[Janice D. Soderling]

To keep it simple, each person should decide which will be the style guide of their choice and adhere to the rules therein.

That rule also has an exception as the writer may encounter a publisher who has other "style guides of choice". If you know who your publisher is ask them if they prefer MLA or CMS or ODWE. Each has house rules that they adhere to.

Chicago Manual of Style has 21 main entries under the index word "italics". Among them:

for dynamics in music writing, 7.75
for emphasizing words, 7.49, 7.57
for foreign words, 7.51-55, 10.93, 10.131
for word's first occurrence, 7.57

any or all of which might be pertinent in this case.

[Michael Cantor]

In other words, if you look long enough, you'll find a style book that says anything you want it to say, from put it in bold red caps, to strip it and hang it from the parapets until it surrenders all form. It's a bitch, but you're gonna have to make your own decision - the good part, of course, is that whatever you do about half of us will blame you.

As I said earlier, Maryann's suggestion (lower case/italicized) makes by far the the most sense. It prevents being ambushed mid-sentence by a capital "A", and the italics tell you that its a bit special and doesn't follow normal rules. And if it doesn't work, you can blame Maryann. Or me.

[Julie Steiner]

All authorities seem to agree that it's spelled with two p's, though.

And it doesn't get capitalized mid-sentence. Rogerbob explained earlier in the thread that he mistakenly swapped "capitalized" for "italicized" in his post, so that's a non-issue.

[Michael Juster]

My bride was one of the pioneering female a capella singers at Yale, so maybe I have to go the Yale way.

I was a pioneering groupie, I guess.

[Richard Epstein]

Janice, I don't adhere to the rules promoted by style guides unless I feel like it. (It's true, of course, that I internalized The Elements of Style when I was a about 13, but it was force-fed me, and sometimes, even today, I write "student body" and "the fact that," just to demonstrate my rebellious nature.) On the whole, fay çe que vouldras is a good rule for me; for everyone else, maybe not so much.

RHE

[Janice D. Soderling]

Richard, you tough guys do your thing and we proofreaders/copy editors will do ours.

We are the ones who fix your mss. before you get published.

"Elements of Style" are fine for Composition 101, but we take it to another level. Sublime. And correct.

[Julie Steiner]

Even "the Yale way" has two p's, Michael! (The Italian spelling is preferred to the Latin one.)

[Michael Juster]

Ah yes, I have been citing Martianus Capella all year, so I crossed the beams again, just like in the conclusion of Ghostbusters.

[Julie Steiner]

Ah, the perils of erudition.

(The perdition of erudition?)

Anyway, p's be with you.

[Wintaka]

FWIW, when I Googled my favourite a cappella group I didn't find many instances of italics being used. However, were I writing exclusively for an sophisticated/multilingual readership I'd italicize.