You know it’s ICCA, the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, competition week when you’re drinking honey and rehearsing for 60+ hours a week.
For UCF’s award-winning a cappella groups- KeyHarmony, Gemini Blvd., and Voicebox- all that hard work pays off when they get on stage. On Saturday, they participated in one of the South Quarter Finals for ICCA. Voicebox placed 1st, BisCaydence, from the University of Miami, placed 2nd, and Gemini Blvd. placed 3rd. First and second place will move on to the Semi-finals in March, which will be hosted at the University of Florida.
Voicebox, the most recent addition to UCF’s a cappella community, competed for the first time at SoJam last fall. For them, participating at ICCA was next on the agenda.
“Everyone in this group is so focused and so positive, these guys really aim big,” said executive director of Voicebox, Christine Thomas.
The group was astonished to take away awards for best arrangement, best choreography, and best vocal percussion, having only prepared the set in two weeks. Zachary Anderson, one of the founding members, was honest about some obstacles the group faced being new to the scene.
“One of the biggest hurdles is that people don’t know who we are, so getting gigs is sometimes difficult, because people are like: who’s Voicebox?” Anderson said. “It’s also kind of fun because nobody knows what to expect.”
Their set, which included “Something Big Is Happening,” by Shawn Mendes, really defined the co-ed group, looking to make a name for themselves at ICCA this past weekend.
“Getting an ICCA set together in two weeks is an accomplishment, but Voicebox as a whole thrives under pressure,” Thomas said.
Boiling down a group’s talent into a 12 minute set is no easy feat. Especially for KeyHarmony, UCF’s only all female a cappella group. TC Skowronek, the group’s music director, encouraged the girls to give it all they’ve got since they’re limited time-wise.
“Why would we not make every single second [of those 12 minutes] worth it?” Skowronek said.
Their set, which covered “Hurt,” by Johnny Cash, and “Jar of Hearts,” by Christina Perri, among others, conveyed a powerful story that no matter what someone is going through in life, there’s always someone who will understand them. Kyrstin Walker said that their message was to say the things that people don’t usually want to hear, admit, or talk about. When asked what was the best part of joining KeyHarmony, she didn’t hesitate.
“I really like the family aspect of it. You don’t get this anywhere else,” Walker said.
The group has an album, “Uncaged,” available on Spotify, and iTunes since last fall.
For Gemini Blvd., the co-ed award-winning group on campus, placing at ICCA has been consistent. Stephanie Trull, executive business director, said that it makes them set the bar higher for themselves as they know they have placed at ICCA for the past two years.
“We are our own worst critics and after re-watching our performance there isn’t a thing we would change,” Trull said.
Trull said that the group is focused on continuing to make beautiful music and on the upcoming release of their EP. It’s set to be released in the next two weeks. The songs they have selected, however, are somewhat of a surprise. Stay tuned, as all three of the a cappella groups will continue to perform every Friday at the free speech lawn in front of the reflection pond.
