Winter break serves as vocal rest for most student performance groups, but many Northwestern a cappella troupes opt to use the time off to go on tours. These trips often combine performance with other social activities, allowing members to both bond as a group and continue singing.
These trips, typically yearly traditions, take place after finals week of Fall Quarter and usually last a few days. This year, groups traveled both domestically and internationally.
Co-ed a cappella group Undertones went to Orange County, California on its week-long tour.
“It’s just a really important sort of bonding experience for the group, and it really helps set the tone for the rest of the year,” Undertones co-music director and Communication junior Yara Nasr said. “It’s something that we always look forward to.”
During the trip, Undertones performed twice, Nasr said. One performance entailed singing Christmas carols for shoppers in an Orange County mall and the other was for a family friend of one of the members.
Outside of performances, Undertones members went to Disneyland and socialized with game nights, Nasr said. The group also did a Secret Santa, a wintertime tradition that is Nasr’s most anticipated part of the trip.
“It just showed me how much people really listen to other people,” Nasr said. “I just felt like everyone was seen in a way. Their presents were so personalized and specific.”
Significant Others, colloquially known as Sig O, is an a cappella group for female and non-binary students. Over the break, 14 members of the group visited Dallas for four days, Communication freshman and Sig O member Annika Raj said.
While in Dallas, Sig O visited a holiday lights display and watched a Dallas Stars game. Raj said spending time with her fellow singers was her favorite part of the trip, adding that even though the group performed twice and rehearsed during the trip, the focus felt like it was on bringing members together.
“I feel like we spend a lot of time during the quarter rehearsing, and we’ve done hangouts before, but that was the first time I got to really connect with everyone,” Raj said.
Other a cappella groups also organized their own tours and trips. Both THUNK and X-Factors went to New Orleans.
While some a cappella groups traveled domestically over winter break, 18 members of all male a cappella group Asterik went abroad to Montreal for four days, according to Communication junior and Asterik Co-President Oliver Tam said.
Asterik did not perform during their trip, but the group walked around Old Montreal, climbed a mountain in Mount Royal and visited a Christmas market as some of the highlights of the group’s tour. Asterik also took part in some of its yearly traditions, including a Secret Santa and a video game tournament.
“There’s something really beautiful in that it’s a really incredible bonding experience and I think that’s universal for all the groups (who take trips),” Tam said.
Email: marissafernandez2028@u.northwestern.edu
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