BrenShavia Jordan | Broadcast Reporter
VirtuOSO is a Contemporary a capella group consisting of 14 members. It was founded in August 2012 and is the only group of its kind on Baylor’s campus who perform pop, jazz and in-house written music to a variety of audiences.
Senior’s and group members Natalia Araujo and Brynn Deger shared their experience in this group.
“We’ve had some really awesome opportunities in the past few years,” Araujo said. “We were able once to go to Tawain and sing in Tawain at an a capella competition.”
The group has traveled across the U.S. performing for many different audiences. VirtuOSO performed at Paramount Studio for Baylor’s Give Light campaign and Magnolia Market Silos for the Christmas holiday.
The group has a rigorous and musically demanding schedule to stay prepared in between shows.
“We practice Monday and Wednesday from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., so that’s two hours twice a week,” Deger said. “We will also meet up if that’s not enough time outside of practice.”
The group is student ran and advised by Dr. Stephen Gusukuma, a choral lecturer in the School of Music at Baylor University. Dr. Gusukuma prepared choruses for the Grammy-nominated recording of Milhaud: Oresteia of Aeschylus.
VirtuOSO placed 4th in ICCA National Finals in 2015, landed 2nd place in VoiceJAM in 2016 and won the 2017 ICCA Southwest Quarterfinals.
Aside from competition and practice, Araujo expressed the unity the group shares.
“We are such a community and we’re 100% family,” Araujo said.
VirtuOSO will be releasing an album this Spring.
“You guys can check out Baylor VirtuOSO on Spotify [or] Itunes — one of those platforms very soon,” Araujo said.
To stay up to date with the latest, you can follow VirtuOSO on all social media platforms.
