The NYU a cappella group Vocollision may just be straight out of “Pitch Perfect.”
The 18-person musical group performed at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella quarterfinals on Feb. 22, where it placed second out of 10 groups — four of which were from NYU. The group competed in the semifinals at Berklee College of Music on March 30.
Throughout the buzz of competition season, which included rehearsals up to four times per week, the group stuck to some central values.
“I was not expecting this set to do as well as it did,” group president and CAS senior Claire McGuire said. “I tried to go in with low expectations, because that’s not the important part of that day. What’s important is that you are proud of what you put out there, and I was, but it was really exciting for that to happen, and for it to happen all three years that I’ve competed with the group too.”
Semifinalists at ICCA brought groups hailing from universities nationwide, with each team getting 10 minutes on stage to show off its skills. Vocollision places a large emphasis on theme and storytelling within its set, and competed with three songs: “Earthly Delights” by AURORA, “Rain” by SWV and “Moon River” inspired by Jacob Collier’s cover. Vocollision introduced choreography and costumes to the set, taking inspiration from Greek mythology and the story of Odysseus to create a sea-themed set which the members accentuated in outfits of varying flowy shades of blue and white.
Junior and current music director Trem Ampeloquio has been a part of the group since his first year, and composed two of the three songs in this year’s ICCA set. Responsible for scoring the songs and teaching them to the group, this marks his first time arranging a set for a competition.
“It pretty much just comes down to putting your thoughts down on the page,” Ampeloquio said. “Just start putting notes down. For me, I just start with the melody and the bass line, and your [vocal percussion] — those are the main three. And then the rest is just whatever sounds good, whatever comes to mind. Sometimes you gotta take a step back and just be like, ‘Okay I gotta take a rest from doing this.’”
The group typically rehearses two hours at a time, which includes a vocal warmup and practicing of arrangements. The group also perform at NYU events throughout the year — including during welcome week and in an Aca-Brawl with other NYU a cappella groups — and hold spring and winter concerts. Members begin rehearsing for ICCA the week after winter break, and rehearsals then intensify to include choreography and specific set preparation.
Throughout the creative process, Ampeloquio places emphasis on personal connection in performance. He said the group holds rehearsals in preparation for competitions, where they listen to recordings of the set in a dark room together and ask each member to connect the emotion of each song to an emotion from their own life — all in the name of adding authenticity to the performance. His process was evidently effective, winning Outstanding Arrangement at the ICCA quarterfinals for both songs he arranged for the group.
“It was very rewarding, because I genuinely feel like I put a lot of effort into it, and I’m very happy to see that it paid off,” Ampeloquio said. “Ultimately, I made something that I’m very proud of and hopefully something that this group will be singing for a long time, even when I’m long gone.”
Vocal percussionist junior Andy Cabindol — who is also Ampeloquio’s roommate — joined the group his first year with no singing experience, as a joke with his friends from high school. However, he quickly fell into the rhythm of the group and has now been awarded Outstanding Vocal Percussion three years in a row at quarterfinals. Cabindol said that he spends time before competition making sure he nails every beat to minimize any surprises on stage. He sees value in the group’s conceptual sets.
“We don’t take things too seriously, and the music that we do perform is actually quite out of the box and quite different than what other groups are doing, historically,” Cabindo said. “And that’s not something that we’re afraid to do — even during competition season. Some of our music choices or song selections are not as popular, but the fact that we’re still able to deliver a story even through our choreo is something different. That’s what sets us apart.”
When looking toward semifinals and the calming of that competition buzz, the group emphasized a focus on connectivity and a family-like group connection.
“We always go into it like it’s our last time performing, which I really treasure, because you never know — it really could be,” Steinhardt senior Dallas Knopp said. “We gave our all on the quarterfinal stage, and we’re gonna do the same thing on semifinal stage.”
Contact Rory Lustberg at [email protected].
