Baruch College’s Lexington Music club is back and better than ever.

The club was originally founded by Baruch alumnus Feba George and chartered as an official club in December 2019. Due to the transition to virtual instruction for both classes and clubs in 2020, it was temporarily inactive — up until last semester.

Accounting student Hanson Wu was eager to join a club at Baruch where he can connect with fellow musicians and music enthusiasts. Wu searched on Baruch’s student-run subreddit for a music club, finding that the college’s previous music club was inactive with no current plan for reactivation. He took it upon himself to reactivate Lexington Music last semester, in order to bring back an environment for students who “are dedicated to playing music and learning together.”

Wu currently serves as president of Lexington Music. He’s proud to see Lexington Music up and running again, but recognizes that there is still room to grow and more events to be planned. Due to the limited amount of time left last semester, a lot of the club’s ideas were not able to come to fruition — but the club sees this semester full of new opportunities. Lexington Music performed at this year’s Winter Fest and successfully planned its first event of the semester in February, its Valentine’s Day Soiree.

“After [the Valentine’s Day Soiree], we realized that it was really a stepping stone for us,” Vice President of Lexington Music Timothy Yakhya said. “We showed people what we’re capable of, and what we have to offer, it’s only the beginning realistically. If we keep at it, and we have people that are motivated to help us on our journey of this club, then the sky’s the limit essentially.”

The club’s performances at Winter Fest and its Valentine’s Day Soiree were just the beginning of the musical styles Lexington Music plans to provide to the Baruch community.

Throughout this semester, Lexington Music will be co-sponsoring a multitude of events and performances in collaboration with other clubs such as the Vietnamese Student Association, Baruch’s anime club the Japanese Anime Asylum and Hillel at Baruch, in addition to hosting a talent show competition in April.

“In terms of events, it’s less of us hosting events, which is almost the great part, we’re like freelancers…Every club more or less would have an event that would require live music and who better to perform at their event than us?” Yakhya said.

There is no audition or application process necessary as the club’s officials felt this would “severely limit the number of people that would want to join.” They understand that there are varying levels of musical talent in the club and want to give every Baruch student an equal opportunity to join.

Lexington Music can be found meeting in room 12-145 in the William and Anita Newman Vertical Campus during club hours on Thursdays, where anyone is welcome. Club sessions can range from students bringing in their instruments to play together to writing songs as a group. Sometimes, its members just enjoy and discuss music.

“This is a hub area, this is a meeting ground for everyone to come together, to share ideas and share their passions,” Yakhya explained.

The club offers a service to the many students at Baruch who play an instrument but do not have other musicians to collaborate with, opening the door for new artistic endeavors through a group.

“Without this club, I wouldn’t have been able to meet or have known this many people that are into the same type of music as me or are performing different instruments of different styles,” Marcus Rosario, bass player and member of Lexington Music, said.

“So I think for people that love music, this is the perfect environment.”

The club will be exploring many avenues that were not possible in the previous semesters as well, such as workshops for students interested in learning an instrument, improving their skills and building a traveling troupe of musicians set to perform throughout Manhattan.

“At the end of the day, [our club] is for anyone who has any interest in music whatsoever,” Yakhya said.

Editor’s Note: Feba George was a former features editor for The Ticker.