Over the weekend, two UT a cappella groups, ReVOLution and Volt, competed in the Southern quarterfinals of Varsity Vocal’s International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella.
The quarterfinals, hosted by UT at James R. Cox Auditorium in the Alumni Memorial Building, brought together nine teams in total from four different schools; UT, East Tennessee State University, Belmont University and Vanderbilt.
Each group sang a set of songs that fit with their chosen theme. No instruments were used for any of the performances, as a cappella requires only the use of each musician’s voice.
Both of the UT groups put out riveting performances to their chosen songs.
ReVOLution’s music theme for this competition was ghostly. They performed the songs “Haunted,” by Taylor Swift, “Two Ghosts,” by Harry Styles, and “Phantom,” by Rina Sawayama. The performance featured three soloists: Andie Butler, Ellen Moscardelli and Allison Thompson.
Senior soloist Thompson talked about how she felt while performing on stage.
“The ICCA quarterfinals are always an amazing opportunity to perform with a group of insanely talented women,” Thompson said. “I’m a nervous performer and singing ‘Phantom,’ I remember that I’m not alone on that stage. I have a community of women who support me not only in music, but in my time at UTK as a student. The song, to me, was just kind of a reminder that I’m never alone.”
Later in the competition, Volt performed their more alternative songs around the theme of breaking the cycle, which were “Will You Follow Me Into the Dark,” by Mindy Jones, “Flesh and Bone,” by Black Math, and “Won’t Keep Quiet,” by Hidden Citizens featuring ADONA. This performance featured soloists Alaine Kirk, Juliana Taylor and Kiley Shumpert.
Taylor, the soloist for “Flesh and Bone,” expressed her gratitude for being able to perform for the competition.
“Getting to perform a solo at ICCAs was the experience of a lifetime,” Taylor said. “I’ve been singing as long as I can remember, and getting to take my journey to the stage of a national competition meant everything to me. I’m so proud of all the work my whole group put into our performance and I’m honored to have been a part of it.”
Volt member and soloist Shumpert also discussed how much it meant to be able to perform at ICCA.
“I have attended the competition in some capacity for all four years of college and being able to conclude my time with such a group has been one of the greatest privileges of my life. This competition is full of so many talented individuals and the performers never fail to impress,” Shumpert said.
ReVOLution is an all-girls a cappella group that was founded in 2010. This was their third year back to compete in the ICCA after taking a hiatus during 2020.
This was Volt’s 11th year at UT. The mixed-gender group’s founding philosophy was to include all different majors and musical styles.
Kirk, a senior majoring in psychology, joined Volt as a new member in October.
“Being able to represent my group’s hard work on stage was super important to me when I was chosen for the solo, and finally being on stage with them after everything just felt truly rewarding and connecting,” Kirk said.
Each group was allowed to perform for a maximum of 10 minutes, with a brief intermission about halfway through the nine groups. At the end, the judges conferred to tally up the scores and announce the top three groups.
The top two groups, both hailing from Belmont University, are set to compete in the Southern semifinals on March 28 in Durham, North Carolina.
This current season is Varsity Vocal’s 30th. Students across the country compete in ICCA yearly. They are split into regional competitions through the semifinals, then every region competes against each other in the finals in New York City.
