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Accapalooza 2018 unites Michigan State's a cappella community

October 15, 2018
An a cappella group performs inside East Lansing's Hannah Community Center on Oct. 13, 2018. Eight a cappella groups from MSU performed as part of Accapalooza 2018.
An a cappella group performs inside East Lansing's Hannah Community Center on Oct. 13, 2018. Eight a cappella groups from MSU performed as part of Accapalooza 2018. —

The Hannah Community Center buzzed with excitement Saturday evening for Accapalooza 2018. 

Eight MSU a cappella teams came together to perform in one show for friends, family and the community of MSU. Capital Green A Cappella hosted the show and other groups were introduced by the master of ceremonies, Selame Kedist. 

Each group performed three to four songs without using any instruments.  

“It’s really awesome being able to come here and see all of the other groups for the first time and this is our first time performing our new songs for the year,” State of Fifths member Shanice Pinson said. “This event specifically is just to bring the whole a cappella community together and it’s a lot of fun because we’re all really close. It’s a pretty tight knit community.”  

The Spartones — an a cappella team made up of the “all stars” of MSU’s a cappella community — opened the show. They were followed by performances from Spartan Sur, State of Fifths, Ladies First, Spartan Dischords, RCAHpella, MSU Accafellas and Capital Green.    

During intermission, members of the audience had the opportunity to meet and mingle with the groups in the lobby and check out their merchandise tables. Several of the groups have their music available for listening on Spotify and iTunes. 

The concert also gave MSU students the chance to get to learn more about a cappella groups on campus.

For Ladies First member Laura Pavlicsak, being a part of the a cappella community at MSU is about building friendships over common interests. 

“It’s a lot more fun because you get to interact with all the groups and you’re not by yourself in the dressing room," Pavlicsak said. "You get to talk to people and make friends.” 

Each a cappella group contributes something unique to MSU’s singing community.  

Ladies First is MSU’s only all-female a cappella group, RCAHpella is made up of students in MSU's Residential College in the Arts and Humanities and Spartan Sur is MSU’s South Asian a cappella team, which blends American and Hindi music to create a mashup of both cultures.  

“We’re really awesome because we focus mainly on Hindi music and it feels really awesome to add a different cultural element that is very unique and different among all the other a cappella teams,” Spartan Sur member Rahul Gannapureddy said. 

Gannapureddy has been singing and competing with his fellow members of Spartan Sur for three years. 

“My favorite part of Spartan Sur is the overall community feel," Gannapureddy said. "We’re an a cappella team that likes to have fun and we’ve worked really hard this year."

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