This Friday, 16 marvelously talented ladies will be putting on quite a show at Donkey Coffee. In this casual and intimate setting, Ohio University’s all-female a cappella group, The Tempo Tantrums, will have you grooving out to a soundtrack of recognizable pop-songs.

The group formed in 2008, when three female singers had the desire to create a musical extracurricular group and wanted a chance to share their passion with the rest of the university. Since then, the group has expanded to 16 members who all have a sincere dedication to the group.

Being a part of The Tempo Tantrums is no easy feat, however. Being a member takes patience, concentration and a definite love of music.

"[Being a Tempo Tantrum] takes a lot of patience, because you are working with a lot of people and all original arrangements. Collaborative spirit is very important in music in general. Dedication and concentration is [sic] important, but you also have to have fun,” said Lo Martinez, a journalism major and third-year member of the group.

Martinez views The Tempo Tantrums as the perfect extracurricular for her busy schedule.

“As a journalism major, my course schedule will not leave room for electives. The great thing about Tempo Tantrums is that I am able to do it strictly as an extracurricular activity while exercising my interest in music,” she says.

Eden Lee is the president of Tempo Tantrums and majoring in voice performance. Music has always been a huge part of her life, so it was only natural that she join the a cappella group three years ago.

“My mom was a singer so she was always singing around me when I was younger. It has always been something I felt at home doing and something I always felt passionate about,” she explains.

The Tempo Tantrums have a busy schedule but they are a laid back group that likes to have fun, and most of all, enjoy music. The group normally practices twice a week and has somewhere around five performances per quarter. Spring quarter is considered to be the busiest time of the year since the weather is nice outside and people hold many events.

During practice, the most important thing for the group is warming up.

“We warm up as a group doing different exercises. Then we jump into arrangements. Close to gig-time is when we smooth through any issues,” said Lee.

The Tempo Tantrums have always stressed a democratic and collaborative style. All of their songs are original arrangements and the girl who writes the song is usually the one teaching it. A few girls in the group choose the songs they think would be best to sing and The Tempo Tantrums vote on which songs they like best. Each quarter the group tends to learn four new songs.

In the last four years, The Tempo Tantrums have become increasingly popular around campus. Their most frequented venues are coffee shops.

“For some reason coffee and a cappella music seem to go together well. But we take advantage of it,” said Martinez.

The group is always eager to perform at philanthropy and charity events. Recently, they have sung at sorority benefits and Take Back the Night, which occurred last week. The Tempo Tantrums’ final performance this year will be at Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium.

Lately, the Tempo Tantrums have been especially busy rehearsing. Every year an invitational is hosted by Section 8, a male a cappella group out of Singing Men of Ohio, and this year the Tempo Tantrums have been invited to perform.

“It is really exciting because it is playfully competitive. Everyone is working hard to impress the others,” said Martinez.

One aspect of The Tempo Tantrums that is sure to arouse excitement from the audience is their impressive repertoire of pop-songs. Since the group was created, the arrangers have focused on choosing Top 40 songs.

“Those are the songs that are out and popular, so they are the songs people want to hear,” said Lee.

The Tempo Tantrums do try to mix other genres within pop including R&B hits and oldies to give their playlist a nice variety.

“We have staple songs because they are classics,” said Martinez, “but we are always trying to refresh and renew our repertoire.”

This unique and talented female ensemble is sure to get the audience going at Donkey Coffee Friday evening. Singer-songwriter Alayna Locke will open the Tempo Tantrums’ show with a few individual tunes of her own.

The show begins at 8 pm and there is no cover charge.