University a cappella groups host in-person activities, recruit new members
Photo Courtesy of the Illinois Rip Chords
The Illinois Rip Chords A cappella group poses for a photo during auditions. The group is in the midst of hosting in-person auditions for new members.
August 27, 2021
After nearly a year and a half of online activities, University a cappella groups are getting back into the swing of things. Five groups hosted Audition Week 2021 in person from Aug. 23-25, and the Illinois Rip Chords, a 15-member all-female a cappella group, saw huge numbers of auditionees.
“I would say the turnout was a lot more because of that eagerness to partake in something and be involved,” said President Ria Ravi.
Ravi said she saw more people auditioning this year than during her sophomore year two years ago and that it was influenced by COVID-19 making it difficult to connect with RSOs for the past year and a half.
This year, the Rip Chords got to meet face to face with potential members, hear them sing live and sing with them to see if their voices blended well. Online auditions were offered as well, and Ravi said that there were 80-90 auditionees on Aug. 25.
The Rip Chords were created in 1992 by five women that all dated members of the Xtension Chords, an all-male a cappella group.
Get The Daily Illini in your inbox!
“(The Extension Chords) are our best friends,” Ravi said. “We hang out with them pretty much every day.”
The Xtension Chords, a 13-member all-male a cappella group, saw high numbers at in-person auditions as well.
“We have bid day gigs coming up and performances coming up that are all in-person, so we wanted to make sure we got everyone there in person just to make sure they were comfortable with that and they matched well with the group,” said Matt Yaniz, business manager and social chair.
Both groups are looking forward to performing at live events and competing at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella. Yaniz said the competition is just like how it’s portrayed in the movie “Pitch Perfect.”
“Getting to see people sing live and seeing people excited about being able to perform again, that’s just really inspiring for what we want to accomplish this year,” said President David Hansen.
Previous to COVID-19, the Rip Chords performed at hockey games, basketball games and wrestling matches, and the Xtension Chords typically had one to two gigs per week.
“While it’s fun to record stuff and put stuff out online, the reason a lot of us joined this group was to have that experience of singing together and singing live,” Hansen said. “There’s something exciting where you can’t hide behind a mic, you can’t hide behind a recording when you’re performing live, you’re doing it live and you have to really rely on each other.”
