California A Cappella Festival: Day show brings groups from across California

Some groups wore color-coordinated, matching outfits. Some groups chose to dress more casually. No matter what it wore, each group at Saturday’s 13th annual California A Cappella Festival sang in flawless harmony and created a cheerful, relaxed mood for participants and spectators alike.

One year after its creation in 1999, Random Voices A Cappella, UCLA’s first all-female a cappella group, began its tradition of hosting CAF each year. The festival brings together a cappella groups from various schools along the West Coast and gives them a space to perform and bond. According to current CAF Director, Marilyn McGowan, a fourth-year biology student, the festival was created with the goal of bringing a cappella’s popularity on the East Coast to the West Coast.

Thirteen groups participated in this year’s CAF, which took place Saturday in Ackerman Grand Ballroom. Two separate shows took place, one in the afternoon and one at night. Both were free and both showcased a combination of a cappella groups including co-ed, all-female and all-male groups, from UCLA and other California schools.

Preparations for CAF began in fall quarter, when Random Voices began inviting other schools to the event. The weeks leading up to the event became busier for Random Voices, which rented the venue and made other preparations.

“I’m stoked that so many groups came to CAF,” said McGowan, who worried that the fact that the event coincided with Coachella would diminish participation.

The groups’ performances moved along fast, with each group introducing the next instead of using official emcees. For example, at the 12:30 p.m. showing, Cadenza A Cappella lightheartedly introduced Loyola Marymount University’s Notetorious as having acquired its name by defeating all other a cappella groups at LMU in order to participate in CAF.

Following the traditions of a cappella, performance pieces included individual songs and medleys. Rebecca Birstock, assistant CAF director and second-year musical theater student, said each a cappella group was also required to incorporate choreography into its performances, adding a challenging aspect to the festival.

Tunes that were performed at the first showing included recent hits such as “Royals” by Lorde, “Rolling in the Deep” by Adele and “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved” by The Script.

Groups also put a spin on less mainstream tunes such as “Your Man” by Josh Turner and “Faithfully” by Journey. UC Berkeley’s DeCadence A Cappella also performed a version of Norwegian comedy duo Ylvis’ “Stonehenge,” which was both a musical and comedic experience for the audience.

The combination of choreography and harmony showed the audience that a cappella is more than just a listening experience.

Birstock’s mother, Alex Novakovich, was among the audience members at CAF’s first showing. Comparing this year’s festival to that of the previous year, Novakovich said that little had changed but that she likes that the event keeps up a tradition.

For the participating a cappella singers, the festival was an opportunity to get to meet people from a cappella groups at both their own and other schools.

“We had met UCLA’s a cappella groups before, but we are rarely this concentrated together,” McGowan said.