A cappella auditions are a process that marks the first few weeks of each semester, as students are welcomed into various lawn rooms to put aside their bashfulness and sing their hearts out. With 14 different groups, a cappella’s strong presence at the University allows many students to express themselves through the instrument of their voice. The Virginia Belles are one of the oldest and most well-known of these enclaves, with their own formidable audition process.
Initially, the Belles were a branch of the Virginia Women’s Chorus, being comprised of the chorus’ strongest members. Today, they are a separate organization affiliated with the McIntire Department of Music. The group was founded in 1977 by student Katherine Mitchell, who advocated for female representation in a cappella in a space previously dominated by all-male groups like the Virginia Gentlemen, according to Yukta Ramanan, former president of the Belles and fourth-year College student.
“[Mitchell] sort of founded the Belles as a counterpart…to the Virginia Gentlemen, because she didn't want the boys to have all the fun,” Ramanan said.
Becoming a Belle is no small feat. Roughly 100 girls vie for four to six spots each semester as they showcase their voices as best they can. Sonia Mistry, newly elected president of the Belles and third-year College student, explained that the first round of auditions consists of warm-ups followed by singing a verse and a chorus of a song of the auditioner’s choice.
Next, selected auditioners partake in social and vocal callbacks, where they mingle with current Belles and test how well their voices blend with the group. Two additional songs are caroled to conclude the tryout phase before new members are chosen.
Since its inception, the a cappella group has made a name for itself with impressive annual albums and routinely breathtaking performances, representing the University at a plethora of events, including basketball games, faculty dinners, Arts on the Hill, Rotunda Sing and Lighting of the Lawn. The Belles have also performed in local Charlottesville venues and at other universities on the East Coast, such as Princeton and Yale. Last year, the Belles had the opportunity to perform at the U.S. Senate, which Ramanan said she found especially memorable.
“We got to connect with U.Va. alumni working on Capitol Hill, and Governor Spanberger was there, which was really awesome,” said Ramanan.
With these performances and opportunities comes much preparation. Megan Myers, music director of the Belles and third-year College student, is in charge of the group’s rehearsals and music arrangement. Every Wednesday and Sunday, the group rehearses together for two and a half hours to audition for solos and memorize group performances.
“Once we've auditioned a song and we have a soloist, we then start learning the song,” Myers said. “So we'll … split off into parts … then my favorite part is memorizing. After we learn the song we memorize it, which is super fun … when it starts to come together.”
Each semester, the Belles also prepare for their culminating fall or spring concerts. Typically, the women sing about 12 songs of varied genres and sounds that reflect the group’s semester-long efforts. This spring, the Belles’ concert is scheduled for April 11.
Songs performed in concerts are selected through a voting process, as are executive elections and constitutional amendments within the group — which Mistry said reminded her of the University’s democratic values.
“It’s a very well-structured, well-thought-out process,” Mistry said. “It reminds me a lot of general student self-governance at U.Va..”
As president, Mistry heads the group’s administrative and logistic tasks around performances, meetings and rehearsals, often in coordination with the A Cappella Presidents’ Council to ensure that the 14 groups do not clash in their event bookings and song choices. Additionally, in the position, she serves as a role model for current and new members.
“When I first joined the Belles, the person that I was closest to was the president at the time,” Mistry said. “She really made my transition to U.V.a, particularly, much easier than it would have been. So I'm excited to kind of play that mentor, leader figure, hopefully for some girls.”
First-year College student Mary Kate Zaffarese is a new member, part of the handful welcomed in the recent fall semester. Zaffarese sang “Love Song” by Sara Bareilles for her first audition, then “traitor” by Olivia Rodrigo and “California” by Joni Mitchell for the callback, feeling certain that she wanted to be a Belle from the beginning of her time at the University.
“My story is very different than other people's, because most people audition for a bunch of groups and see which ones they get into. I just auditioned for the one because I was like, ‘If I want to do a cappella, I want to be in Belles,’” Zaffarese said. “I met them at the club fair, and they were so nice. I was like, ‘These are just the people.’”
After an auditioner gets accepted into the Belles, “New Girl Week” occurs, which is when prospective members spend time with the groups they were accepted by in order to choose which one they wish to join. Shaurya Singh, business manager of the Belles and second-year College student, talked about the experience of the week, enjoying the opportunity to bond with and meet a new class of girls.
“I really love the new girl mixer that we do with just Belles,” Singh said. “We go to Pink House, which is the Belles’ house, and we just sit around, we have a dip night, and…we play games, we pull questions out of a hat.”
Throughout their challenging auditions, painstaking rehearsals and impressive performances, the Belles have become a family, not only gaining musical skills through their experiences in the group, but long-term friendships as well.
“The one word I would use to describe [the Belles] is just love, like it's just love from this group of beautiful women that also create music together,” Singh said. “I think the most important part is that we truly are all friends, and that's something that I think is just an unforgettable part of my college experience.”
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