Ithacappella

As I’m on my way back to Ithaca for my fourth and last winter tour, these words by Albert Pine resonate loudly with my thoughts and expectations. Some nights is playing on the radio, and I’m sitting next to my friend Derryk—now brother in the group—as the headlights illuminate each approaching curve. In two and a half short weeks I will begin my last semester at Ithaca, and as much as I spend time thinking about the future these days, tonight my thoughts are focused on the last 7 semesters during which I’ve had the pleasure of singing with Ithacappella.

With the group, I have had the opportunity to perform at universal studios, on the TV show the price is right, in the middle of countless crowds at random places, and at 12 block concerts for our home crowd at Ithaca college. Above and beyond ithacappella’s impressive gigging ability is the way in which it brings people together. Since freshman year I have been introduced to, sung with, and become friends with some of the best young men I know—many of whom are now graduated and living new lives, but whose influence and presence live on, as they have played a significant role in my musical and personal development. Some of my closest friends at ithaca are in the group now, and i have come to know each and every member in the current group as more than just another voice in the group, but as a brother that i can depend on. Three winter tours and three fall tours have taken me all over the US, singing at high schools and colleges with these brothers of mine, spreading the love of music that we all share and that drives us to do what we do. After all, it is the joy of singing that brings us together in the first place, and it is this joy that makes 7 workshops and a concert in one day on tour acceptable. Though we all sing because we love it individually, when we come together and make music, we do it for each other. We may sound better and better with every passing year, but that is only because the members of past groups have passed on the importance of the hard work, dedication, and perseverance that it takes to make that happen. This ideal is manifested in an entirely unique way when we tour each year, sharing and spreading this love for music as our singular objective.

Some Nights, a song that we have performed and will be singing over and over on tour is still playing on the radio.

“What do I stand for? What do i stand for?”

Ithacappella has taught me a very important lesson. What is truly worth fighting for—to stand for in an often confusing and misleading world—is your brothers. We give each other the gift of making music, and when we tour we turn that gift around and make music for others. Our brothers and sisters around the world should matter to us just as much as the people physically present in our lives, and though we will only reach a relatively small amount of people in our short time on the road this winter, the message holds true for everything we do in life: we give what we can give—for others.

“What do I stand for? What do i stand for? Most nights I don’t know…”

Tonight, I know what I stand for. I stand for each one of my brothers in the group, and I stand for all the people we will reach out to through the joy of music in the coming two and a half weeks. Let Wintour 2013 begin.

Jason Wilber ‘13