Campus Ministry Hosts Bi-annual Coffeehouse FNE Event
Image courtesy of CUA Campus Ministry.
By Anthony Curioso
On the chilly night of November 22, dozens of CUA students piled into Caldwell Auditorium for Campus Ministry’s latest event in the Friday Night Events (FNE) series: the bi-annual Coffeehouse.
Coffeehouse is the one event within the FNE series that Campus Ministry reprises every semester. This event allows patrons to enjoy copious amounts of custom-made coffee, other beverages, and pastries while watching their friends showcase their talents.
Addie Wildermuth, a junior music major, shared her thoughts on the process of organizing the Coffeehouse events.
“Coffeehouse is so much fun to put together—all the setup creates such a wonderful bonding experience, and I’ve gotten to know so many people through FNE,” Wildermuth said. “This is such a great event for people to relax before the end of the semester and show off their amazing talents.”
For the student performances, audience members were treated to crowd-favorite acts from previous Coffeehouse events, as well as a healthy mix of newcomers making their first appearances.
The returning crowd-favorite performers at the Fall 2025 Coffeehouse event included a variety of acts. Junior history and philosophy major Joseph Donnelly, known for presenting comedic poems and songs, presented a poem that parodied Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven.” Senior elementary education major Caitlin Hernandez also returned to Coffeehouse to sing and play the piano, this time for “So Easy (To Fall In Love)” by Olivia Dean. Additionally, senior music education major Anthony Curioso returned to perform an Irish pub song, “Good Luck to the Barley Mow,” which he has sung at every Coffeehouse event he has participated in.
Abigail Rakow, a junior nursing major who also returned to the Coffeehouse stage, commented on why she enjoys performing at the Coffeehouse events.
“I like performing at Coffeehouse because it’s a fun way to show off what I’ve been working on and create things with my friends,” Rakow said. “Every semester, it scratches my itch to make something cool when I wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity.”
Several first-time Coffeehouse performers also received glowing reviews from the audience for their acts. One of the groups making their Coffeehouse debut was “Drummer Wanted.” This ensemble includes sophomore philosophy major Riley Winston, junior philosophy major Kathryn Beyer, and freshman theology and philosophy major Julian Jayke Garza, who all recently won the Battle of the Bands event hosted by WCUA Radio on the previous Thursday. This group performed a bluegrass arrangement of the hymn “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say” for Coffeehouse.
Other first-time Coffeehouse performers included Br. Finbar Kantor, a CUA alumnus in formation at the Dominican House of Studies and a Campus Ministry assistant, performing a violin waltz he had written during his undergraduate studies; David Hunter, a freshman musical theatre major, performing a song that had been recorded in outer space; and Liam Corrigan, a freshman politics major and music minor, performing “Neon” by John Mayer.
Eva Turcanova, a sophomore English major, offered her thoughts on watching the performances from the audience.
“This is my second time coming to Coffeehouse,” Turcanova said. “I love seeing people come up to perform whom I wouldn’t have supposed could sing or play, yet they blow me away every time!”
Each performance at Coffeehouse, be it from a newcomer to the tradition or a returnee, elicited a raucous reaction from the crowd.
On her experience being both a performer and audience member, Hernandez shared, “As a senior, I still have such fond memories of when this open-mic event once (barely) fit in the living room of The House. Fast forward three years later, I’ve loved going to every Coffeehouse since then, both as a performer and audience member.”
