While the first week of classes was hardly a cakewalk for anyone, it proved an especially exhausting test of endurance for members of a cappella groups across campus.

Afternoons spent tabling in White Plaza. All-nighters stuffing audition folders. And, finally, for a new crop of baritones and altos alike, opportunity knocking loudly on the door in the wee hours of Saturday morning: roll-outs.

“I’m literally eating, breathing and sleeping Mendicants,” said Mendicants president, Gus Horwith ‘10, at 6 a.m. Thursday after a night spent deciding call-backs.

Starting last Tuesday, a cappella groups conducted annual auditions to recruit new members for the upcoming year.

Horwith saw the process as a mixed blessing.

“It’s really exciting, because we’re determining who we’re going to spend the bulk of this coming year with,” Horwith said. “But [it’s] also really stressful, because there’s just so much behind-the-scenes work to make sure the process runs smoothly.”

Groups began preparations far in advance.

“People put in a tremendous amount of work before school starts,” said Sidney Le ‘10, musical director of Mixed Company. Tasks included booking singing engagements at dorms, contacting dorm staff, designing posters, stuffing callback folders and generally awaiting the arrival of the talented class of 2011.

After the new students settled in, groups performed selections at the New Student Orientation’s O-Show and various dorms across campus. Interested students found themselves well-received in White Plaza as well, with numerous groups setting up informational tables to recruit for upcoming auditions. For students of all levels of musical experience, Tuesday marked the beginning of first-round auditions.

“The audition pool [was] incredibly strong this year,” said Talisman member Maria Duzon ‘09.

Not all auditionees boasted years of voice lessons and performance awards.

“It’s a really wide range of people who try out,” said Nikhil Kamat ‘09, president of Raagapella, an all-male South Asian-focus a cappella group.

Mostly, Kamat said, people who sing in a cappella groups on campus have had either personal vocal training or other musical experience, like playing an instrument or singing in school choirs. Others, a little under half, have had no prior singing experience.

“Shower singers,” Kamat described them. He included himself in that category. “I randomly picked up singing while driving to work, listening to the radio.”

Having been in the same position as many of his intimidated auditionees, Kamat found it easier to relate to students who were interested in singing, but not necessarily acquainted with the performance aspect of a cappella.

“It’s a really encouraging environment,” he said. “We all stand up when the person walks in, and clap. Some people think they’re wrong when they’re right. We encourage in the right place.”

Luke Henesy ‘10, a new member of Mixed Company, actually found the welcoming audition atmosphere more nerve-racking than comforting.

“It was weird,” Henesy said. “It appears to be such a friendly and low-pressure environment, and yet there is so much pressure on everybody if you look at it objectively. It made me more nervous, knowing that they would appear happy no matter what.”

While more technical elements like pitch-matching, scales, rhythm and range tests, and solo renditions figured prominently in the selection process, personality also played a large role. While groups are likely to spot a number of well-qualified singers, they must likewise ensure that the auditionee is compatible with their musical style and group dynamics.

Following first-round auditions on Tuesday and Wednesday, several groups held call-back barbecues on Thursday and Friday as an opportunity for socializing and further auditioning. After all, accepted members will eventually be spending a minimum of eight hours per week with their group.

“We really don’t have any specific criteria for a potential recruit,” said Horwith. “We just want to see how you can sing and then try to figure out whether you’d mesh, personality-wise, with the returning members. It’s not the Inquisition or anything.”

Criteria vary from group to group.

For Raagapella, Kamat said, “what’s nice is to have people with good soloing abilities. Pitch and tone can be taught, but soloing is something that’s intrinsic to your particular vocal quality. We look for someone who can really perform.”

Overall, Duzon opined, “there’s nothing more attractive than seeing someone who simply loves to sing.”

Late Friday night, having spent the week collecting their impressions of numerous potential members, all sleep-deprived a cappella groups convened to determine, once and for all, the new additions to their musical families.

Group members described the night as long but exciting, with each negotiating their picks under the arbitration of an a cappella alumnus. In case of conflict, groups referred to sealed envelopes containing the auditionees’ preferences. By early Saturday morning, members emerged with yet another task: to roll out their new recruits at the crack of dawn.

Henesy went to sleep unaware of whether it would be representatives from Mixed Company, Fleet Street or neither group who would greet him in the morning.

But when Mixed Company came knocking, he remembers waking up with a big smile on his face. Of the more than 100 auditionees for the group, Henesy was one of the 10 lucky ones.

“I was so confused,” he said, “and yet really happy.”