Audacity, Kansas State’s only all-female a cappella group, was one of nine groups to participate in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella Southwest Quarterfinal, which was held at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on Saturday.
K-State’s male a cappella group, Cadence A Cappella — which has previously competed — also performed this weekend, although neither group placed in the quarterfinals.
Although going to the competition for the first time was exciting for Audacity, the timing presented some challenges for the student-run group.
“One of the biggest obstacles was that it was the first week back to school,” Lexie Garles, junior in entrepreneurship, said. “It’s hard to get people to practice outside of rehearsal.
“It has taken a lot,” Garles continued. “We chose to arrange all of our set, and we choreographed everything ourselves. We were also a little behind since the competition was the first week back to school. We have put in over 30 hours of rehearsal and about 10 hours of arranging and choreographing.”
Kennzie Duncan, president of Audacity and senior in animal sciences, said the biggest challenge for the group as a whole was doubting themselves.
“Since this is our first time going to the ICCA, we weren’t super confident that we would get in,” Duncan said. “Now, I think our views have changed after seeing how much work we’ve accomplished and realizing that we just have to have fun with it no matter what happens.”
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Besides the group challenges that go along with preparing for such an important milestone, the girls were not without their personal obstacles.
“Personally, I had a lot of trouble with learning outside of rehearsal,” Duncan said. “It’s really hard to plan time to sit down and just focus on music since there is so much going on every day.”
However, to Duncan, going to the competition and Audacity as a whole means more than singing — it means friendship.
“Audacity means sisterhood to me,” Duncan said. “I have connected with so many women in the last four years that have become my best friends. The women I’ve met are extremely talented, intelligent and beautiful humans – inside and out. I’m very blessed to have found that with this group.”
