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Showing posts from 2011

Happy Holidays, from the YGC

Written by Rachel Wilf, '12 What better way to celebrate the end of classes than with a holiday trip to that (other) haven of food and song, the Yale Club of New York? Miles Canaday, Claire Donnelley, and Miriam Lauter at the Yale Club of New York  After the end of term, the Glee Club comes together to sing one last concert of our tour repertoire before heading home for break. This year, we encircled our audience in the Yale Club’s President’s room to perform Josquin des Prez’s 24-voice canon, “Qui Habitat.” We also performed selections from Howell’s Requiem, Jeff’s moving arrangements of “On My Journey Home” and “All the Pretty Little Horses,” traditional Yale songs, and several Christmas carols. It’s a special joy to share this music with our audience at this point in term, when we have each reacquainted ourselves with the Football medley and fallen in love with certain notes and melodies in our repertoire.  As usual, our official concert in the Yale Club was only the beg

Harvard-Yale 2011

Each year, the night before the big Game, the real Harvard-Yale battle takes place. This year, the fateful clash occurred in our own Woolsey Hall, with hundreds of alums and music lovers cheering on their school. There was no bloodshed (as in previous years...) but there was definitely excitement, chaos, betrayal, 24- part motets, displays of immense courage (particularly in conducting 24-part motets), world premiers, an overpowering performance of Shenandoah , bed sheets flying high above the Woolsey organ, and ultimately, reconciliation and lots of glee. Here are some scenes from the Harvard-Yale Glee Club Concert (Photos courtesy of T Sean Maher, Phyllis Thangaraj and Marisa Karchin) The Yale Glee Club, performing under Jeff Douma "Feminism is the radical notion that women are people" Yale and Harvard students  hang out at the reception ( Left ) President Claire Paulson sang in her Eli Yale verses, "We've been admiring you

Not That it Matters...

Just kidding (kind of). We really do love our annual concert with the Princeton Glee Club! Emma Schmidt '15, writes about her first Yale-Princeton experience. Last Friday, November 11 th , we sang with the Princeton Glee Club down yonder in Princeton—enemy territory… We arrived after a long bus ride (4.5 hours!), due to excessive New York City traffic. Flustered though we were, we shuffled on stage and had a shortened rehearsal before dinner. As we walked through the dressing room in the basement of Richardson Auditorium, we began to notice the orange pieces of paper that would become so important later on in the concert. Before the concert, we had dinner, “which was like, a MILE away!” as described by a candid Glee Clubber. We are spoiled by our dining halls here at Yale. Either way, we were fueled and ready to go as Andy Berry, student conductor extraordinaire, gave a pep talk and got us thinking about not thinking. As the Glee Club walked onstage and got into pl

Family, Friends, and Happiness: Parents' Weekend Concert

C laire Donnelley '14, writes about her experience this year singing in our annual Family Weekend concert.         The Yale Glee Club! We run onstage, facing the perils of the aisles, of dodging latecomers, of air vents in Woolsey Hall that trap our high-heels, of keeping up with the sprinter in front of us. We sing when we arrive onstage, hearts pounding, flushed and happy.  Gaudete!           The Family Weekend concert October 29 was our first performance of the 2011-12 season repertoire. From our first rehearsal September 5th, we’ve come a long way as a group. This is my second year in the Glee Club, and being a sophomore is a completely new experience! Bonding and singing with the new members of the group has been one of the best things about being back at Yale.  My dad came to visit over family weekend, so he got to hear the concert. I can always tell what his favorite piece is by asking him which song made him cry (we both have  a sentimental streak).

Meet the 151st Glee Club Officers!

As the Beethoven excitement has died down, we’ve finally settled into a routine, and are now getting ready for our Family Weekend Concert. In the mean time, we’d like to share a little background info on this year’s officer corps! These bios have been confirmed to be 100% accurate. Abigail Droge, YGC manager and a senior in Calhoun College, has three secrets. First of all, when she's not delving into Donne, Dickens, and Dickenson in pursuit of her English degree, she enjoys full-contact farming on the Yale farm and giving voice lessons to squirrels. Secondly, while Abigail's sweetness is no secret to the Glee Club, few know that her family can trace its history all the way back to a certain culinarily-inclined inhabitant of Drury Lane. (This may also account for why she is forever offering us baked goods.) Finally, Abigail's secret to wrangling the schedules of 80+ people with such effortless competence? When we ask, she just smiles and goes to pull some fresh brownies

So Much Freude!

We had our first concert on Friday night singing Beethoven's 9th with the Yale Philharmonia. Needless to say, it was an unbelievable start to the 151st season! Stephanie Tubiolo ('14), stage manager, writes about this joyous occasion. I am almost certain Woolsey Hall was filled past legal capacity last night. Nearly 3000 seats were not enough to accommodate the hundreds in standing room, and still others were turned away by police officers, my parents among them (although they did manage to sneak back in).  Our massive audience, a mixture of Philharmonia, Camerata, YGC, and Beethoven fans,  only added to the inevitable excitement and energy of our first concert.  From the moment the men sang their first note to Shinik’s last downbeat, I don’t think I have ever been so proud to be part of an ensemble. The YGC is feeling quite young these days for an organization entering its 151 st  year.  We welcomed almost 30 new members into our ranks less than three weeks ago and

Final Destination: Istanbul

Marisa Karchin ’14, on our Istanbul concert and how she cries every time we sing the Vaughan Williams “This is the place where East meets West, old meets new. What better way to have old meet new than for YAC and the Glee Club to be singing together?” spoke Mark Dollhopf at the Yale Alumni Chorus/ Yale Glee Club welcome dinner our first night in Istanbul. We sat in the hotel restaurant, all approximately 300 of us, exchanging stories, sharing our excitement for our joint concert, hissing at the mention of Harvard, and, of course, singing old favorites. Istanbul was the last stop of the YGC tour, but the first stop for the YAC, who’s also performing in Georgia and Armenia. On our first full day together, we took a ferry to the Princes Islands, crossing the very black waters from Europe to Asia, where we had our first joint rehearsal. We barely all fit in the room in the Anadolu Club, but singing in such a massive chorus was more empowering than intimidating. Jeff warned us, “The potenti

Paris, June 14th

Neena Satija '11 writes about our concert at the Sorbonne. Even though my undergraduate career technically ended in May, I'd like to think that this tour extends it by a few precious weeks. So, tonight I sang my final concert as an undergraduate member of the Yale Glee Club - and I couldn't have imagined a better send-off than this. The Sorbonne Amphitheatre is a breathtaking space to sing in. It's large enough for a sizeable audience, but not so large that singers onstage can't connect with members of the audience by looking into their faces. We were watched over on all sides by statues of great French thinkers, including Richelieu, Descartes, and Lavoisier (who sports a particularly solemn look, but was probably looking at us with the most intensity out of all of our stone spectators). The house was nearly full. And we all sang with the acute awareness that we were singing many songs for the last time -- songs that had been near and dear to some of us for more tha

Munich!

Jess Moore '13, on beer, pretzels, and a YGC guy: Well, the Glee Club survived Munich! True, the (locally brewed) beer flowed freely and we learned just how loud 80 people can get, but at least we know how to have a good time. Our brief tryst with the city of Munich began with a rehearsal at LMU, which in my mind stands for Large Munich University, with the Harvard Radcliffe Collegium. Afterward, we were led through the English Gardens to a beer garden. There was a large clearing filled with picnic tables and a low-lying building where beer and “portions” of food (one “portion” or ribs was an entire pig, as a Harvard tablemate found out the hard way) were sold. We were taught the etiquette of beer gardens: You may bring your own food, in a picnic style, but there is often food to buy as well You may NOT bring your own beverages, not even water, as this is where the brewery makes its money The breweries making money is important because they pay for the beer garden. The next