From Oct. 1 to Oct. 4 this year, Lexington High School held its annual a cappella auditions.
LHS is home to seven a cappella groups: Euphoria, Guacamole, Onomatopoeia, Mixed Nuts, Noteworthy, Peanut Butter & Jelly, and Rock Paper Scissors, each composed of 10 to 16 members. Dozens of students from all grades and various performing arts classes, audition each year for a chance to join these groups. However, preparing for auditions begins much earlier than audition week itself.
“We consider pre-auditions to be from August to up until auditions, because we do a lot of prep before that, like our audition photoshoot, posters, and promoting our auditions,” Sejal Mammai, a senior and co-leader of Guacamole, said.
An essential part of a successful turnout at auditions is marketing to students. That includes putting up posters around the school, creating instructional audition packets, as well as a more unique tradition: practice sessions. Each group schedules three practice sessions in the two weeks before auditions so that potential auditionees get the chance to go over the group’s audition song (a short arrangement required of all auditionees to see their compatibility in a group singing setting) before the actual audition. Practice sessions are also for auditionees to ask questions, see if they’re a good fit, and engage with the group in person. Some groups like to take marketing a step further with social media.
“We do a lot of TikToks to help auditionees see what Guac is about,” Mammai said. “It’s important to use social media because it separates us from being a really official school group.”
Beyond promotional material, returning members have their hands full reserving classrooms, buying snacks and decorations, and printing out extra copies of sheet music. But what does all the hard work look like to someone auditioning?
“I was surprised, I’ll put it that way,” Elliott Boulter, a freshman and new member of Noteworthy, said. “PB&J [auditions] had LED lights going on. They had a full table of snacks, streamers coming down through the doorway, a speaker blasting music. I was undoubtedly overwhelmed. But overall, it was a really kind of fun thing to do.”
A cappella auditions can seem intimidating at first, but every group does their best to connect with auditionees.
“It was a new environment for me, but an environment I really liked. Everyone was so nice [and] welcoming,” Boulter said.
Following the high of audition day comes the decision-making process for who gets into which group. Groups make sure to consider everyone auditioning, regardless of their level of experience or voice part.
“I think people definitely grow into their voices. So there’s not a specific part [we’re looking for], because we’re aware that, especially if you’re auditioning as an underclassman, your voice can definitely change over time,” Mammai said.
Jason Iannuzzi, director of the LHS honors choruses and advisor of the a cappella program for the past 16 years, also shared some insights on his influence in the decision-making.
“I play a very minimal role. I am involved in the process of accepting groups, [but] even when I disagree, they are, at their core, student-run groups without teacher selection being a part of it,” Iannuzzi said.
He also believes that the a cappella community at LHS has evolved over the years.
“It’s always been a very strong community. A cappella has become nicer and less cutthroat over the years. There is a culture of support at jams and competitions. It becomes your closest circle of friends. Having anyone in this program is a win—that’s the attitude,” Iannuzzi said.
This feeling of community is echoed by members of the a cappella groups.
“We’re all so close to each other and when we come and sing together, we know we can talk about things that we need to, and just being together is so nice,” Kyuri Lee, a junior in Euphoria, said.
Auditions may be over, but there is still excitement as groups welcome in new members.
“I’m looking forward to getting to know the new members. I think they’re so cool already, but I’m just looking forward to becoming best friends with them,” Lee said.
A cappella groups are also looking ahead to Fall Jam, the first a cappella performance of the year.
“I’m excited to see how the group evolves and how we sound at Jam. Jam is always very fun, because you get to just relax and kind of appreciate all the hard work that we’ve done over the year,” Mammai said.
