Mixed Mode members perform their 10-minute set on the ICCA quarterfinals stage in Winter Park on Jan. 31.
Courtesy of Noelle Gardiner
One of UCF’s a cappella groups, Mixed Mode, placed No. 2 at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella South Quarterfinals in Winter Park on Jan. 31, advancing to the semifinals.
Ten a cappella groups competed in the ICCA at Trinity Preparatory School, including two other UCF groups. Only the top two groups advanced to the South semifinals in Durham, North Carolina, and the first-place group at the semifinals will advance to the finals in New York City.
Leah Sommerio, music director and co-executive director of Mixed Mode, said the group has not qualified for the ICCA semifinals since 2023.
“Every year since then, we’ve just kind of been chasing that feeling again,” Sommerio, fourth-year music education major, said.
Senior digital media major Terrell Woods accepts the Outstanding Choreography award for co-choreographing Mixed Mode’s set at the ICCA quarterfinals in Winter Park on Jan. 31.
Courtesy of Noelle Gardiner
The ICCA quarterfinals are the first round of the competition, but co-choreographer Terrell Woods, senior digital media major, said Mixed Mode’s preparation for its 10-minute performance began in the summer.
Members from last year voted on the four songs used in the performance and sent them to an arranger. The group began building its set after receiving the arranged songs.
The group rehearses its set for 11 hours per week. Not every a cappella group has grand choreography, but Mixed Mode uses movement to stand out emotionally in its performances, Woods said.
On the musical side, Sommerio said the set featured significant rhythmic intricacy. Although she studies music education, teaching older students is new to her. She said learning the rhythms herself and effectively teaching them to members was a challenge that helped her grow.
“This in general, I keep saying, was the hardest set we’ve done, at least since I’ve been there,” Sommerio said. “We’ve had some very challenging songs, but as a whole, none of these songs were easy.”
Tyler Frame, a junior lodging and restaurant management major, is the business director of Mixed Mode. He said the long hours spent together, from rehearsals to regular hangouts and dinners, contribute to the group’s family-like dynamic. About half an hour before competing, Mixed Mode members read handwritten notes they wrote to one another expressing their love and appreciation, Frame said.
Mixed Mode members felt major excitement for their performance and the competition results.
“They said our name, and I was like ‘oh,’ I started crying, like it felt so dramatic, but when you lived it, it makes sense,” Sofia Zighighi, junior nursing major and social media manager of Mixed Mode, said.
Mixed Mode has more than a month to prepare for the semifinals. The group is continuing rehearsals, focusing on implementing notes from the quarterfinals and reviewing videos filmed by supporters in the audience. The group does not use microphones during rehearsal, and because they rehearse in classrooms, the spacing often looks different from how it will look on stage.
“At least for me, like, working with choreography, what I’m looking at is, like do we hit center perfectly every time,” Woods said. “Are our lines perfectly straight? Did this make sense? Did this read from this angle?”
Mixed Mode will compete against nine other groups in the semifinals on March 28. Regardless of the competition’s outcome, the group expressed excitement about another chance to perform together.
“No matter what, having this opportunity to just even go to North Carolina, and with this group, this last year, is so fun,” Frame said.