Seniors Emily Ruiz and Ava Guckian lead the all-girls a cappella group “Ladies First” with a good-cop, bad-cop attitude and passion. 

“Ladies First” has been performing for many years, including at school-wide choral concerts and the annual Myron A. Wick Jr. Choral Music Festival at St. Mark’s School. Now, the seniors are taking the group to new heights, as the only freshmen accepted into the club four years ago, Guckian, the “good cop” alto, and Ruiz, the “bad cop” soprano, have worked their way up to become the leaders they once admired. 

Both Ruiz and Guckian enjoy the challenge and musicality of arranging and singing a capella.

“How can you create a song that has instruments without using instruments in it?” Ruiz said. “Using our voices.”

They expressed how a cappella is more technical than expected, requiring more skill than just singing along to the beat.

“It’s like when you hear a song, what is the piano doing, what is the guitar doing and how can you emulate that with your voice,” Guckian said. 

Recently, Guckain and Ruiz have arranged a Disney medley, which is a single performance piece composed of multiple songs sung sequentially, in this case: “Almost There” from Princess and the Frog, “I won’t say I’m in Love” from Hercules, “I’ll make a man out of you” from Mulan, “Know Who You Are” from Moana, “Something There” from Belle with possibly more to come. This mash-up will be sung at the upcoming spring Pops concert, as well as the entirety of the song “Show Yourself” from Frozen, alongside the other a cappella group Algoncapella. 

Ruiz and Guckian also enjoy singing wintery tunes. Their favorites include “White Winter Hymnal” (the Pentatonix version) and “Christmas Dreaming,” which were featured at their Wick performance last year. 

Already having dreams of running the club one day, Guckian and Ruiz paid close attention to how their leaders worked when they first started. 

“It was cool to see how the leaders at the time managed us, created new music and taught it to us while creating community,” Ruiz said. “It was something I really admired.” 

Now, as leaders themselves who sing on opposite sides of the scale, the pair of best friends also bring opposite characters to their roles as leaders, which they describe as a “good cop, bad cop” duo.

“I’m more of the hammer, and Ava’s the more supportive one,” Ruiz said.

Guckian shared the importance of having contrasting personalities as role models for the group. 

“The [group members] know we are both there to support them, but it’s important to have someone who will be mean,” Guckian said. “I remember we had someone sophomore year; she was so strict and everyone was scared of her, and it was really effective.” 

The way the pair runs things now is a reflection of their leaders back then, bringing back the coaching they experienced in their first years in the group. By being tough on the girls, telling them to practice hard and be the best they can be, Ruiz and Guckian began to see a real change in work ethic.

“I had some girls tell me this year that they’ve practiced more than they ever have for the group in the past, that’s really what I wanted,” Ruiz said. “Ava and I, we both wanted to make this group more competitive and difficult.” 

Guckian shared this sentiment. 

“It’s a privilege to be a part of the group… you have to work hard,” Guckian said.

That hard work and technique have brought them to places they usually wouldn’t. Serving as the only public school and student-run group invited to the Wick Choral Music festival is a feat unique to “Ladies First.” 

“We feel very proud of ourselves that we were able to go and be with and compete with these really awesome groups,” Guckian said. 

Something that helps the group tremendously in reaching its achievements is not only their skills, but also the girls’ connection. 

“Even just our dynamic [is special], because we’re all friends, which is really important because you’re able to work better and create better art with people you actually enjoy being with,” Guckian said. 

This strong bond carries into how the club is run as well; the team-oriented layout of the group ensures everyone’s voices are heard within the harmony.

“Even though we’re leaders of the group, it’s not like we’re a hierarchy; we do a lot of voting for stuff, and it’s run with the girls of the group,” Ruiz said. 

Since the group is small, it is a struggle to create different sounds, so practicing songs is crucial, especially before big performances, like their Wick performances.

“Our final run-through before our performance, we were in the rotunda, and I think it was honestly the best we ever sang it,” Ruiz said. “We all were like synced up, we all remembered everything.” 

The Wick performance was especially memorable, as other groups admired the performance of “Ladies First.” 

“What I think is really special about it is that the other a capella groups were watching us, and afterward they loved it, and I don’t think we took the time to realize how much work we put into it,” Guckian said. “We should be proud of ourselves, because we put so much pressure on ourselves.”

Ruiz was also incredibly proud of the entire group.

“It was special because we were so happy for ourselves, but the other a capella group was also happy for us, so we were all celebrating together, we felt very connected,” Ruiz said. 

Now, as graduating seniors, the two want to leave the group on a high note.

“The seniors, when I first joined, were very influential in my life. I wanted to be exactly like them when I became a leader because of how much of an impact they had on me,” Ruiz said. “I hope I made an impact on the younger girls to have them decide, if this would be something they’d be interested in doing when they are seniors, because I feel like that was what happened for me.”