Hear and Now, Winona State University’s a cappella group, filled their roster for the new school year after auditions on Aug. 27 and Aug. 30.

Hear and Now has been at Winona State since 2004, but officially became a club last year. The Hear and Now Board of Directors includes Director of Social Media McKenna Stackhouse, Business Director Janelle Johnson and Conducting Director Clariel Kramer.

Before auditions, the group consisted of nine returning members from last school year and the group hoped to fill in three or four spots. The spots were filled after 35 people auditioned last Sunday and Wednesday, according to Stackhouse.

Sophomore Emma Lux, who auditioned and made a spot in the sopranos section, sang “Gravity” by Sara Bareilles for her audition.

“I felt like the audition went really well. I’m a pretty anxious person so I was happy that it went as smoothly as it did,” Lux said.

Before Hear and Now, Lux sang in choirs in high school and at Winona State, and also plays guitar, piano and ukulele. Lux said she is looking forward to the friendships she will make in the group and being able to sing more often than she has been.

Along with Lux, freshman Sam Halverson auditioned and made the bass section. He sang “King of the Road” by Roger Miller during his audition.

“I’ve been into music for as long as I’ve been alive. My mom and grandmother both instilled me with a deep love for music at an early age, and my parents both encouraged me to work on my voice and instrumental talents,” Halverson said. “Music became sort of an escape for me later on, and it’s very important to me as a stress reliever now.”

In addition to singing, Halverson plays the saxophone and a little piano and guitar. He said he is  excited to sing in a group again.

The Hear and Now roster for the 2017-2018 school year includes sopranos Clariel Kramer, Grace Ourada, Anna Hammel and Emma Lux; altos Janelle Johnson, McKenna Stackhouse, Tianna Zmuda and Amanda Caudle; tenors Qhawe Mahjlangu and Lucas Scruggs; and basses Matt Farstad, Sam Halverson and Austin Jeffries.

Hear and Now has begun preparing arrangements of “The Star Spangled Banner” and “Love on the Brain” by Rihanna.

The group practices two nights a week and do various concerts throughout the year, Stackhouse said, but they are hoping to get out more and perform for a variety of audiences.