<p>@AngieA and Suzievt – thank you both for the discussion of fitting a cappella around an MT major’s rehearsal schedule. I had wondered about that! At first I’d assumed that MT kids might be discouraged from participating in an a cappella group, but heard that at NU it’s common. Seeing how little spare time my MT D has even now, it’s hard to imagine squeezing in one more thing… but I can see where the benefits could be huge!</p>
<p>AngieA – did your D decide not to continue with a cappella in subsequent years?</p>
<p>MomCares - D has auditioned every year for this a cappella group and got in as a junior. She considers it an honor to be a part of this group and will continue until she graduates. As Soozie mentioned, the friendships and the bonding are important to her, as well as performing. But it is a real challenge for her to fit everything in.</p>
<p>Thanks, AngieA. I can imagine that it is VERY difficult to get in to one of these groups, so congratulations to your D and again thanks to both you and Suzievt for interjecting the reality of scheduling challenges!</p>
<p>I know NU is in the midst of a cappella auditions right now, so I assume some other schools may be as well. Best of luck to everyone around the country auditioning for your a cappella groups this year!</p>
<p>For those with college a cappella experience – who typically pays for all the exotic travel and professional recording that some of these groups do?</p>
<p>@soozievt - Thanks again for sharing your firsthand knowledge! I was concerned that this might be another big expense associated with college, but it sounds like many groups handle the fundraising themselves which is what I’d hoped. ;-D</p>
<p>We had no personal expenses associated with our daughter’s four years in her award winning a capella group which also traveled to competitions. The only exception was our own travel to see them in competition!</p>
<p>Eeech! I hadn’t even considered the expenses associated with the family going to watch them perform and/or compete! It’s always something, no? ;-D</p>
<p>My D recently had to make a decision about auditioning for an A Cappella group as well as a freshman. She chose not to do it as she also wanted to pledge for Alpha Phi Omega (Comm service frat). She just thought it was too much to take on for now. She has decided to audition for a Choir in the 2nd semester as her 1st love is classical anyways. Good luck to all who are auditioning.</p>
<p>@Lulu63 – It seems like your D made a wise tradeoff, as it sounds like a cappella involves a huge time investment… especially on top of an MT schedule!</p>
<p>I am always so impressed when I see young adults with the sense to self-limit what they take on! I’m not sure D has learned to say no no to any opportunities yet, and even many of my adult friends struggle with that at times. Bravo!!</p>
<p>Fredonia has several acapella groups, co-ed, all-male, all-female…one of them actually competed in America Sings this summer and made it into the Top 5!</p>
<p>I wish I had time to hear every one of these groups, as the few college a cappella groups I’ve listened to recently are AMAZING. Who knew? </p>
<p>Do some of these groups auto-tune their recordings? They sound so perfect it’s almost hard to believe they’re real. It must be an absolute joy to sing in them!</p>
<p>Muhlenberg has at least 8 accapella groups, including the one my D was in- The Chaimonics. The members are about 50% Jewish, and they sing songs from many genres.</p>
<p>There is also one called Noteworthy that specializes in MT genre, and a couple that are all male or all female.</p>
<p>My D wanted to join the a capella group at her school the moment she heard and saw them performing at the visit we made for her to decide if she wanted to attend there. She was accepted her first semester and is now one of the musical directors. She is an ed major with a music concentration. She is not planning to be a music teacher but a sped one. </p>
<p>She has made so many friends and she did very well in her music theory classes, even though she had never taken any theory before because her fellow singers were incredibly generous with their time and talents in helping her study and practice. </p>
<p>Her only issue is that the group is not funded by the school. She’s attended meetings to try and change that but it seems insurmountable. The school insists that the group be open to anyone and while the group is willing to audition anyone who wants to try out, they refuse to violate their performance standards by taking in tone deaf kids who can’t carry a tune (words written by a tone deaf mom who can’t carry a tune).</p>
<p>My D is not doing any MT but she is in a school vocal ensemble and 2 bands, in which she sings and plays guitar and ukelele.</p>
<p>The group is a large time commitment but my D says she has become more organized in getting her HW done because she doesn’t want to have to drop the group to keep her grades up.</p>
<p>@Joan52 – It sounds like your D has had a fantastic a cappella experience, and after hearing the amazing arrangements some of these groups create my hat is off to all those student Music Directors. WOW!</p>
<p>I’m glad you mentioned the organizational skills that go along with being in an a cappella group, which is no doubt true with respect to time management for every member. Our D also just commented today on how impressed she is with the overall organization of her new a cappella group. She says each of the upperclassmen have very well-defined jobs, and she is already impressed by what a well-oiled machine this group is.</p>
<p>If the organizational part is all she learns from this experience, that alone seems totally worth the time investment!</p>
<p>I had meant to ask about this but forgot. I noticed this year at Northwestern that the top a cappella groups were missing over half of their members at the regional ICCA competition, as MANY folks had conflicting on-campus performances that prevented them from attending. </p>
<p>Do some campuses schedule performances such that folks in a cappella groups can actually attend the ICCA competitions? </p>
<p>Given the number of members missing from the NU groups this year, I certainly wouldn’t use ICCA results to judge the relative quality of a cappella groups, but perhaps this isn’t the norm at most schools?</p>