Vocal ensembles at Georgetown have a reputation of putting in hard work to showcase their undeniable talent. But the differences among our school’s a cappella groups go beyond the types of music they choose to perform. In the case of one emerging a cappella group, aCHORDance, its identity has been forming since it started making music almost a year ago, but its philosophy of flexibility remains the same.

A cappella groups have their niche in the Georgetown experience — for example, performances inSellinger and outside the library on school nights are always a pleasant surprise for students. The co-founders of aCHORDance, Evan Sterrett (COL ’15) and Shannon Lynch (COL ’14), imagined a group that could partake in these traditions without imposing a large time commitment on its singers.

“I feel like I’m really involved on campus and I didn’t have a lot of extra time to devote to a more serious a cappella group,” Sterrett said. “We wanted something that was more laid-back, with more freedom to do what we wanted to do with the group.”

However, when Lynch reached out to the Department of Performing Arts to learn the requirements of starting a new a cappella group, she was advised against it due to a lack of departmental resources.

“I tried to explain to them that this was going to be a different kind of group. We’re not going to need a manager or a ton of money. We just want to sing, get together and have fun,” she said.

Without a table at Student Activities Comission fair or a HoyaLink page, aCHORDance was born from the outside marketing efforts of its co-founders.

“Facebook is obviously an awesome tool. That’s how we got a lot of the word out,” Lynch said. “Word of mouth has been huge for our group.”

Auditions were held at the beginnings of both semesters this academic year.

“Coming into this, Evan and I wanted to make sure that there was a huge emphasis on the fact that, while we would have auditions, that anyone was welcome because we really wanted to have more of a laid-back atmosphere about our group as a whole,” Lynch said.

The group concluded their spring auditions with a total of 14 members. In corresponding with university departments, aCHORDance members have been pressured by a concern about duplication.

“They want us to be different somehow, but there’s only three major coed a cappella groups on campus, so duplication I really don’t think should be an issue because obviously there are a ton … more singers than are able to fit in three coed a cappella groups,” said Sterrett.

Catharine Maitner (COL’ 15), the dance representative for the Performing Arts Advisory Council, is in charge of new club development within the Department of Performing Arts.

“While we try to accept as many new groups as we can, certain space constraints — especially when it comes to rehearsal space — prevents us from granting certain groups benefits,” she wrote in an email. “Also, there is a non-duplication policy that PAAC upholds to prevent the existence of too many of the same types of groups on campus. Therefore, for any new group that applies, whether it betheatre or a cappella, the new group must demonstrate how [it is] different from groups that already exist on campus.”

The Department of Performing Arts currently sponsors nine vocal performance groups of comparable size and has yet to decide if aCHORDance can be added to the list.

“It is unfortunate that the bureaucracy of it makes it so that the process is long and dragged-out, but hopefully, after this next step, we can finally get the recognition,” said Lynch. “If not, I don’t see us disbanding as a group at all. It’s just going to be a little more difficult than it needs to be to meet and get the word out about our group.”

Regardless of whether they are recognized officially by the university, aCHORDance members plan to continue trying new musical techniques and gaining recognition among the student body.

“We’re looking in the future to switch it up even more. We talked last rehearsal about the possibility of adding an instrument at some point,” she said. “We really want to emphasize that we are flexible and versatile and [that] we can do more than just top-40 pop songs or limit ourselves to a certain genre.”

So far, the group performed the national anthem at a few Hoya sporting events and has a concert planned for later this month. Staying true to its philosophy of flexibility, the group has a tentative set list that contains everything from The Beatles to last year’s popular songs.

“We’re learning a lot as we go through this process,” Sterrett said. “Once we receive university recognition, it will be so much easier to define our group.”

ACHORDance, accompanied by R.E.L., another a cappella group, will also perform at Uncommon Grounds on Friday, April 19 at 7 p.m.