Straight No Chaser continues holiday tradition Friday

With the pressure of finals mounting, some students can be found living in the library; not so for the men of Straight No Chaser.

Rather than spending countless hours studying in some quiet nook, they’re devoting their time to preparing to melt the hearts of holiday music lovers all over Bloomington.

Straight No Chaser, IU’s all-male a cappella group, will perform its annual holiday concert Friday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. The show begins at 8 p.m.  and tickets cost $10 for students and $12 for non-students.

Every night this week, the men have dedicated half of their evening to caroling around campus at different residence halls, sororities and cafeterias in order to give the community a sneak peek of the show. Many of the members said they believe time management is key when juggling late-night rehearsals, promoting their shows, studying for finals and traveling to other shows they have booked.

“With the amount of practice time we schedule in, plus performing three to four shows a week, being involved in the group is definitely time consuming,” said freshman Chris Marcheschi. “You just learn to study around it and as for homework, it gets done. But being in the group is such a great experience, it’s definitely worth it. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

The original Straight No Chaser started back in September 1996 when Dan Ponce, a member of IU’s Singing Hoosiers, came up with the idea of starting an all-male a cappella group. Ponce selected the original 10 members and Straight No Chaser had their first performance in October 1996  at IU’s Dance Marathon.

Ever since, the group has become quite a phenomenon on campus and around the country.

Within the past year, the original group was offered a recording deal with Atlantic Records to release five albums.

Straight No Chaser is typically made up of 10 men, all with a passion for performing.

Straight No Chaser Music Director Andrew Brewer said when selecting new members into the group, grade level and major are not taken into consideration, but the new members have to fit into the camaraderie of the group.

He said they are all close and spend a lot of time together in and out of rehearsals, so personality is key.

“You don’t have to be a music major in order to sing in SNC,” Brewer said. “It’s fun getting people from all the different walks, it makes our group have character. We actually only have three people that are in the music school.”

Senior Jesse Townes said he’s been in the group for three and a half years and when new members join, everyone is taught their voice parts the same way.

“We just throw them right into rehearsing with the group because we have so many shows during the week and weekend, we really don’t have time to take two or three weeks to get them acquainted,” Townes said. “But it works out well because practicing with the group helps strengthen everyone’s parts.”

The group is known for having two large concerts near the end of each semester.

Throughout the year the members sing at many events put on by campus organizations and travel out of Bloomington to share their talent with other music lovers.

“One of Straight No Chaser’s main goals is to keep it current. We want to perform songs that everyone likes to listen to,” Brewer said. “If you don’t know the song, you’re just listening to a choir. But if you know the music, you’re participating.”