Astha, Bare Naked Statues, Beyond All Reason and Decadence are four very different a capella teams, each with a storied history, but united by one competitive circuit.
Each team competed in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella on Jan. 31 and Feb. 14. ICCA is open to college teams from multiple countries across nine regions.
This year’s competition was quite different for one of SLU’s teams. The co-ed Christian group, Six-Eight, did not compete at this year’s Midwest qualifiers. The remaining four teams were split between two rounds, with Decadence, BNS and BAR competing at Washington University on Jan. 31.
Astha A Cappella competed on their own this past weekend, Feb. 14, at Missouri State University. Though this was the first competition of the year for many of the teams, preparation actually began all the way back in September. Junior neuroscience student Aahil Abdul Nazeer said they’ve been practicing every week since the competition’s date was announced.
“Right around September, our [musical directors] arrange and create our competition piece for the season, and then we have our newbies work on their skills over the semester, day by day,” said Nazeer, the group’s lead vocal percussionist.
Each team was asked to submit an audition tape highlighting their music and overall abilities. Avery Cornelius, the music director for BAR, explained that the tapes need to be well put together to qualify for competitions.
“We try to take everyone’s ideas and put it into the audition video,” Cornelius said. ”We want everyone to be proud of what we send in.”
Many teams also have a “boot camp” where everyone will come back from winter break early and spend entire days working on their competition pieces. Nazeer said these informal meetings were a space to receive final critiques and feedback.
“We all get together and refine and retune everything, we’ll have alumni come and judge us,” Nazeer said. “Just everything to be ready for the competitions.”
The WashU competition took place less than a month after the spring semester started, meaning teams had a short turnaround to get any themes established and choreography finalized. Rose Moll, a sophomore studying physical therapy and a new member of BAR, said the whole process can be intense.
“It was definitely more stressful, and everyone’s attention can run a bit high sometimes, but [rehearsing] definitely helps us feel more confident and closer as a group,” Moll said.
Many teams like to choose a theme because it provides a central story that can strengthen their music choices and transitions. These themes can be used in various ways and Astha’s music director and resident, Amirtha Vijay, wanted to highlight individual talents.
“Since we have the talent of carnatic singers this year, we really wanted to showcase that,” Vijay, a public health senior, said. ”We had one of our singers, Srija, a great carnatic singer, showcase her talents … and keep the audience captivated going into our next songs.”
Carnatic music is a centuries-old style of South Indian singing stylized by heavy vocal structures and shifts.
Alternatively, Jackson Gurnsey, president of BNS and senior political science student, said their theme formed around the idea of romance, with songs like “Run To You” by Whitney Houston and “Love Me Now” by John Legend.
“We were going for a kind of lovers type story,” Gurnsey said. ”It starts with a ‘love me’ idea, and then you’re trying to get the girl back.”
BAR similarly used the songs “Eleanor Rigby” by The Beatles and “Situations” by Escape the Fate to discuss the ideas of romantic isolation.
Astha was massively successful at the Missouri State competition, placing second overall and winning Outstanding Arrangement by Amirtha Vijay and Best Soloist for alto Srija Boddu.
Junior health management major and Astha logistics captain Meghana Gangireddy said the win was a perfect capstone to a year of hard work.
“Placing this year felt worth every second because of Astha’s dedication, and [our bond] made it a truly unforgettable experience,” Gangireddy said.
Astha is unique from other teams as they sing a combination of American and Indian music. Given this, they compete on two separate circuits, both ICCA and the Association of South-Asian A Cappella. Because of this unique circumstance, they had to compete in three different competitions back-to-back.
Despite this challenge, Vijay said she was thrilled with the progress the group made.
“It’s very satisfying when we can put all our work together and go out on stage,” Vijay said.”Even if we’re not feeling happy or comfortable, we’re still able to put out a piece we can be proud of.”
None of the teams at the WashU competition placed and advanced to the next round. Despite this, every group still came out of the competition feeling strong and united. Speech Language Junior and Decadence music director Pearle Bramlett said that she was thankful for her team’s camaraderie all throughout the year.
“I was just filled with so much gratitude … for everyone who was just showing up to rehearsal and showing up with a smile on their face,” Bramlett said. “We definitely felt good looking back at our performance, which is what’s most important, you know?”
