Kelsea Whittle

Creating music isn’t always easy with 23 people, but it’s something Effusion, one of McGill’s a cappella groups, manages to achieve.

“It is a huge feat for us to create a tight sound with so many people,” says President Kelsea Whittle.

Effusion held auditions at the beginning of the school year where over 200 people auditioned.

“Usually you know fairly quickly if someone stands out, but this year we had so many great singers [that] it was a problem to narrow it down,” Whittle says. “We are so lucky to have so many talented voices join our group.”

Whittle describes Effusion as a “family” and emphasizes the huge amount of work that the group members put in.

“During auditions, we can tell who has prepared and we really value that because our group expects a high level of work once you’re in.”

Effusion is currently preparing for their upcoming concert, “Love and Heartbreak,” on November 21. On the idea and theme behind the concert, Whittle says, “This is kind of an all encompassing theme and we feel like this is something the audience can all relate to.”

Indeed, Effusion aims to involve more of the Montreal community this year with some promotion for the concert coming from television appearances on CTV and Global.

Effusion plans to be belt out a variety of music ranging from R&B to soul to love ballads at their concert.

“We realize that people like a variety,” Whittle says.

It seems that Effusion is well on its way to achieving its goal, as they have been asked to perform at a number of different venues in the spring. In February, the group will be doing a showcase with Gregory Charles, a well-known singer and songwriter in Quebec, and will also be performing in Toronto for a Haiti fundraiser. On top of all this, the group will also be the opening act for Aloe Blacc on Tuesday at Le Belmont.

With so many upcoming projects, Effusion is busy preparing their repertoire with their musical director, Andrew Wang, who arranges many of their songs.

Effusion will no doubt be making an impact in and beyond the McGill and Montreal community in the future. However, Whittle promises that they will never forget where they got their start.

“We will never forget where we came from,” Whittle says. “We love our McGill audience and they have been so supportive over the years. This gives us a way to share music with people and this has become a big part of my university experience.”

Effusion will be selling tickets on Friday, November 19 in the lobby of the Leacock building. For more information visit effusion.ca.