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The Thursdays, The Crescendos up for wild card berth following semifinal round of high school festival

CHELMSFORD, Massachusetts (March 28, 2025) – Chelmsford High School’s two a cappella groups, The Thursdays and The Crescendos, are vying for a wild card berth to the International Championship of High School A Cappella (ICHSA) Finals in New York City next month.

During the semifinal round of the competition, The Thursdays placed second and The Crescendos placed third. The first-place group wins an automatic bid to the finals, while the groups that place second and third are eligible for a wild card spot.

Amanda Roeder, advisor for both The Crescendos and The Thursdays, said she is incredibly proud that both groups qualified for the Wild Card round.

“They’re kind of used to always being in competition with each other,” she said. “I think they handle that dynamic beautifully. Even though they are competitors they are incredibly supportive of one another, just constantly uplifting each other.”

Both a cappella groups, along with second and third place finishers from semifinal events held across the country, were invited to submit videos of one of their performances that will be evaluated; the top scoring group will be invited to the ICHSA Finals.

Roeder said both groups have already submitted their videos and are awaiting the results, which are expected next week.

Senior Jocelyn Pica, who serves as co-president of The Crescendos, an all-treble voiced group, said festival season has been going well so far.

“This year, we really focused on honing the things that we knew we needed to work on, perfecting that and then bringing the whole collective together,” she said. “I think that really helped us this year and got us to the point we’re at. … It’s been a pretty great year.”

With both groups making it to the semifinal round this year, Pica said she has enjoyed the friendly competition.

“There is a sense of competition there, but we’re more just trying to support each other,” she said. “There’s kind of a sibling relationship between the two groups.”

Last year, The Crescendos won the semifinal round and advanced to the ICHSA Finals. It’s a trip that Pica said she will never forget and would love to do again.

“It’s not over. We still have a chance,” she said. “You never know what can happen. And we worked hard for it.”

Senior Chloe Arroco, co-president of The Thursdays, said the group has had a great festival season so far and they are hoping it will continue.

“This group means absolutely everything to me, and it’s really cool to have these opportunities, especially in high school,” she said. “Going to Finals would be such an incredible experience, not for the title or anything like that, but just because of how much hard work that was put into it.”

Arroco said it has been incredibly special having both groups reach this stage in competition.

“It’s a very supportive atmosphere,” she said. “We all cheer each other on. … It’s a great experience to be able to do your own work but also see how your friends are doing because we’re all friends.”

Junior Samhita Badhri, co-president of The Crescendos, said advancing to semifinals and being given the opportunity to possibly go to ICHSA Finals has been incredibly rewarding.

“We feel the energy with each other, and we feel really good about our music,” she said. “When you’re on stage and you hear people cheering for you, it’s amazing.”

Badhri said having their counterparts in The Thursdays along for the ride this year has been a great experience.

“Hearing other groups in a cappella always influences your sound,” she said. “We can always learn from them. … We truly inspire each other.”

Junior Mikey Layes, co-president of The Thursdays, said he feels the group has continuously improved during his tenure at CHS.

“This is the first year The Thursdays have been student arranged, and we’ve won outstanding arrangement awards at both the quarterfinals and semifinals,” he said. “I feel like, this year, we have a genuine chance to make it to Finals.”

No matter how the Wild Card round goes, Layes said he’s hopeful that one of the groups from Chelmsford advances to Finals.

“We would see a Crescendos win as a win for Chelmsford, and vice versa,” he said. “They celebrate our victories, and we celebrate theirs.”

About Chelmsford Public Schools

The Chelmsford Public School District provides all students with multiple pathways to optimize their own potential for academic excellence, leadership, and social and emotional wellness. The mission of the Chelmsford Public Schools is to educate, engage, prepare, and empower well-rounded and knowledgeable learners to PERSEVERE through challenges, demonstrate RESPECT and INTEGRITY in their words and actions, are DEDICATED to their community, and display EMPATHY as global citizens while discovering and pursuing their full potential. This PRIDE-driven culture enables all members of the school community to support the growth and development of students. For more information, please visit www.chelmsfordschools.org.