Sweet Signatures, Elon University’s only all-female a cappella ensemble, will be competing in the quarterfinals of the International Championships of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) Feb. 16 at Duke University.
The ICCA tournament takes place in six regions: West, Midwest, South, Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and Europe.
According to the Varsity Vocals website, the top two college groups at each quarter- final advance to college semifinals, and the winner of each semifinal is invited to participate in the finals, held at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City.
Each a cappella group will be competing for cash prizes and the title of Grand Champion.
Sweet Signatures will be competing in the Southern region against schools such as the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and Belmont University.
Sweet Signatures submitted a video and were excited to learn they would be representing Elon in the competition.
Junior Kelly Selong, vice president and treasurer of Sweet Signatures, has been in the organization since her freshman year. She explained the hard work the girls have been doing in preparation for the ICCA.
“At the end of December, we chose two new songs that were arranged over winter break by one of our favorite arrangers, Rob Dietz,” she said. “Once we got back together in January, we compiled all of our professional arrangements, whether they were new or old, and chose our favorite three songs from that group.”
Selong said the group works well together and each woman plays a key role in the group’s success. The mixture of unique talents helps the ensemble experiment and work towards future successes.
According to the Sweet Signatures’ blog, they were nominated for multiple Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (CARA) in 2011 and placed third overall. They also won “Best Choreography” at the 2009 SoJam competition and the 2008 ICCAs.
Sophomore Elisabeth Jones said the group saw “Pitch Perfect” when it first came out in theaters. The movie shows the story of an all-female collegiate a cappella group as they update their music to compete in nationals. “It was so dorky, but so much fun,” Jones said. “We loved the movie and it really inspired us to work really hard and polish our music.”
The group usually does not rehearse during Winter Term, but this year they chose to practice frequently in order to prepare for the approaching competition.
“I am so excited for ICCAs because I know our group has worked really hard on our set and we will continue to work our hardest up until the competition,” Selong said. “We can’t wait for this amazing opportunity to perform in front of the judges as well as an amazing audience.”