For about a week every fall, Parkes Hall is bustling outside of regular class hours. Hundreds of stressed-out hopeful singers flood in, going from room to room, singing scales and adding their names to ever-growing audition lists — all vying for a spot in one of Northwestern’s 12 a cappella groups. 

Unlike in the 2012 film “Pitch Perfect,” there are no intense inter-group rivalries at NU like between the film’s Barden Bellas and Treblemakers. Instead, many NU singers say the groups have a unique dynamic of collaboration, friendly competition and community. 

Communication junior Ethan Diaz is president of the Undertones, one of the only competing groups on campus. He said that each group has its own specific vibe and niche. 

“We’re a pretty serious group about our music, and some groups are maybe not as focused on that aspect of it in some ways,” Diaz said. “Not that other groups don’t care about their music, but I just think that we get really nitpicky about things we probably could fly without.”

Communication senior Lily Ramras, the co-social and inclusion chair of Jewish a cappella group ShireiNU, echoed Diaz’s sentiment. She said she considers THUNK to be “pretty cool,” the Undertones as “strict singers” and Significant Others as reminiscent of the Barden Bellas from “Pitch Perfect.”

Florence Haines, a Communication freshman, recently joined Significant Others and said she has found a welcoming environment — not just in her group, but in the NU a cappella community as a whole. 

“I’ll be in Kresge at 11 p.m. on a Tuesday, and there’s like five other a cappella groups there, and you can hear them all around in the hallway practicing,” Haines said. “It’s a really collective vibe because you’re all working on the same thing, and you’re all passionate about the same thing.” 

Despite the lack of a “Pitch Perfect” rivalry, three years ago, the groups once attempted a riff-off, a competition shown in the movie where groups take turns singing songs that must begin with the same word the last singer ended on.

Ramras said the competition was held in a parking lot, but was quickly shut down by police. 

“They said it’s too loud,” Ramras said. “We’re just theater kids. What are we gonna do?” 

Along with some “friendly banter” in the hallways, Diaz said, the a cappella groups also have an annual basketball tournament called “March aca-Madness.” He said each group submits teams to play three-on-three basketball against each other. 

So far, NU a cappella has held three of these tournaments. Groups rent out basketball courts at Henry Crown Sports Pavilion and create a bracket, Ramras explained.

“It’s a big deal,” Diaz said. “When people win that, people will post about it and brag about it for the year.” 

Despite the friendly competition, members agreed that a cappella fosters a unique connection between members, such as Haines describing Significant Others as a “sisterhood.”

The groups hold bonding events throughout the year to foster such connections. Ramras mentioned “ShireiNU one-on-ones,” in which, once a week, each member of the group is randomly partnered with another to hang out. Everyone takes pictures of their hangout session, and at the end of the week, the group makes a collage of everyone’s one-on-ones.

“What we pride ourselves on is being a group of people who genuinely care about each other and want to spend time with each other, while also really caring about the music we create,” Diaz said. “I think of them as a family of mine.” 

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