A capella group hopes to be heard

When sophomore Maddie Vann came to USD, she couldn’t help but notice something was missing: a student run a cappella group. After seeing various college groups perform at her high school and around her hometown, she was disappointed that there wasn’t a casual choir that focused on more contemporary pop music at her university. She decided to take it upon herself to take the steps to start this project.
“USD is pretty good about approving clubs,” Vann said. “If you want to start one and you have a couple people interested in it, you attend a few meetings and it can happen. Of course I had some help from my friends, but the hard part was generating enough interest.”
With a little research I found that USD once had an a cappella group called Empty Jukebox, but ended when the seniors graduated in 2007. Now with the growing popularity of the T.V. show Glee, it is no surprise that there is more interest in joining, and supporting, this type of performance art.
Last semester, about 45 people were involved in the USD A Cappella Choir, which meant attending meetings, brainstorming what they wanted out of this choir and performing songs. About 20 of those members participated in their first live performance of “Fireflies” by Owl City at the Almost Famous event put on by Gamma Phi Beta and Beta Theta Pi last semester.
“I wasn’t sure if we would have enough people to actually hold auditions, but after the turnout last semester I felt it was time to create a smaller group that can be more consistent and better organized,” Vann said.
Auditions were held Feb. 21 and 22. on campus. Each performer sang a one to two minute piece of their choice in front of Vann, an advisor, alumnie and other students that knew about music but weren’t auditioning. Callbacks were held Feb. 28 to eventually find the 16 to 20 talented men and women that will create a name, choose songs and start practicing. The group will include singers from each range (bass, soprano, etc.), as well as beat boxers. Right now women are heavily outweighing the men in auditions, but the choir will have an equal number of each in the end.
Once the group is created, they will hold practices once a week with an occasional rehearsal to prepare their repertoire. Because it is new and in its beginning stages, it is hard to tell what involvement in the group will actually entail. The idea is that they will perform on campus, as well as in the San Diego area, and are looking to work together with other student organizations on campus.
“At the very least we will have an end of the semester performance with all the songs we have learned,” said Vann said.
The head of the concert and choral scholars is also starting an eight-person a cappella group this semester. His will be smaller, and more professional, whereas this group is student run, casual and open to the student body.
“While the groups will be very different, hopefully we can do something together,” said Vann.
With the forming of an official group it will give others a chance to step up and help the choir grow so they can prove that they belong at USD and are not just temporary.
If you are interested in joining, supporting, or learning more about the club, please look up the group on Facebook (USD A Cappella).