The all-male a cappella group VoiceMale may be riding high on some recent successes, but has many more opportunities to come. Formed in 1994, VoiceMale is currently preparing for a major competition set for this Saturday.A track from the group's latest album, Ain't Done Overnight, will also be featured on the compilation disk, 2007 Best of College A Cappella. The song, a cover of The Fray's "Over My Head," was one of 17 chosen from submissions of over 160 groups. Furthermore, the group placed in the International Competition of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA), competing against several other New England a cappella groups in the quarterfinals March 10 to be one of two to advance to the semifinals next Saturday, March 24. They also won the award for Best Choreography for their rendition of OK Go's "Here It Goes Again."

The group has performed recently for large audiences. Emerson College's radio station, WERS, recently featured VoiceMale and other groups in a sold-out show in a 1,200-person theater.

But acclaim is no stranger to the all-male a cappella group. VoiceMale's 2004 album, Propeller, was named "best male album" by the Contemporary A Cappella Society of America. According to President Jon Weinstein '07, VoiceMale was more of an unknown at that time, and the group was pleasantly surprised to discover they had won. Ain't Done Overnight, is up for the same award this year. When asked if he thought the group would be able to repeat its past success with the award, Weinstein said, "The a cappella scene is very political," referring to the judges, who are almost all affiliated with an a capella group themselves. But, he said, "it's really exciting to be nominated."

Weinstein and the other members are "trying to get the name of Brandeis VoiceMale on the level of Tufts' Beelzebubs or the Massachussetts Institute of Technology's Logs," Weinstein said, referencing the two more well-known groups. The group rehearses almost every day, logging between 15 and 20 hours of rehearsal each week. In addition to the intensive rehearsals, the group performs two shows almost every weekend at area schools and at Brandeis. However, VoiceMale has a "different philosophy" from many of its competitors, said Weinstein. VoiceMale is made up of only eight members, as opposed to 12 or 18 members, the usual number in college a cappella groups. The group likes to give each member his own part, thus making each essential to the performance. According to Weinstein, many a cappella groups have more than one singer for each part, allowing more room for error and creating a different sort of sound.

In the semifinals, VoiceMale will compete against five coed groups and two other single-sex groups from the University of Massachussetts, Brown, Boston University, Harvard and Emerson, to be the best of the New England region. The semifinals competition will take place at MIT's Kresge Auditorium. The last stage of competition is the finals, in which the top groups from each of seven U.S. regions and one region in Western Europe will perform at Lincoln Center in New York City. VoiceMale has participated in the finals twice, once winning second place overall.