Chris Yahng had been singing since he was a toddler. When he started his educational journey at UW-Madison, he was disturbed by the lack of a cappella groups at the campus. In 1997, he decided to take the initiative and founded MadHatters, UW-Madison's first men's a cappella group.
\I was in a choir at the UW, the chamber singers and I had [an a cappella] group in high school and I found out when I came to UW that there wasn't a group here so I pulled a couple guys from the [choir],"" said Yahng, a UW-Madison senior majoring in history. ""In 1999, I started the women's group [Tangled Up in Blue] at UW-Madison as well.""
Since its founding, the MadHatters have grown in numbers, but even more significant has been the growth in the number of audience members at the fall and spring concerts.
""When we first started out, we had 125 people [in the audience] and now we have a total of 1,700 for two nights,"" Yahng said.
Not all members of the nationally honored a cappella group are vocal performance majors, nor does the organization have ties to the UW-Madison School of Music.
""We are an eclectic mix of backgrounds. We are a bunch of guys who like to have fun. ... We do a lot of charity stuff and the food drive [in December] for NBC news,"" Yahng said. ""We are not a bunch of clowns who like to drink beer.""
Both the men's and women's a cappella groups have struggled to gain support from the School of Music and use of the school's practice facilities.
""[The School of Music] wants control over the types of music we perform. ... They used to let us have use of their practice facilities, but now we are practicing in small classrooms. ... I'm concerned with the future of the groups because there is no support from the School of Music and we can't exist without the support from the school,"" Yahng said. ""Ultimately, [the School of Music] looks at us as competition. It is unfortunate, but we will do our best to get along with them. ... We are willing to work together with them to help represent the School of Music well, and we are proud of being UW-Madison students and representing the Madison community.""
After performing the national anthem for Chancellor Wiley, his staff and the Director of Athletics after the Sept. 11 tragedy, MadHatters faced the threat of expulsion of students by the School of Music.
""They got the misunderstanding that we were from the School of Music and [the School of Music] found out and threatened to expel these students. It's really nasty and they don't need to do that,"" Yahng said. ""The MadHatters have 14 members and seven of them are involved in the choirs of Madison, so it's not like we're completely uninvolved.""
Both a cappella groups join together for two annual concerts, one in the fall and one in the spring held between the end of April and beginning of May.
""I always like our spring concert. We have 700 [people in the audience] each night so it's always a fun way to end the year,"" said Tony Ehrbar, business manager for the MadHatters.
MadHatters performs for a variety of audiences. They have recently performed at hospitals, sporting events at the Kohl Center, private parties and community functions as well as caroling during the Christmas season.
""Lots of times we'll do things at the hospital free, and other charitable events,"" Ehrbar said.
Since MadHatters is a student-run organization and does not have ties to the university, they are able to choose the music that they will perform as a group.
""Influences [for the chosen music] come from different backgrounds. ... We really sing for our audience members and ourselves from [current] radio all the way to stuff that our parents listened to,"" Yahng said.
Membership in MadHatters is based on auditions and callbacks for the fall and spring semesters. Auditions for MadHatters are tonight and Tuesday, Jan. 29, in the basement of the Humanities building by the choral board. MadHatters generally has 14 to 15 members in the organization.
The group meets three days a week for three hours each day to practice and often put in more hours of practice prior to major events.
On Feb. 16, UW-Madison will host the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, where MadHatters and Tangled Up in Blue, along with four schools from Michigan, one school from Illinois and one from UW-Eau Claire, compete to win the opportunity to advance to the finals in New York City.
With the battle between the a cappella groups and the School of Music aside, the two groups have proven their talents by becoming a nationally recognized group with songs on the ""Best of Intercollegiate A Cappella"" CD.
Recently MadHatters and Tangled Up in Blue recorded a joint CD of their music, titled State Street, which is the first a cappella CD to be digitally mastered in 5.1 surround sound. The 10 track album features five songs from each a cappella ensemble.
""Both groups were honored by the National A Cappella Board. The CD with that honor should be coming out in a month and our CD should be coming out in April,"" Yahng said. ""When [our CD] comes out it will be available nationally and at the huge spring show the first weekend in May.""
For tickets to the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, contact the Vilas box office at 212-1500. General admission tickets are $10.
