Members of Viva Voce prepare for their upcoming performances during a Sunday morning practice. The group has been practicing nearly every Thursday before school, but lately have been putting in extra hours as their competition day approaches. “We are rehearsing a lot to make sure our entire set is the best it can be,” Vice President and Co-Choreographer Khamari Davis said. “For me personally, I am practicing the songs at home to make sure it all really sticks in my head.” (photo courtesy of Leah Alrutz)

Viva Voce is preparing for their performance at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella. Viva Voce sings after the college teams compete, during the period of judge deliberation. The event will take place from 7-10 p.m. Jan 31 at the Washington University 560 Music Center. 

“We have our regular weekly Thursday morning rehearsals,” Vice President and Co-Choreographer Khamari Davis said. “But, at this point of the year, we are adding more weekend rehearsals to give ourselves more time to prepare and get comfortable with the material.”

Following this performance, the group will compete in the International Championship of High School A Cappella Midwest Quarterfinal 7-10 p.m. Feb. 7. This will take place at the Washington University 560 Music Center.

“We will arrive at the venue pretty early in the day,” Davis said. “Once we’re there, we find out our order for the actual competition.Then we do our soundcheck, where we get to figure out all of our microphones and run our set on the stage and work out any last issues. Then, our group usually heads to lunch before we finally start getting ready for competition with our outfits, makeup and hair.”

Viva Voce’s set contains three songs. The set starts off with “Jealousy, Jealousy” by Olivia Rodrigo, then goes into “Doomsday” by Lizzie McAlpine and ends with “What You Don’t Do” by Lianne La Havas.

“My favorite song of the set is ‘What You Don’t Do,’” Davis said. “I think it has the most fun choreography and I sing the bass part, which is [the] most interesting [part of] this song.”

The group is prepared for the exciting month ahead of them. They have been preparing for this competition the entire year, and are eager to showcase their hard work.

“My favorite part of being in Viva Voce is the group,” Davis said. “Throughout all these years this group has changed so much but no matter what is going on, there are always the most interesting stories that come out of it.”