Fifteen members of the WashU a cappella group Mosaic Whispers are heading to New York City’s Town Hall Theater to perform at the upcoming International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA).
“I’m very excited to travel with the whole group,” said senior Natalie Feldstein, who has performed in Whispers since her first year at WashU. “This is such a unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I think we’re all really excited to perform on a Broadway stage and to meet some of the best [a cappella] groups from other schools who inspire us.”
While she’s looking forward to participating in her last, and perhaps most important a cappella competition with WashU, for Feldstein and her teammates, their a cappella group is much more than performances, choreography and competitions. It’s really more like a family.
“I think that the biggest thing being part of Whispers has given me throughout my four years is a reliable community of people who I genuinely feel a strong connection with,” said Feldstein. “I’m certain I will carry those relationships with me long after I graduate.”
Feldstein also said that participating in the a cappella group has complimented her studies in neuroscience and drama.
“School can be challenging sometimes and being a part of the group was such a nice way to ground myself in something that I wanted to do every day,” she said. “That gave me a sense of purpose outside of the academic chaos and really, those are the kinds of things that when I graduate college, I’m going to hold onto forever.”
Like Feldstein, sophomore Bralin Duckett saw the impact that participating in Whispers would have on his academic career early on.
“We all love music, we enjoy performing, we enjoy competing,” said Duckett. “But what drew me into this group is that we really care about each other as people, and this group has a strong history of that which is evidenced by our very engaged alumni network who come back to campus annually to support us at our splash concert. It’s that sense of family that keeps me drawn in.”
Their tight knit community no doubt impacts their ability to successfully perform and compete together.
“When you build a set for ICCA, obviously, it’s a competition set,” explained senior Kidist Taye, who serves as co-music director along with senior Camron Kaiser. “I feel like being involved in the competition is the way that our group has bonded the most. We spend so much time together, just from rehearsing, and I think that in those moments we’re really committed to our sound, but we’re also telling a story. That comes alive with the cohesive process of working together to become something bigger than the individual.”
For its upcoming competition, the group will perform Getaway by Earth, Wind & Fire, The Greatest by Billie Eilish and Masterpiece by Jazmine Sullivan.
“This set, which for us seniors will be our final official experience as members of Whispers, feels a lot about connecting with each other,” said Feldstein. “It leads you through an emotional journey. So, I feel like this set represents the growth, unity and strength that we’ve gained throughout the last few years together.”
Members of the ICCA finals-bound 2025 Mosaic Whispers a cappella group include:
- Kidist Taye ’25, International Affairs, Marketing and Organizational Behavior;
- Camron Kaiser ’25, Marketing, Entrepreneurship and Psychology;
- Natalie Feldstein ’25, Neuroscience and Drama;
- Matteo Arshad ’25, American Culture Studies;
- Sophie Lyman ’26, Anthropology, French and Design;
- Bralin Duckett ’27, Political Science and Sociology;
- Leah Sherbansky ’27, Biology;
- Carolyn Orenstein ’27, Political Science, English Literature and Spanish;
- Doug Wagner ’27, Biomedical Engineering;
- Drew Adler ’28, Psychology and Healthcare Management;
- Brian Hong ’28, Data Science;
- Neil Murphy ’28, Economics and Math;
- Lauren Poprik ’28, Chemistry and Math;
- Hayden McAllister ’28, Statistics, Economics, and Music; and
- Ruva Kambiri ’28 Psychology.