October 10, 2017
Eric Frieberg
This summer, UCCS’ A capella club started to take shape.
“The group was somewhat formed over summer, but there are a lot of new people that decided to join around the second week of [classes], so we are fairly new,” says freshman digital filmmaking and theater major Jena Labonte, co-founder of the club.
A Cappella is consisted of a small group of singers, including sopranos, altos, tenors and bass’s, that sing without accompaniment. The UCCS A Cappella club has 14 members this semester.
“[We] sing songs that are pretty well-known with harmonies and dynamics in the music,” says Labonte.
“We do this with our own voices and no musical instruments to back us up, so all of the music is coming from the voices we have.”
The A Cappella club is not officially registered on Mountain Lion Connect yet. However, the group is working to fill out the necessary paperwork to legitimize their membership on campus.
Alongside Labonte, freshman digital filmmaking major Victoria Lucero is enthusiastic about the group dynamic among the club’s members.
“I think everyone in the club gets along really well and our voices blend smoothly. We all have the same love for music,” says Lucero.
Even though the club is still in formation, they are looking to recruit students who are just as passionate about A Cappella as they are. Labonte originally did this through Facebook, adding prospective members to a GroupMe chat.
“A lot of people in the group didn’t follow up with it, but I did and helped decide when to meet as a group,” Labonte says.
Once the team grows, they plan to compete in competitions in Colorado Springs in the future.
“I think we will learn to work through and learn music fast so that we can have a bunch of songs to preform,” says Lucero.
Most competitions include a number of teams that preform in front of judges. But first the group of students has some work to do.
“We definitely do want to compete in competitions once we figure out our sound and get everyone in the group who wants to be there, and once we become official,” says Labonte.
For more information on the A Cappella club, visit Mountain Lion Connect.