Seton-La Salle High School A Capella Group Headed To National Semifinals

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Popular films like "Pitch Perfect" and TV shows like "Glee" have re-introduced the nation to a cappella singing. The only instrument is the human voice.

Kat Smith is choreographer and fellow senior Kailyn Martino is student leader of a Seton-La Salle High School a capella chorus called the Trebels.

The group selects the music, and Kailyn arranges it to fit the Trebels' style. That style involves more than just standing in a row and singing.
.
"It's kind of a movement in contemporary a capella right now that groups in high school and college, and even professionally, will work on pieces together that are very dynamic," Kailyn says.

So where's the faculty song and instructor? There isn't one. These kids run the entire show and the rehearsals themselves.

"It really excites them to come to practice," Martino says, "and now they're preparing to put on a show, along with all those other students who have been doing the same thing."

"We all have a mutual understanding that we need to respect each other as peers, as well as those who are appointed in charge," Smith says. "We need to take charge sometimes, but we really try and listen to what everybody wants. And I think that's what makes us stand out as a group, definitely."

Join The Conversation On The KDKA Facebook Page
Stay Up To Date, Follow KDKA On Twitter

They stand out so well that they took first place in a national quarterfinal competition.

This Saturday: the next level. Semifinals in New Jersey.

"If we finish first," the choreographer adds, "we'll move straight to finals, which is on Broadway in New York."