Resonate’s path to the ICCA Quarterfinals 2025
By Eunice V. Soriano
From busking on the bustling streets of Toronto, to gracing students and faculty at campus concerts, Resonate is never one to shy away from the spotlight. And with their next performance, the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) competitive a cappella group will share that spotlight with the top talent in the nation.
On Feb. 1, Resonate are taking their talents to Rochester, New York, where they’re competing at this year’s International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) Quarterfinals. As seen in the Pitch Perfect trilogy, the ICCA is an a cappella tournament run by Varsity Vocals. Schools from Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. sing, dance and beatbox their way to a glorious trophy — the Gooding Cup.
Third-year RTA media production student and Resonate vocalist, Ethan Akler, is most excited to showcase their performance to competitors. When surveying the collegiate groups in their pool, he coins Resonate as the “small fish in a big pond,” being one of the few Canadian a cappella groups competing. Among some of the Canadian competitors are TMU’s queer-and-femme-focused On That Note, Repercussions from Western University and Tunes. Beats. Awesome. from the University of Toronto.
Nevertheless, being the underdog has inspired the group to work that much harder.
Second-year professional communication student Leanne Estalila is working diligently with her fellow altos in the group. In the weeks leading up to the main event, Estalila said they’ve fit extra rehearsals and boot camps into their weekly schedules to fine-tune their vocals and smoothen out choreography. However, before they get too ahead of the competition, travelling to the University of Rochester has posed its own challenges.
The group was faced with insufficient funding, unable to cover travel expenses, food and overnight accommodations. Resonate executive Katherine Reyes organized a GoFundMe page, initially setting a goal to raise $3,000 and later lowering it to $2,700 after re-evaluating their budget.
Almost two months later, Resonate took to Instagram to announce they surpassed that goal, thanking the donors who contributed to the achievement.
When Estalila heard the news, she was nothing short of grateful.
“Just knowing that everyone’s rooting for us feels really warm. I don’t know how to describe it, but I’m really grateful for everyone who’s wanting the best for us out there,” Estalila said.
Now with all the funds in their pocket, the team has their sights set on bringing the coveted Gooding Cup home to TMU.
While the Gooding Cup is at the core of their aspirations, Akler said he is most excited to share this experience with his Resonate members, who are also some of his closest friends. “The experience is what I’m looking most forward to with my a cappella friends. I love that we get to have this shared moment of bonding,” Akler said.
Akler auditioned for Resonate two years ago, wanting to become more involved in TMU’s performing community. Unbeknownst to him at the time, recording that last-minute audition tape in a stairwell would welcome him into a newfound family.
Similar to Akler, Estalila was in search of an outlet to explore her musical endeavours and when she saw the flyers sprawled across the Resonate table at orientation week, she jumped at the opportunity.
“I thought that it would be really cool to join the a cappella team. I was always really into vocals and all that — never really into theory. But I didn’t want that stopping me, so I kind of just went for it,” Estalila said.
Since then, both Akler and Estalila have found a great deal of success in the group by expanding their repertoire and most of all, forming formidable friendships — assets they are tugging along to the ICCA.
“It’s really important to make sure we have a team that isn’t necessarily just there to get a rehearsal in, but so we can have a bond and even grow stronger as a unit because that’s eventually what we take to competitions [and] concerts… that’s what makes our group super unique,” Estalila said.
And if that translates to the big stage, Resonate could soon be singing and dancing their way to the sweet sound of victory.
With files from Tristan Grajales
Leave a Reply