A cappella is its own brand of music, one that inspires fierce loyalty in some and harsh criticism in others. Now, DU’s new and only all-female a cappella group, DU First Edition (DUFE), is diving into the DU community and the world of a cappella with innovation and passion, according to the organization’s president and co-president.
“We’re not pitch perfect. This is real life,” said DUFE’s president Kayla Frazee, a senior criminology and socio-legal studies double major from St. Paul, Minn.
“We don’t want to turn into that girl group,” said the club’s co-president Julie Bourne, a senior communication studies major from Seattle.
According to Frazee and Bourne, they jokingly formed the idea one day and suddenly realized that DU could benefit from this new addition to the a cappella scene.
“We realized there wasn’t an all female group and we thought that would be a unique addition to the a cappella scene on campus,” said Frazee. “We talked to a lot of girls who had been too nervous to try out for the a cappella scene. We wanted to reach them out as a completely new organization — one that was less intimidating and willing to start from any point.”
And according to Bourne, the group, which formed in spring of last year, has received an influx of positive feedback. Many girls who had been involved in choir in high school viewed First Edition as an opportunity to participate in vocal music in college, as well as become enmeshed in a close group of women. The group currently has 12 members, five of which are currently abroad, according to Frazee.
“The people we wanted to attract were the people that wanted to sing again and be in a tight-knit group and compose,” said Bourne.
Bourne and Frazee were astounded at the enthusiasm and talent of the girls who auditioned for the group, and struggled to decide upon the final members.
“I didn’t anticipate the amount of girls that we got and the seriousness that we got,” said Frazee, referring to the most recent round of auditions. “The girls were nervous and excited. But what they don’t realize is that we’re just as nervous as they are.”
Frazee still feels thankful for and intimidated by her position of leadership. She recalls adding a new member of the group on Facebook and seeing her proud Facebook status announcing her entrance into the group.
“She was really excited,” said Frazee. “It’s so cool to think that they view us as leaders because we don’t view ourselves as that. I feel at an equal plane with them. We’re a very cohesive, learn-from-each- other type of setup.”
The group is already in the process of composing new material for their first performance of the year on Oct. 5 at the DU Night of the Arts, according to Bourne and Frazee. Although the group did not perform last year due to their end of the year assembly, Bourne and Frazee are excited for the upcoming performance, which is hosted by the theater department.
“The styles that we’ll be performing are more modern,” said Bourne. “Definitely stuff that we feel will be interesting to both singers and audience, like Imagine Dragons. We hope to translate electric music into a cappella, maybe some Lana Del Rey, keeping things diverse.”
The two hope that fun will be the outcome for the members of the group as well.
“We’re starting from scratch and we’re all in this together,” said Frazee.
First Edition will hold auditions on Friday Sep. 20 from 2 -6 p.m. and on Saturday Sep. 21 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. For more information or to sign up email dufirstedition@gmail.com.
