International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella <\/a>\u00a0a worldwide tournament where more than 600 groups compete.\u00a0<\/p>\nWinning the quarterfinal secured Off the Record a spot in the semifinal round at the University of Buffalo on March 21.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But their attendance is contingent on funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Falletta said the group receives $150 from Student Senate at the beginning of each year and may receive more if they \u201cget lucky\u201d with funding requests. She said they\u2019re often turned down.\u200b<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause we\u2019re a Student Senate-sponsored organization, we can\u2019t get support from the music department, which is hard because a lot of us call that place home,\u201d Falletta said. \u201cIt\u2019s frustrating not to be able to get that support, given so many of us are involved in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trips to this competition for a group like Off the Record can cost thousands of dollars. The group has set up a GoFundMe, held for-profit performances at the Lehigh Pub and is planning a merchandise drop to raise additional funds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They also hope their continued success can help other music ensembles on campus facing similar challenges. Falletta said most a capella groups face similar challenges, noting that the group submits funding requests each year but continues to encounter the same recurring obstacles.<\/p>\n
For the quarterfinals, the group had only two weeks to prepare after learning they\u2019d qualified.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Choreographers Marti Colasurdo, \u201825, and Mason Lippincott, \u201827, regularly FaceTimed over winter break, and music director Cooper Finn, \u201826, arranged the entire 10-minute set in 12 days, and said Lehigh\u2019s one of the only schools that arranges its own music for the competition.\u200b<\/p>\n
In addition to the overall win, Colasurdo and Lippincott earned outstanding choreography for the full set, and Finn won outstanding musical arrangement for the second consecutive year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u200b\u200bPlacing at ICCAs isn\u2019t new for the group. Last year, Off the Record won first at its quarterfinal and second at its semifinal. Still, the success was years in the making.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been on the choreography committee, which helps the choreographer fill holes in the set each year,\u201d Colasurdo said. \u201cTo be a choreographer this year is the right way to give back to the group in that way. It was so cool that it was so well received in such a short period of time as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Finn said his win didn\u2019t come out of nowhere. He, along with two previous winners of the same award, created master sheets for arranging music. He said he hopes to continue passing down that knowledge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Beyond ICCAs, Off the Record performs at scholarship dinners, Lehigh admissions and alumni events, and for organizations aligned with its values.\u00a0<\/p>\n
These events, designed to support and represent the Lehigh community, also come at a cost.<\/p>\n
\u200b\u201cWe only charge $5 a person per concert, since we want to get as big of a support as we can,\u201d Finn said. \u201cBut sound usually costs $750, so we usually don\u2019t make that much money from that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u200bAlthough financial instability has taken a toll on the group, they remain hopeful during preparation for the ICCA semifinal. Members are also looking forward to their spring concert, which will feature solos from each senior.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so proud of the group. I\u2019ve watched it grow since I was a first year,\u201d Colasurdo said. \u201cI\u2019m sad to go, but I\u2019m really happy to leave the group in the place that it is in. Competitions aside, (it\u2019s a) hidden gem at Lehigh that I am so lucky to have found. It\u2019s my favorite place.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shock, stress and doubt ran through Rose Falletta\u2019s, \u201826, head when she heard her group, Off the Record…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128483,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[48710,4877,153,155,154,5878],"class_list":["post-128482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-3-min-read","tag-arts","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-student-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}