IU a capella group wins top honor

The newly formed IU a cappella group Shades of Hue placed first in the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella Great Lakes quarterfinal Feb. 10.

Freshman member June Lee said she didn’t expect the group to win.

“It was quite astonishing,” Lee said. “And needless to say, I was very proud and excited.”

The six-member group consists of another freshman, Miles Burke, sophomores Jaime Young, Mark Phillips and Jacob Seo and graduate student Jeremy Gussin.

Gussin, group founder and classical voice major in the Jacobs School of Music, originally started Shades of Hue last September, because he missed small ensemble singing.

Gussin said he recruited the other group members from another campus a cappella group, the Singing Hoosiers, in addition to people who could sing well, he said.  

Most of the group members are either in the Jacobs School or hope to be in the future. He said he likes how Shades of Hue has such a close tie to the Jacobs School of Music.

“It’s nice to have people who support what you are doing,” Gussin said.

Shades of Hue performs mostly Top-40 songs, though Gussin said they sometimes have to pick more versatile songs when preforming in a family atmosphere rather than a college environment. They split the songs into six-part harmony, with each individual carrying a part.

“Everyone must be spot on their game,” Gussin said.

The International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella Great Lakes quarterfinal was the group’s first competition. Shades of Hue performed a set of five songs: “Payphone,” “Without You,” “Defying Gravity,” “Ego” and “September.”   

“I liked ‘September’ the most because it had lots of audience-involving comic materials such as Miles dancing like a robot, Jacob screaming a high G (note),” Lee said.

Members of Shades of Hue said they hope to continue their success in more competitions next year. Other goals for the future include a possible end-of-year concert, as well as spreading awareness about Shades of Hue in the IU community.

Members of the group said they also hope to add more singers to Shades of Hue.

Gussin said with the rise of music-based TV shows like “Glee” and “The Sing Off,” as well as movies like “Pitch Perfect,” more people are joining a cappella groups.

Gussin said he encourages students interested in singing and searching for a “Pitch Perfect-like” a cappella group to try Shades of Hue.

“Shades of Hue is a lot of fun and has many interesting characters,” Gussin said. “Although no one takes on the job of being Fat Amy.”