Four ensembles form ETSU are competing in the south region quarterfinals of the International Championship of Collegiate A Capella this Saturday at the at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville campus against five of their ensembles as well as one from the University of Memphis.
The International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, or the ICCA, is held from January to April every year. The structure is formed through a bracket system with quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.
A Cappella is the singing without any instruments or added music. Hannah Lawson, a member of Greyscale, describes it as reimagining music that includes instrumentation but with only voices, similar to the groups that preform in the movie “Pitch Perfect.”
ETSU’s ensembles are Greyscale, Swashbucklers, Harmonium and Ascension.
Greyscale is directed by Alan Stevens, associate professor and associate director of choral activities in the ETSU Department of Music. The ensembles fuses jazz and contemporary styles together. They have also produced three albums and competed in the 2018 ICCA competition.
“In the 2018 ICCA competition, one of our sopranos, Rebecca Cormack, won best soloist, and our beat boxer, Paul Adedokun, won best vocal percussion,” said Lawson.
The competition can be stressful, and groups have little rituals they do in order to stay focused and ready for their time on stage.
“We have had different rituals for different groups over the years,” Lawson said.” “These have changed group to group for the past four years that I have been in Greyscale. We used to have what we would call energy circles to get all of our wiggles out before going on stage. Now it is really nice to have time between rehearsal and the competition to sit, talk, do our hair and makeup and to make sure we are all on the same page.”
The Swashbucklers is a men’s ensemble directed by Gianni Loepke. Harmonium is a women’s ensemble and is directed by Kaitlyn Hopkins, and Ascension is comprised of men and women and is directed by Thomas Richardson. These are all student directors who perform many types of music.
“I would encourage students to come watch our shows and audition for our group,” said Lawson. “Everyone that has been in Greyscale for the last eight semesters has became family to me.”
