By MORGAN DANNA
STAFF WRITER
This past Saturday, February 25, SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music hosted one of the many quarterfinal rounds of the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella happening around the country and in the United Kingdom over the next few months. The event featured performances by nine collegiate a cappella groups. For those of you who don’t know what the ICCAs are, or thought they only existed in “Pitch Perfect,” here’s a quick rundown.The first ICCAs occurred in 1996, making this year the 21st round of championships. The competition includes a cappella groups made up of college students from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. This year, there are almost 400 groups performing in the quarterfinal round of the competition. The participating countries are split into a total of ten regions, and each region hosts three to five quarterfinal competitions. A cappella groups who make the cut perform at the quarterfinal event that is geographically nearest to them. Once this round is complete, the top two groups from each will then go on to the semifinal. Eventually, 10 finalists will perform at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, vying for a $25,000 prize. In 2016, The Techtonics, an all-male group from the Imperial College in London, won the finals, becoming the first non-American participants to walk away with the prize.
The first ICCAs occurred in 1996, making this year the 21st round of championships. The competition includes a cappella groups made up of college students from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. This year, there are almost 400 groups performing in the quarterfinal round of the competition. The participating countries are split into a total of ten regions, and each region hosts three to five quarterfinal competitions. A cappella groups who make the cut perform at the quarterfinal event that is geographically nearest to them. Once this round is complete, the top two groups from each will then go on to the semifinal. Eventually, 10 finalists will perform at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, vying for a $25,000 prize. In 2016, The Techtonics, an all-male group from the Imperial College in London, won the finals, becoming the first non-American participants to walk away with the prize.
SUNY Potsdam was a perfect place to host a regional competition, given that four out of the nine groups who performed on Saturday actually attend the school. These included A Sharp Arrangement, Stay Tuned, The Potsdam Pitches, and the Potsdam Pointercounts. Three of the others, The Musical InterDudes, The Unaccompanied Minors, and The Water Boys, were from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. Also present were the Harpur Harpeggioes, hailing from Binghamton University, and the UltraVioleTones, a co-ed a cappella group from Clarkson University (yes, you read that correctly). Each group had 12 minutes to perform anything they wanted, as long as it was considered “family friendly.” If they exceeded this allotted time, they faced penalization during the judging process. At the end of the night, the judges chose the top three groups, two of which will continue to the seminfinals.
Overall, it was quite an impressive evening. The groups were extremely varied (although purple and black seemed to be a very common outfit color scheme), and they captivated the crowd with covers of “Super Bass” by Nicki Minaj, “Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough,” by Michael Jackson, and “Animal” by Neon Trees, to name a few. Each group introduced animated choreography, energy, and vocals. At the end of the night, the judges, chosen based on their prior experience as music educators, performers, or a cappella singers, awarded first place to The Potsdam Pitches, second place to The Water Boys, and third place to The Potsdam Pointercounts. Additional recognition was also given to an Outstanding Soloist, Outstanding Vocal Percussion, Outstanding Arrangement and Outstanding Choreography, which were all awarded to individuals in one of the top two groups of the night.