by Sarah James Singers from across the Midwest gathered in Pruis Hall the night of January 27th for one of the 2018 ICCA Midwest Quarterfinal competitions. This is the second consecutive year that Ball State has hosted the event for the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella. Ten groups competed at the event for a chance to move on to the Midwest Semifinal, and five of those groups were from Ball State. BSU has two men’s groups (Note to Self and Unexpected Resolution), two women’s groups (Ladies’ Choice and The Parallels), and one co-ed group (Sedoctave). All five of these groups are a part of the Association of Collegiate A Cappella, the umbrella organization for the a cappella community at Ball State University. It was a good night for Ball State a cappella. Note to Self placed third with 317 points, Unexpected Resolution placed second with 333 points, and Sedoctave came out on top with 427 points. One of Sedoctave’s Music Directors, Ball State Musical Theatre Major Micheal Hassel, also won Outstanding Arrangement for his original take on Duke Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean a Thing.”
This was the first song I have arranged, so I was not expecting to win best arrangement,” Hassel said.“It Don’t Mean a Thing” was one of the first songs Sedoctave learned this year going through multiple iterations thanks to Hassel’s work. “This song was something the entire group was excited about,” Hassel said, “so I spent a lot of time working on it. It was really an honor." 2018 marks the second year in a row that Sedoctave has won the Quarterfinal event. When asked about how it felt to win, Hassel said, “I felt very surprised and honored to win Quarterfinals back to back. It was a heartfelt and emotional performance.” Both Unexpected Resolution and Sedoctave will be moving on to the Midwest Semifinal taking place in St. Louis, Missouri on March 10th.
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