Every fall, the men of Otto Tunes, Syracuse University's all-male a cappella group, take the stage for Cockappella, an annual benefit concert in support of the Testicular Cancer Foundation. What started as one night in a campus auditorium has become one of the longest-running grassroots fundraisers in TCF's history, and one we're profoundly grateful for.
It started with a group of college guys who decided that an awkward conversation was worth having. Thirteen years later, they're still having it, and they're saving lives doing it.
In November 2025, Otto Tunes hit their goal on the nose and broke their own fundraising record, capping a four-year run of consecutive growth. Every dollar goes directly to TCF's patient programs, awareness work, and survivor support.
A small group of college students. A campus tradition. A meaningful chapter in TCF's story.
Cockapella's first online fundraiser cleared $1,015 in 2016. Every campaign since has built on what came before, with the last four years each setting a new record. Here's the running total, year by year.
Methodology. Campaign data sourced from CauseVox (May 2026) and rounded to the nearest dollar. Bars are scaled to the largest single year ($20,065, Cockapella 2025). For consistency, every campaign is labeled "Cockapella" on this page; on CauseVox, campaigns from 2016–2021 ran under the "Otto Tunes" name, but all funded the same annual concert tradition. The 2021 row aggregates two CauseVox campaigns from that year ($5,258 + $6,168 = $11,425). The "20×" growth figure compares the first online campaign ($1,015 in 2016) to the most recent ($20,065 in 2025). The benefit concert itself has run every fall since 2013; the 2016 campaign was the first hosted on a digital fundraising platform.
Three pieces that have come together every fall for over a decade.
Syracuse University's premier all-male a cappella group, founded in 2008. Named for the school's mascot, Otto the Orange, they've competed in the ICCA, toured the East Coast, and made Cockappella the heart of every fall semester.
An annual benefit concert held during October's Testicular Cancer Awareness Month: Otto Tunes' "Cocktober." A full evening of performances by Otto Tunes plus invited guest groups, with all proceeds going to TCF.
TC is the most common cancer in men ages 15–35, exactly the age of an Otto Tunes member. The funds and the awareness raised by Cockappella reach the same demographic that needs the message most.
From a single campus show in 2013 to a recognized institution covered by Syracuse University and the Daily Orange every year.
Otto Tunes hosts the first-ever Cockappella concert on the Syracuse campus. The premise is simple: an a cappella benefit concert for testicular cancer awareness, held during the month most people know as October.
Local outlets pick up the story. By 2015, The Tab Syracuse is calling it "Funds for Nuts." The Daily Orange profiles the show year after year. Otto Tunes turns a one-off into an annual fixture of campus life.
By the 6th annual concert, Cockappella is a known quantity in the SU calendar. A new generation of Otto Tunes members inherit the show, and the cause, and keep it growing.
The 10th anniversary in 2022 is a milestone show. By the 13th in 2025, Otto Tunes pulls in $20,000 in a single night, the group's largest fundraising total ever, and a meaningful contribution to TCF's annual programs.
What Otto Tunes has built isn't just a fundraiser: it's a model. They proved that young men will show up for this conversation, when you give them a reason to. Every time they sing, somewhere in that audience is a guy who's going to check himself in the shower the next morning.
Cockappella has been covered every year by Syracuse student and local media. Below is a curated set.
Years of footage from Cockappella concerts and other Otto Tunes performances.
Whether you're at Syracuse, an alum, a TC survivor, or just want to chip in, here's how.
Thirteen years is a long time to keep showing up for a cause. The Testicular Cancer Foundation is grateful for every concert, every dollar, and every awkward conversation you've helped make a little easier.