On Saturday, April 29, at 7 p.m. in New York City, 10 a cappella groups from various universities will compete in the 2023 International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella Finals. Amongst these performers include the University of Arizona’s very own Amplified, who will make history as the first collegiate a cappella group in Arizona to compete in the competition! Members of the group are filled with excitement and have much to say about this journey.

Amplified, according to their website, “is a mixed voice, student-led a cappella ensemble” that was, “founded in 2012 to create a fun, close-knit community of people who love to sing, create, and perform.” Made up of 15 students from various backgrounds, both academic and personal, the group lives by the motto, “Together, we and our sound, are Amplified.”

Over its 10-year history, the group has competed and won various competitions. This year, they won second place in the 2023 ICCA Southwest Quarterfinals and then placed first in the 2023 ICCA Southwest Semifinals, which qualified them to compete in the 2023 ICCA Finals.

Caroline Blethen, a care, health and society student and president of Amplified, explained that being a part of Amplified allowed her to find a creative outlet apart from her studies. The main purpose of the group, as she explained, “is to just come together, and share a passion for singing with other people and convey a story through [Amplified’s] songs.”

Alaina Wegner, a family studies and human development student and music director for Amplified, comes up with the arrangement and set list of songs Amplified sings for competitions. Blethen had described Amplified’s music as “dark music,” which was what Wegner intended.

“I’m really into cinematic kind of movies, like music. I think that having that be the base for vocal arrangements is just really cool to me. What I’m really drawn to is that it feels very emotionally charged,” Wegner said.

It is very common, according to the members of Amplified, for a cappella groups to perform more pop and popular hit kinds of songs, so by going this route with their set lists, they feel it makes them stand out from the other groups.

Ryan Pittner, a studio art student and social media and co-assistant music director for Amplified, said “this is really what separates our music from other groups. We’re really trying to portray something and make the audience feel something that they might not experience with a pop rendition of the popular song.”

According to Wegner and Pittner, preparation for these competitions is rigorous. For every competition, every a cappella group must prepare a 10-minute set which is made up of three songs. Once the group learns the music, that’s when they need to learn the choreography before blending the two together.

“It’s just a lot of repetition, a lot of cleaning, a lot [of] going back and fixing the little, teeny tiny details to get things really solid to put on stage,” Wegner said.

According to Phoenix Lawson, a cinematographer, film and television student and treasurer of Amplified, he along with the group, are living their “Pitch Perfect” dreams, considering the plot of the first movie was about the a cappella group the Barden Bellas making it to the ICCA Finals, just like Amplified has accomplished.

In response to being the first a cappella group in Arizona to make it to ICCA, members had various reactions; all being filled with excitement and awe.

“When we found out, we were just in shock, jumping all over the stage. Everyone kept saying, ‘is this really happening?’ Like ‘are we actually going to New York?’ It was just surreal. And honestly, I don’t think it will feel real until we’re there,” Blethen said.

“It’s never been something that I thought was feasible, just because no Arizona group has ever gone. So I kind of thought, you know, like, why would we be the first to go?” Wegner said.

“I’m very excited because at this point in our competition season, we’ve made it to the top 10 within the U.S., Canada and the UK for this year, which is already incredible. I’m very proud of where we were able to go,” Lawson said.

Wegner, Pittner and Blethen are seniors, so being able to end their collegiate career competing at the 2023 ICCA Finals was a perfect way to wrap up their college experience.

As for what comes next for Amplified, according to Lawson, it’s a lot of prep work for the following year.

“We’ve already held elections for this next year, and I will be transitioning from treasury to the music team. So it’s gonna be a lot of prep work, a lot of stuff over the summer to arrange and come up with our set for next year and work in cooperation with all of our group members to make it happen,” Lawson said.

Show your support for Amplified by following them on Instagram, checking out their YouTube channel or listening to their Spotify. The group is also currently working on an album that is expected to be released on Spotify this fall!

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