Edited by Veronika Potylitsina
Day three of Orientation Week at UofT’s St. George campus was packed—literally. It was such an incredible experience to be surrounded by thousands of other students, many of them fellow first-years, and to experience the massive parade and the Clubs Carnival with all of them. As a longtime musician, I was interested in seeing what sorts of opportunities were available around the St. George campus for musicians not only from the faculty of music, but from all different areas of study. If you are a singer and have even the slightest interest in a capella, you should really take a listen to what TBA has accomplished.
Just listen to those harmonies! You have to admit, listening to them is magnetic; it makes you want to be up there on stage with them. Luckily, you have that chance!
Name of Organization: TBA. Tunes. Beats. Awesome.
Year Established: 2002 (This year marks their 15th anniversary!)
College/Faculty Affiliation: None! TBA is one of the only groups on campus that takes students from any college/faculty.
Find them on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TunesBeatsAwesome/
Instagram: @tba_live
Website: http://tunesbeatsawesome.com
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TBAlive
Answers provided by: Julianne Porteous (Executive Co-Director) and Kristen Antunes (Executive Co-Director)
Q: What sets TBA apart from other vocal groups at UofT?
A: We are one of the only competitive voice groups here. We actually go to the international competition, the ICCAs; we go to the States for that. We’re pretty serious about what we do. We have a lot of different types of musicians. I’m a classical singer, and we have people who are more jazz-oriented, so it’s a very inclusive group. We take anyone who fits with our vibe.
We’re like a family. If you join our group, you have best friends through your whole university career. This is one of the best decisions I made. I joined in my second year, and it gave me a community at UofT. I find it’s such a big place, and having somewhere to go and having this close-knit group of people is really nice.
Q: What does your repertoire look like?
A: We usually sing Top 40 Pop and R&B, but we’ve had lots of variety in terms of the genres we’ve sang in the past years.
Q: How much prior vocal ability or experience is needed to have a successful audition?
A: We tend to have people with a wide variety of experience. Some people do read music, some people don’t, and we provide the resources for those who can’t read music as well. You could be a shower singer, you could be a classically trained vocalist, it doesn’t really matter.
Q: When and where will you be holding auditions?
A: This Friday, Saturday and Sunday (September 8th, 9th, and 10th). Friday from 1-8pm, Saturday and Sunday from 12-8pm in the music room at the Golding Student Centre in Victoria College. You can sign up [for auditions] on our website and all the available time slots will be listed there.
Q: What would you say to anyone considering auditioning for TBA?
A: Just go for it. For me, auditioning was totally on a whim. I was like: ‘why don’t I just try it out and see what it’s like.” Then, when you get in, it opens up this whole new experience at university. You never know what we’re looking for in vocalists as well. You could be exactly who we’re looking for, and you won’t even know until you try! Bring your best to the table and see what happens.
It really opens you up to a huge community, both on campus and in North America. When we go to competitions, we make friends from groups from Michigan and Boston and all over the place. It’s really nice to join this inter-collegiate community. Most of our competitions are in the States. It’s literally the competition from Pitch Perfect.
Q: Do you feel like Pitch Perfect accurately portrays the a capella life?
A: It’s a little crazy. It puts it in extreme mode. There are no announcers to say “oh, look at her, she just fell down.” But aside from that, there is a competition, and there are multiple groups on the same campus a lot of the time.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like any interested students to know?
A: We’re really fun. It’s a really fun group to be in, and it’s a really cool opportunity to have.
To find out where and when TBA will be performing this year, check out their social media pages as they will be updated often. More information about the upcoming auditions can be found on their website by clicking here.