B, originally performed at the 2025 Bodies in Motion showcase. This dance was choreographed by Kaavya Baliga, a second-year environmental and sustainability sciences and economics combined major. 

To close out its BONR feature, Kinematix debuted its set to “Rock My World” by Michael Jackson. 

BONR attendees were the first to experience this set, which will be the troupe’s primary competition piece throughout the semester. It features a partner dance segment, which is unique to this Kinematix set.

“I had the opportunity to choreograph the first piece in the set, so I think that was my favorite part of the process — seeing something that was my own idea coming together,” Baliga said.

The Nor’easters returned to the stage to perform three songs from its current repertoire. The first was an arrangement of “ROCKMAN” by Mk.gee, soloed by Joshua Timmins, a fourth-year behavioral neuroscience major and president of the Nor’easters. This piece was followed by an arrangement of “THE GREATEST” by Billie Eilish, soloed by Allie Fosnot, a third-year contemporary writing and production major at Berklee.

The third song in this segment was an arrangement of “Human Nature” by Michael Jackson, soloed by Thierno Barry, a third-year computer science major. The Nor’easters released this cover on all streaming platforms March 13, the same day as BONR.

Pitch Slapped was introduced next, representing Berklee. USA Today named the group one of the top five in the country, and it went on to win two International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, or ICCA, competitions in 2011 and 2014. Pitch Slapped was also featured on NBC’s America’s Got Talent and The Sing-Off, respectively.

The group previously performed at the first and second BONR showcases in 2012 and 2013.

“Pitch Slapped and the Nor’easters are both long-time a cappella groups that have done a lot in the a cappella community, so when these events go on, we often invite the groups to perform at our own functions … ” said Patrick Lei, a songwriter in Boston and the business manager for Pitch Slapped. “Both groups release amazing studio music; they have some really iconic stages in a cappella history, so it’s always nice to see and perform with the other groups every year.”

Pitch Slapped began its segment with “What About Us?” by Brandy, soloed by Sharai Brandy, a first-year vocal performance major at Berklee. That was followed by “Midnight” by Lianne La Havas, soloed by Elisa Platonoff, a third-year film and media scoring major at Berklee.

Next, the group performed “Misunderstood” by Lucky Daye, soloed by Marcino Ambris, a third-year performance major at Berklee. The last song was “Beggin & Pleadin” by Brandy, soloed by J. Wilson, a first-year music production and engineering major at Berklee.

“Brandy is one of my biggest influences vocally and when it comes to production,” Wilson said. “It was an honor to pay homage to one of my favorite artists by being able to cover her song with this wonderful a cappella group.”

The Nor’easters returned to the stage to close out the show with the set it will compete with at the ICCA. The set began with a one-minute segment of “Welcome to My Island” by Caroline Polachek, soloed by Julianna Zannikos, a fifth-year health science major, and Olivia Zegers, a third-year music major.

The song then transitioned to “Where is my Husband!” by RAYE, with a trio performance by Sara Sovak, a first-year vocal performance major at Berklee, Tulip Ghosh, a second-year business administration major at Northeastern, and Fosnot.

This was Dylan Settles’ first BONR and a cappella performance.

“I’m from Kentucky, so this is very new,” Settles, a first-year undeclared major at Berklee,  said. His favorite part of the show was the “Where is my Husband!” segment. “That was awesome.”

The two final arrangements in the set were “Hopedrunk Everasking” by Caroline Polachek, soloed by Zegers, and “The Moment I Said It” by Imogen Heap, soloed by Zannikos.

The Nor’easters won first place in the ICCA competition in 2013 and 2017. After placing first in the quarterfinals in February, the Nor’easters are set to compete in the ICCA semifinals March 28.

Correction: This article was updated March 23 at 1:30 p.m. to correct Zannikos’ year.