Take note, because DU’s a cappella group, the Idiosingcracies, is making a big name for itself.  As the longest standing mixed gender a cappella group on campus, there is nothing these students cannot do. They have made their own CD, won the Mile High Vocal Jam twice and performed on Channel 9 News multiple times.

This Valentine’s Day, the Idiosingcracies were asked by one of the male anchors from Channel 9 News to sing a surprise special to his female co-anchor. They performed “You Make My Dreams Come True” by Hall and Oates. The Idiosingracies performed during one of the more popular broadcast times, at 4 p.m.

Similarly, two weeks ago the Idiosingcracies took third place at the Mile High Vocal Jam, an a capella competition.
The last two years, the Idiosincracies have won the competition. The Mile High Vocal Jam was held on February 15-16 at the Kenneth King Center and Idiosingracies competed against five other teams, including three high school teams and two other collegiate a cappella groups from CU Boulder and UC Denver.

Last year each group sang three songs and then the judges chose a winner, but this year it was a sing-off style and groups were eliminated each round, according to Hooper.

“It was kind of an upset but we had a huge DU turnout, literally two-thirds of the auditorium were DU kids,” said president of Idiosingcracies Kathleen Hooper, a junior Sociology major from Portland, Ore.

“It was kind of a switch up for us because we were used to doing a medley in the past, so instead of doing three individual songs we just mixed a bunch together which has proved to be really good for us but we didn’t get to do that this year,” said Hooper.

Founded in 2005 by ‘08 grad Sean Martin and ‘09 grad Rachel Osherow, Idiosingracies has fluctuated in numbers over the years, ranging from eight to 14 members this year, with 11 current members ranging from freshmen to seniors sing for the Idiosingcracies.

“I think the group is more dynamic than just professional singers or people who are going to school just to sing,” said Hooper. “That’s why I love it because it’s just full of a lot of different people.” Although many people did not understand the a cappella phenomenon until recently, people are finally starting to catch on.

“I think since ‘Pitch Perfect’ came out, people are finally understanding what [a capella singing] is,” said Hooper of the recent film exploring an all female, college a capella group. “There was ‘Glee,’ but ‘Glee’ has instruments along with them and so I think something really unique about the group is that a cappella in general literally uses no instruments whatsoever.”

Each year brings something new for the Idiosingcracies. According to Hooper, as members come and go, the dynamic changes, but the family aspect remains the same. Even alumni stay involved by going to events, coming in to critique the members or showing support at the Mile High Vocal Jam competition.

“The thing I love about it is it is literally like a second family. I love the people I live with, I love my friends who I hang out with all the time but going to practice is just kind of a release from the day which is great,” said Hooper.

When it comes to picking songs, the Idiosingracies choose collectively as a group. They have a repertoire already made up of songs, but if they want new ones they will bring in two songs and choose which one they want to start practicing.

“We mostly sing songs that we want to sing,” said Hooper. “It ranges from Miley Cyrus to Billy Joel and Stevie Wonder and Hall and Oates. It’s really fun.”

The Idiosingcracies, who have more than 500 likes on their Facebook page, just re-designed their website and are busy spreading themselves out in the community.

Their first CD, Dually Noted, is available for purchase for only $5; their second CD is in the process. The hope is to make this album available for purchsae on iTunes, however they are currently in the process of making it available for purchase and download on their website.

“We’re trying to decide what to name our next CD we’re singing around campus and working on recording it right now,” said Hooper. “It’s a long process and it’s very expensive. A CD can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $5,000 but it’s worth it and it’s fun and we enjoy it and we are allocating our money to make CD’s and to produce stuff like that so our music can be around forever.”

The Idiosingracies have a busy future ahead of them. They will be performing at the Student for Education Reform: Battle of the Bands on Friday, April 12 from 5-6 p.m., at the Festival of Nations on Saturday April 13 in Davis Auditorium and, finally, they will have their Spring Concert on Friday May 10 from 7-9 p.m. in Davis Auditorium.

The group practices three times a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7-9 p.m. and Sundays from 4-7 p.m. They typically reserve rooms in the Lamont School of Music to practice.

A few members of Idiosingracies are music students; however, the rest come from different backgrounds and majors, including Spanish, political science, finance and computer science.

Anyone interested in having the Idiosingracies perform at an event or interested in joining the group can check out their website.