Whenever I tell someone that I am in an a cappella group, the first question I normally get is, “Will you sing something for me?” to which I respond “It won’t sound as good without the others here but I’ll try. Doo Doo Doo Wah Doh.” But the second question I am always asked is, “Is it like Pitch Perfect?” This question never fails to entice me. It is not like Pitch Perfect, there are no riff offs or rules about talking to people in other groups. But, the competition at the end of the movie is a very real competition. The International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) gathers groups from across the US and UK and they compete to see who is the best of the best in collegiate a cappella. I had the honor of competing in this year’s Midwest Quarterfinals with my group and the experience was like none other.
ICCA Midwest Quarterfinals began on February 4th and my school returned from break on January 17th. This gave us about a three week period to prepare three songs and choreography for the competition. Over the Christmas break our music director revised three songs from the first semester, so we did not need to learn three new songs in three weeks. I came back from the break and got right back into it; Practice started back up two times a week for two hours, but that only captures the time spent with the 15 other people I make music with.
Practice doesn’t stop with the two hours-- it’s also the time I spent every day after my last class going into the stairwell in my res hall listening to my music, looking at my music, singing my music, and fixing what I mess up. Two weeks of this culminates in one fun, exciting, and stressful week: Tech Week. 21 hours of practice in one week. Yes, you spend almost an entire day of your week with the same 15 people singing and dancing. It seems stressful, and it is, but it is all worth it for that one performance.
The week started on Saturday, so that by the time Wednesday rolled around it already felt like Friday. With early rehearsals on the weekend, I went to dinner with a few members after rehearsal which is a good time to spend with them outside of practicing. Then the week rolls around and Monday is as busy as ever with school from 10-3 then service until 6 and Micah community meeting until 8 then practice until 11. I never felt stressed, but certainly tired, until I had to stay up until 4 in the morning to complete an assignment that I procrastinated on all week. Even though I had to deal with pressure from class, it didn’t matter because I got to go to practice and prepare for the most exciting event to come on Saturday. Tech Week and ICCA brought me closer with my group and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
The actual day of the competition is crazy. The day began at 12:30 when we left SLU for Wash U. We arrived at approximately 1:00 and would not depart until long after 10:00. That being said, there was plenty of time to be wasted as a group. Games, conversation, and food. We had about 2 hours before our sound check and then 2 hours after. The show started at 7:00 and the pure excitement of seeing other groups perform, watching the audience react to the other groups got me so excited for my performance.
Flash forward to right before the performance, nerves are jangling, energy is raging, and a quiet calm fills everyone right before we step on stage. I get into my first position with my head down. I hear the hum of a pitch pipe. My head shoots up, “oooo.” And before I can even think, the 12 minute set is over and the audience is cheering and I’m filled with so much adrenaline that I don’t even know what is happening. Everyone is jumping and screaming because we all know we absolutely killed it. The show ends and the judges tally up the scores. All the groups come back on stage. I have never felt more proud and accomplished in my life than when it was announced that one of our seniors won Best Solo and then our group came in third place. I can’t put the feeling into words, just the flood of emotion and the roar of the crowd. The hard work has paid off and I can’t wait to do it again next year.
