All girl a cappella group, Fusion, placed third in the International Championship of High School A Cappella (ICHSA) on Apr. 20. The group traveled to New York City and had the opportunity to perform at Lincoln Center.
“We would never have expected to have gotten this far,” sophomore Savannah DeCrow said. “It’s really just a dream come true that all of this blood, sweat, and tears that we’ve been pouring into it for months is finally paying off.”
Fusion previously went to the ICHSAs in 2015. The ICHSAs is an international competition that showcases the best of the best in high school acapella. It is hosted by Varsity Vocals, which also hosts the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA). This competition showcases college a cappella groups and was made famous to mainstream audiences by the 2013 film “Pitch Perfect.”
“[Performing at Lincoln Center] is a huge dream come true,” DeCrow said. “It’s even just an honor to be there regardless of how we place.”
Senior Komal Karumuru has been performing since she was in elementary school, and said that performing at Lincoln Center has always been a dream of hers. She joined Fusion in her sophomore year and has stuck with it ever since. This year she was nominated for Outstanding Soloist at the ICHSAs after winning it in the semi-finals.
“It means the world to me that I am provided the opportunity to get that award of Outstanding Soloist,” Karumuru said.
Fusion practices twice a week, in the mornings before school, and regularly performs at various students events at Marcus such as the Marquette Spring show and the Mr. Marcus pageant. Extra Saturday workshops, along with the regular practices and performances, helped the girls master their set for the final performance.
After learning that they would be heading to New York, Fusion began fundraising for their trip to alleviate the overall travel costs. The girls sold t-shirts, popcorn, and had an online fundraiser, raising around $5,000.
“It takes a village to make that happen,” Fusion director, Wesley Davis, said. “We try to break it up so it’s not a ridiculous amount of money.”
The girls credit their support from the Marcus students and faculty as the main reason as to how they raised so much money. Since the ICHSA semifinals took place at Marcus, many students and faculty showed up to support Fusion. Karumuru said that the support helped boost the girls’ confidence and perform at their peak. However, since the finals are in New York, the girls are not expecting the turnout that they had at semifinals due to the distance.
“That immense support from the audience really allowed us to just jump right into the music and give it our all so that we could perform as successfully as we did,” DeCrow said.
Fusion will continue performing at local festivals and Marcus events. The girls are going to continue to work and improve as a group. Karumuru said that a capella is something that has made an impact on her as a performer and that she would like to continue to explore it in college. She’s even been asked by multiple colleges like A&M and UT to join their a cappella programs.
“I definitely want to do a cappella in the future,” Karumuru said. “It’s just a part of me that I don’t want to lose.”
Since Fusion won third in the ICHSAs, they opened the performances for the ICCA finals at the Beacon Theatre. They performed their winning set from the night before. After arriving back to Flower Mound on Sunday, Fusion was met with praise from the Marcus community, including a congratulations message on the marquee at the front of the building.
“Getting third was a dream come true,” Decrow said.
