As the years have passed members have come and gone, but UW-Eau Claire’s all women a cappella group, Audacious, continues to thrive since first starting 10 years ago.

Current members Alissa Anker, Maddie Forrest, Zoe Gaspar, Annie Jackson, Holland Kabat, Abby Polipnick, Becca Schaberg, Ellie Masias and Alyssa Styczynski will celebrate the group’s 10 year anniversary by reuniting and singing with previous Audacious alumni. They will put on a concert at 7:30 p.m. on May 14 in Schofield Auditorium that will be free and open to the public.

“Once you’re in Audacious, you’re always in Audacious,” said Annie Jackson, senior music education student and the group’s music director. “It’s nice to know that I’m not just singing with the people that sing in the group now, I’m singing with the women that started this group 10 years ago.”

Though the original Audacious group started with about 30 women, Jackson said the group has grown and flourished throughout the years. Audacious has received more and more gigs around campus and the community. Jackson said they also began touring different communities and high schools four years ago.

Jackson said Audacious’s goal is to empower women and their audience through their singing and enjoyment of music.

“We always say that in order to empower others, you have to first empower yourself,” Jackson said.

The a cappella group goes to gigs and concerts feeling like a connected part of the community and wears the Audacious name proudly. Due to five hours of practice a week, Jackson said the women not only have built strong relationships within Audacious, but also within the Eau Claire community and the five other a cappella groups at Eau Claire.

Jackson said being a part of Audacious has not only bettered her and the other singers’ vocal skills, but it has also offered a support system.

“I feel really confident going out into the adult world knowing better how to care for myself and for others,” Jackson said.

Audacious is only just one part of the entertainment that UW-Eau Claire has to offer, however, the women go out seeking to be more than that. Jackson said they aim to be role models.

“We really want to represent the types of women that we want to see in the world,” Jackson said.