Idiosingcracies, a DU student a capella singing group, won the fourth annual Mile High Vocal Jam competition held in Davis Auditorium on Saturday.
Idiosingcracies, founded in 2005, won concert services from Andrew Hoag of the Colorado Audio Group. Mile 21 of CU-Boulder took second place and won recording studio time with Tony Huerta of Sonic Audio Productions.
Idiosingcracies performed a medley of songs with a common theme, of love and loss, that included an a capella rendition of Drake’s “Find Your Love.” Mile 21 performed a segue of Prince’s “When Doves Cry” into Passion Pit’s “Sleepyhead.”
Four high school a capella groups also performed alongside those from college. Eclipse of Lakewood High School in Lakewood, Colo., won first place of the high school groups. It performed two songs, including Coldplay’s “Fix You.”
The groups had only 10 minutes onstage to perform for six judges and a packed audience in the auditorium. Groups performed two, three, four or a medley of songs from multiple genres and generations.
Other groups that competed include DU’s younger a capella group, Exit 205, founded in 2008; In The Buff from CU-Boulder; the Resident RAMblings of CSU-Fort Collins; the 9th Street Singers of UC-Denver; Cadence of Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan.; the all-boys group Manwhich from Lakewood High School in Lakewood, Colo.; and the all-boys group Slate and the all-girls group Crimson from Cheyenne Mountain High School in Colorado Springs, Colo.
“I was really excited to hear that [Idiosingcracies] had won,” said Hastings Padua, who has been a member of DU’s younger a capella group, Exit 205, for a year and a half. “Idiosingcracies is an incredibly talented group, and I am really proud of them for representing DU at such a high-level competition.”
“[Idiosingcracies] have worked very hard to get where they are today and they deserve being recognized for their efforts,” said Tanisha Cocetti, also a member of Exit 205. “It was especially fun to have a DU group win on our home turf.”
Because Mile 21 won the vocal competition last year, the group performed at the Mile High Vocal Jam’s opening night headline concert at Casselman’s on Walnut Street in North Denver, starring Basix from Denmarkand M-pact, on Friday. Next year, Idiosingcracies will perform at a similar concert in downtown Denver.
On Saturday, the 11 groups involved in the Mile High Vocal Jam competition also participated in day-long workshops and clinics held by a capella and vocal professionals.
On Sunday, local talent performed contemporary, barbershop, collegiate and doo-wop a capella again Casselman’s.
Idiosingracies is made up of seniors Paul Lannon, Sara Groton and Nate Pearson; juniors Michelle Fox, Chris Buonanno, Eleanor Hooper, Kirby Page-Schmit, Meg Kardos, Galen Jacobs and April Martz; sophomore Maryclaire Costello; and freshmen Kathleen Hooper, Marcus Yetter and Katie Turley.
