Never say no to a gig.

This is one belief that members of Syracuse University’s all-male a capella group Otto Tunes stands by, and one reason why the group didn’t turn down a performance at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on Dec. 14.

The group will perform as part of a pre-show for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, opening for the Rockettes. The group will wear ugly Christmas sweaters while singing the holiday songs “Let It Snow,” “Carol of the Bells” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

“This gig is just going to solidify everything that we’ve worked for, everything that we stand for as a group. I think that this is just going to be the cherry on top of an excellent semester for us,” said Nick Godzak, music director for Otto Tunes.

About two weeks ago, the group received an email from a scout in charge of finding opening acts for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, inviting them to perform at the venue.

The pre-shows for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular span roughly three weeks and involve performances by both celebrities and collegiate a capella groups from SU and other universities such as Colgate University, Princeton University and the University of Massachusetts.

Sophomore advertising major TJ Wells said initially the group members didn’t think it was real — they thought it was a joke.

Wells also said performing at Radio City Music Hall still doesn’t seem like a real opportunity, but he’s looking forward to the experience and sharing it with his closest friends.

“We’re honored to have been asked in the first place,” Wells said. “Even watching ‘America’s Got Talent’ and thinking, ‘Wow, it’s great that those people are performing,’ and realizing that’s going to be me in two weeks. That’s going to be us as a group.”

Practicing for the Radio City Music Hall performance adds on to the preparation the group has had to go through for a capella Afterhours this Thursday. Wells said performing three songs for Afterhours is stressful enough, but the pressure keeps the group motivated.

“We have to learn three more songs during finals week and perform them in front of a crowd in New York City that has never seen us perform before,” Wells said. “It’s scary because we can’t perform any song that we’ve done before, but we work well under pressure, and this is going to be a great experience.”

Godzak said the group will miss four or five members who couldn’t change their travel plans after finals. But most of the group who will perform will be getting together whenever they are available to finish learning the music.

As the music director, Godzak chooses a lot of the songs that the group performs and teaches the members the arrangements. He said learning the music is one of the hardest things to do, especially since the group has never performed holiday songs before.

“I’m finishing these arrangements and the sooner I do that, the sooner they can learn their part,” Godzak said. “So that’s a lot of pressure on me. But this is such a great group of guys that they can do anything — they can learn it and get it over with.”

Senior vocal performance major Jaclyn Clark has been the vocal coach for Otto Tunes since the group was founded during her freshman year. As the vocal coach, Clark is present for the group’s rehearsals and educates the members on vocal health and teaches them techniques.

“They’re just such a great group of young men who have such a passion and fire to perform, and I relate to that so much because my field is vocal performance,” Clark said. “Otto Tunes basically started as a barbershop quartet in Flint Hall, and I’ve gotten to see them and hear them, watch them grow — that’s one of the best parts.”

Published on December 1, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Clare: clramire@syr.edu