Singing For the Judges

A cappella renditions and mash-ups of hit music flowed from the University of Chicago performance hall at the Varsity Vocals International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) competition quarter-finals on Feb. 22, featuring seven college a cappella teams mainly from Illinois — one of them being Wheaton’s own Thundertones.

The Thundertones is an a cappella group composed of 14 members from the Wheaton College Men’s Glee Club.

ICCA was the crew’s first competition.

“Performing on the stage of the University of Chicago in front of judges, a ton of people and the other groups was an invaluable experience,” said junior Daniel Fuglestad, manager of the Thundertones. “We learned a ton, we got to know the other a cappella groups really well, and we just had a lot of fun.”

Mary Hopper, professor of choral music and conducting and the director of the Men’s Glee Club, attended the competition.

“I was really happy to be there to support,” Hopper said. “I was really proud of the guys. They sang well, and it was a great experience.”

The set list for the Thundertones included three songs: a mash-up of David Guetta’s “Without You” and U2’s “With or Without You,” “Weightless” by Courtney Jones and “Wide Awake” by Katy Perry.

The mash-up included solos by Thundertones members’ senior Jay Allen and sophomore Scott Reed.

Junior Adam Lindgren, the Thundertones music director, performed a solo in “Weightless.”

Featured in “Wide Awake” was senior Gabriel Johnson, who performed vocal percussion.

Fuglestad chose the songs for the group’s performance.

“We were mostly looking for an overarching theme with our ICCA set,” Fuglestad said. “Kind of the cliché rise, fall, redemption structure.”

Fuglestad explained that songs for a cappella competitions are meant to be unique takes on popular music.

“It’s not so much doing how the song was written. ... The goal is to bring a unique perspective to the music,” Fuglestad said.

The music set typically features two upbeat songs with a ballad in between. Also, “mash-ups are looked very well upon,” Fuglestad said.

The choreography for the Thundertones was arranged by senior Margarita Diaz, a member of Zoe’s Feet Ministry.

Based on judges’ notes, Fuglestad said that the judges of the ICCA competition were particularly taken with the Glee Club blazers worn by the Thundertones. They also enjoyed the “Without You” and “With or Without You” medley and offered comment and critique on the musical technique of the Thundertones’ performance.

Thundertones was formed four years ago by the members of Glee Club who wanted an opportunity to sing a capella music. This year was the first year that the Thundertones sought to open up their music to the public.

Fuglestad said that, whereas last year the group only prepared one song for performance, this year the group has learned close to a dozen songs, typically arranged by Glee Club alumni and Wheaton College students.

So far, the Thundertones have performed at off-campus venues such as the Palmer House Hilton, for alumni on campus and most recently took the step to participate in the ICCA competition. The group will also be holding a concert on Wheaton’s campus on April 8.

The ICCA competition was made famous by the movie “Pitch Perfect,” released at the end of 2012. The movie followed a female a cappella group on its way to the top of the competition. Although the Thundertones did not proceed to the semifinals this year — only the top two teams from each quarter-final move on — Fuglestad said the experience was beneficial for the Thundertones, and he is hopeful for the group’s future.

“We want to get really well prepared next year,” Fuglestad said. “(We) want to see if we can get Thundertones all the way to Lincoln Center.”