The University of Chicago’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1892

Chicago Maroon

The University of Chicago’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1892

Chicago Maroon

The University of Chicago’s Independent Student Newspaper since 1892

Chicago Maroon

Out of the limelight, a cappella groups work in harmony

The singers and beat boxers in A Cappella Council are finally poised to take center stage. Compared to a cappella groups at universities like Yale or Brown, the U of C a cappella scene is relatively young, and it’s still forming.

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The U of C’s a cappella groups have historically been overshadowed by their east coast counterparts, but after forming the A Cappella Council (AC), the singers and beat boxers are finally poised to take center stage.

Compared to a cappella groups at universities like Yale or Brown, the U of C a cappella scene is relatively young, and it’s still forming. Only about 100 students sing in the seven a cappella groups on campus, about one-fifth the number of students who are involved with University Theater, according to the UT website.

“At other universities, a cappella dominates campus social life,” said Jessie Reuteler, a fourth-year and musical director of Men in Drag. “We want to improve the face of a cappella on campus.”

The seven groups formed AC at the end of 2008. Previously, each of the seven a cappella groups on campus individually held auditions, scheduled concerts, and purchased equipment. A grant from the Uncommon Fund for the purchase of wireless microphones served as the catalyst for a cooperative effort.

“We needed to formalize a group to use the money,” Reuteler said. “Technically only one group could use the money, and since several individual people from several groups were awarded the grant, that was a problem.”

The solution was the brainchild of M.D./Ph.D. student Chris Rishel, a member of Voices in Your Head. He proposed forming a consortium that would control the use of the new microphones, as well as generally advancing the interests of the a cappella community as a whole. “I saw a lot of potential here,” Rishel said, “but also a lot of risk to such a young community.”

Rishel worried that rivalry between singing groups could be detrimental to the wider community. “There was a big rivalry between two groups at my undergrad [University of Illinois],” he said. “Part of the job of the council is to act before people get upset, not to respond to an existing problem.”

For some a cappella members, however, a little antagonism is a useful thing. “I would characterize [our] relationship as a friendly rivalry, where groups push each other to be the best that they can be,” said third-year Matt Chan, president of the Ransom Notes.

The Council consists of Make a Joyful Noise, Men in Drag, the Ransom Notes, Rhythm and Jews, Run for Cover, Unaccompanied Women, and Voices in Your Head.

Upcoming AC events include a spring concert featuring all seven groups that will also fundraise for Haiti relief. By increasing their presence on campus, AC members hope to demonstrate that a cappella can be both hip and fun, contrary to stereotypes.

“When people think of a cappella, they tend to think cheesy—Billy Joel’s ‘The Longest Time,’ or old-timey barbershop quartets,” Rishel said. “But it doesn’t have to be that way.”

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