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Millions of years ago in what is now southwest Wisconsin, drip after drip of acid trickled through the pervasive limestone formations, eroding away the rock. Over the millennia, the acid created a magnificent underground cavern known today as the Cave of the Mounds.

This geologic marvel with its otherworldly atmosphere is known as the “Jewel Box” of America’s major caves for its beautiful and varied rock formations.

Hailing as they do from ɬ�﷬, which calls itself “the Jewel of the Prairie,” it seemed appropriate, that the ɬ�﷬ Singers performed a concert in the Cave of the Mounds as part of their 2025 spring break tour. 

ɬ�﷬ Singers conductor John Rommereim says that alumna and former ɬ�﷬ Singer Yonu Cha ‘20 first made him aware of the Cave of the Mounds and its potential as a performance venue. On a visit to the cave, Cha was experimenting with the acoustics and decided to sing a piece that Rommereim wrote called “Amara.” She sent him a video of her impromptu performance, and it gave Rommereim the idea to take the ɬ�﷬ Singers there on the choir’s spring break tour. 

Rommereim says the cave was an inspiring place to perform. “Oh, yes. It’s beautiful,” he says. ɬ�﷬ Singers President Valeriya Woodard ’25, a senior, says performing in the cave was one of the highlights of the tour. “I mean, a.) how often do you get to go in a cave? And b.) how often do you get to sing in one? It was really beautiful.”

After the 30-minute concert, the students were able to tour the cave, learn about the geology, and marvel at its beauty. “There was a section of the cave where they turned off all the lights, and we were in complete darkness,” Woodard says. “That was so surreal.” 

Rommereim, who has an interest in cave art, has visited 10 or 12 Paleolithic caves in northern Spain and southern France with artwork from about 20,000 years ago. While this cave, which was only opened to the air and human visitors in the mid-1900s, did not have cave art, Rommereim says he feels an almost primal connection to those early humans who gathered in caves. 

“They would go into these caves and make art, and I’m sure they must have sung and made music too,” he says. “It is something that links us with humanity from the dawn of human history.”

He hopes to plan more cave performances for the ɬ�﷬ Singers, and perhaps even write a special piece for this setting. “I’d love to be able to … have a piece of music that’s designed for the caves and that connects with this idea that people have been doing this for many, many centuries,” Rommereim says.

Inside the Cave of the Mounds, the water is still dripping, and the formations are still evolving. “In moments of silence or the moments of quietness — I guess they’re what they called the cave teardrops — there was this water dripping,” Woodard says. “When we would hear the water droplets, it would be really beautiful to add a different texture to our piece.”

She adds, “I honestly got a little emotional. It was so beautiful.”