David Taintor

Finding 13 college coeds together on a weekend, you might expect laughing, loud music and perhaps a little bit of chaos. These girls are no different; we just happen to be the ones making the music. We’re called Audacious, Eau Claire’s newest all female a cappella group, and we definitely live up to our name.

Spirited and original; unrestrained by convention or propriety.

This definition has been the driving force behind our success since our inception four years ago. Founded in the fall of 2005 by Catherine Heidke, Audacious originally had 19 members. This talented and eclectic group of young women had majors ranging from music education to psychology to nursing.

Though this original group has changed with the graduation of old members and the addition of new members, the group still focuses on our original mission statement. “Audacious is an all female a cappella organization whose purpose is to promote a positive, strong and limitless image of women through music.”

“The group provides social, personal, and musical growth of its members and audiences alike. Spirited, original and unrestrained by convention, Audacious strives to be a source of strength for all whom appreciate women and music.”

Many of the arrangements we sing as well as the events for which we perform reflect the beliefs held within our mission statement. Each semester, Audacious performs for Take Back the Night, a night dedicated to the courageous victims of sexual assault and abuse, complete with a candlelight vigil and testimonials.

We find events such as this important to take part in as a group because by means of singing, we are able to connect with others at these events and endorse the strong, independent and capable image of women that we support.

We have also performed for Women’s and Gender Equity events on campus. As our mission statement says, Audacious strives to promote a positive image of women through music. Several of our songs, such as “Extraordinary” by Liz Phair, “Young and Beautiful” by Carrie Underwood and “Suddenly I See” by K.T. Tunstall reflect this belief.

Another event that Audacious was privileged to perform for last semester was the Women Rock event that took place at the Ramada Convention Center in downtown Eau Claire. This all-day event was a fundraiser to raise money for breast cancer research, and also to raise awareness about breast cancer.

As a group we believe these events are important to raise awareness for hardships that women face, such as breast cancer, sexual abuse and gender inequality, so that others can become educated and want to make a difference. As the radius of the knowledge of the existence of this group continues to increase in size, we find ourselves being given more opportunities to take part in important and educational events, and we hope that continues to be the case in the future.

Each semester brings with it new faces and a new dynamic to the group, but Audacious as a whole still has the same attitude toward music and performing. We are 13 strong women and we are all here because we love to perform and we believe in Audacious because of what it represents.

There are nine seniors in the group this semester, some of whom are graduating in May, and others who love Eau Claire too much to be leaving just yet.

Because we have several girls graduating from the group next semester, we will be looking to bring on some new members at our upcoming auditions, which will be held this Sunday, from 4 to 6 p.m. in Haas Fine Arts Center.

Anyone interested should come to the Haas lobby to fill out a brief form regarding why you would want to be a part of Audacious and prepare 30- seconds of a song that shows off your vocal talents to the group. We will be holding callbacks at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 11.

If you love to sing and want to have fun with an awesome group of girls, come share your talents with us so that Audacious can continue to be a creative, beautiful and successful group for years to come.

Krier is a senior nursing major and guest columnist for The Spectator.