After qualifying for the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella Northwest Quarterfinals on Nov. 15, University of Oregon acappella groups Divisi and Mind the Gap are aiming to win the top two spots and setting their sights to qualify for finals.
Both Mind the Gap, a co-ed acappella group, and Divisi, an all-female acappella group, were selected out of over 40 other groups in the region to compete in the Northwest quarterfinals after submitting a video performance to Varsity Vocals, the organization that hosts the competitions. At quarterfinals, the two groups will compete against eight other groups to advance to semifinals.
At the competitions, groups are judged on the vocal and visual performance during their three-song set. In order for groups to qualify for ICCA Finals, they must secure a place in the top two in quarterfinals to advance to semifinals, and then earn first place to qualify for finals.
Neither group has ever advanced beyond semifinals, but both Macy Hyland, Business Manager of Mind the Gap, and Caitlin Byers, Divisi’s Musical Director, say that their groups are working to refine their skills and are determined to qualify and even win the finals.
At last year’s quarterfinals, Mind the Gap earned first place and received awards for best soloist, best choreography and best arrangement. However, they did not place in semifinals.
Hyland said the group is determined to qualify for finals and is focusing on improving the visual aspects, such as storytelling.
“Mind the Gap has only gotten better [and] we have the makings of a winning group. This is the first time having a group where every person is goal-orientated,” Hyland said. “Every person is in it to win it.”
For Divisi, an all-female group, this is the first time the group will compete after a two-year hiatus. Byers says that the group decided to take a break from competition in 2013 to record its second album and in 2014, to find a new sound after receiving many new members.
Despite the hiatus, Byers is confident in the group’s ability to qualify and win finals.
Byers says the group has managed to find its sound quicker than past groups of Divisi and that members are coming with strong backgrounds in performance that will help them perform well at competitions.
“In my time [with Divisi], this is the best that we’ve ever sounded,” Byers said.
Although the two groups will be competing against each other in quarterfinals, sophomore Maddy Gourlay, a member of Mind the Gap, hopes that the groups will sweep first and second place so that both Mind the Gap and Divisi qualify for semifinals.
“It’s great to have UO represented by more than one group [at quarterfinals]. We are confident in our set and we want to see them do well too,” Gourlay said.
The ICCA Northwest Quarterfinal will take place on Jan. 30 in Rolling Hills Community Church in Tualatin, Oregon at 7 p.m.
Two acapella groups qualify for ICCA quarterfinals
Miles Trinidad
November 24, 2015
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