MSU’s Capital Green prepares for a cappella championship

As night falls on campus, and the only illumination is from distant street lights, the quiet atmosphere may create a sense of isolation. Yet, through the large windows of the MSU College of Music, there is a harmony of light. The university’s oldest competitive all-gender a cappella group, Capital Green, rehearses, aiming to build off last year’s success and make another run at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) finals.

Capital Green made MSU history last year, becoming the first a cappella group to make it to ICCA finals in New York. While placing first at the Great Lakes Quarterfinal and Semifinal, the group ultimately did not place in the final competition. 

"We're in it to win it this year," computer science sophomore Vishal Kumaravel said. Assembling a winning show has to start somewhere, and for Capital Green, that starting point is their annual retreat in northern Michigan.

What begins as a flow of ideas transforms itself into a set of in-house arrangements and choreography, all meticulously-crafted by the organization’s 19 students. According to social relations and policy senior Katherine Dietiker, Capital Green’s intention and excitement is what makes the group stand out amongst its competitors. 

The a cappella group may not fulfill any degree requirements for the ensemble of mainly non-music majors, but that only speaks to their dedication. The organization has made content-based decisions during conversations that have lasted more than nine hours, Dietiker said.

While preparing for an international competition such as the ICCAs, being able to trust each and stay humbled keeps the group connected, kinesiology sophomore Spencer Yonkus said. "No matter how good we were last year, no matter how good we were two years ago, it’s a new year."

Although the countless hours of rehearsal each week can be a large workload, "it gives us so much motivation to try to get back to that stage," Kumaravel said. The success the group experienced at last year's ICCA’s helped them know how to better prepare, he said. 

We are just working ten times harder now because we loved that experience so much. We would love to go back. So that is our goal now — just to make it as far as we can and travel and sing, because we love it.

Katherine Dietiker

Winning the championship is extra motivation, but at the end of the day the thing the group has in common is their love and passion for music, Kumaravel said. "I think as long as we put something on stage that we're super proud of and we can connect to on a deeper level than just like music, I think that would be a huge success."

The group continues to grow its presence on MSU’s campus in its twenty-fifth year. Remaining a safe space for college students is something they strive to continue, Dietiker said. "I just hope that we can leave it in almost like a better place than we found it, and we can just keep on growing and use this momentum to propel us forward. And maybe we'll continue to be, you know, the top one of the top ten groups internationally, in the future."