Premium Blend, IC's all-female a cappella group

Rock On!

Feel the need to burst into song? Here are some other ways to connect with your inner rock star. 

Premium Blend

IC’s all-female a cappella group, Premium Blend, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. The 16-member, audition-only group arranges all of its songs. Any female IC student can join—it’s not just for music majors. No previous a cappella experience is necessary; all you need to join is a great audition. Members look for women whose voices blend well with the rest of the group (hence, the “blend” in Premium Blend).

Premium Blend performs multiple concerts on campus each semester. (Two fall concerts are tentatively scheduled for October and early December.) They also perform downtown on the Ithaca Commons and in local nursing homes. During Thanksgiving break the group travels throughout the East Coast giving concerts and workshops to high school students; this year they’ll be including Montreal among their stops. Premium Blend has even recorded two CDs—and they’re hard at work on their third.

Premium Blend Extras!

Hear Premium Blend sing.

For more information about the group and their musical repertoire, check out their website.  

IC VoiceStream

Ithaca’s first coed a cappella group, VoiceStream, was born almost six years ago when Paul Canetti ’05 decided that a coed a cappella group would add even more variety to the College’s a cappella options. If you recognize a song the group sings, it’s for good reason -- VoiceStream’s repertoire consists of contemporary music and current hits.

You don’t have to be a music major to get involved with VoiceStream. In fact, there are no music majors among the group’s current members. This semester, seven members are returning to the group, and auditions are being held to fill the remaining eight or nine spots. Anyone can join: freshmen, IC graduates, graduate students, and even Cornell University students are welcome to participate.

VoiceStream performs two concerts each semester in Emerson Suites. This year’s concerts are scheduled for October 13 and November 30. And if you tune in to WICB, 91.7 FM, Ithaca College’s radio station, you can hear the concerts there as well.

IC VoiceStream Extras!

Hear an MP3 sample.

Visit VoiceStream's website for more information and to listen to more of their music.

Thanks to its musical roots, Ithaca offers something for all talented singers, no matter what major or course of study. Ithacappella, the College's all-male a cappella group, is just one example.

Founded in 1996 by four members of the Phi Mu Alpha music fraternity, Ithacappella was an alternative for male students who wanted to sing outside of the music school. Any IC male singer is invited to audition. “We’re just looking for guys who are enthusiastic and guys who are talented singers,” says Tim Nowak ’07, former president of Ithacappella. Freshmen are also welcome to join. “We’ve had at least two freshmen every year,” he adds.

So, you like to sing and you want to travel? No problem. According to Nowak, “We have two tours every year: the fall tour, which is more of a regional tour, and the winter tour, which we’re trying to make into a national tour.”

Last winter, the group traveled to San Francisco, where they conducted workshops for high school choral groups and performed in places like Ghirardelli Square and Oakland City Center. They also sang the national anthem at a San Jose Sharks hockey game and a Golden City Warriors basketball game.

Ithacappella’s annual tours have helped spread the word about the guys and the College. As a result, Acappellooza, an annual event coordinated by Ithacappella and sponsored by Ithaca College, has also been growing in popularity every year. “It’s an [a cappella] invitational,” Nowak explained. “We reserve the State Theatre [in downtown Ithaca] every year, and we invite groups from all over the East Coast.”

“This year we had a lot of the local radio stations sponsor it; they’ve given away tickets and run commercials. It gets bigger every year,” says A. J. Mizes ’09, Ithacappella’s vice president. Ithacappella runs the gamut of musical styles, from alternative rock to good old-fashioned rock ’n’ roll, but they never stray far from their choral roots. “As the guys who founded it intended, we still do traditional choral arrangements, which is different from most a cappella groups in the country,” Nowak says.

But even traditional songs don’t require traditional training. “We don’t care what major you are. It’s about whether you like singing and are good at it,” he adds. If you like music and performance, you’ll find ample opportunity to make them part of your life at Ithaca. “For talented singers, there are plenty of groups and ways to get involved on campus,” Nowak notes. “Just cast your net and see what you can get involved in. We’re just one group in a sea of many.”

Here's a video of Ithacappella performing in California.

Want to see more? Check out video of Ithacappella performing with Incubus!