After being born out of the BU Treblemakers last year, Birdland Avenue is ready to make some noise of its own in Varsity Vocals' first-ever Aca Open, which kicks off July 29 with the New England regional.

"The Birds" came in third at the Boston Regional Harmony Sweepstakes in April and recently surpassed a development funding goal to support its competition and recording schedule. The group, which is comprised of Haley Castuera, Evan Linsey, Kayla Pichichero, Toria Rainey, and Adrienne Rube, celebrated by releasing a new cover video over the weekend of Andra Day's "Rise Up."

"Rise Up" opb Andra Day

"Four of us are alumni now, and one is still in Trebs," Pichichero said. "We have been doing little projects for fun since 2013, when we did a cover of 'Summertime.'

Last summer, we decided to officially form as a group and present ourselves as 'Birdland Avenue' to the world. We started this development fund in the hopes of raising money for videos, recorded music, and competition fees.

"Summertime" apb Ella Fitzgerald

We arrange all of our music collaboratively, so there is a lot of meaning behind what we do and how we connect to a particular song. We create music that we enjoy singing and that doesn't necessarily follow the traditional format of a cappella music. We love experimenting with unexpected chords/interwoven motifs/tempo changes.

"American Boy" opb Estelle ft. Kanye West

I guess the idea behind the group, so to speak, is to create contemporary neo-soul/jazz-inspired music but also stay true to ourselves and make music that is a true representation of our friendship/love for each other!

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