YALE GLEE CLUB BLOG

Happy Holidays, from the YGC

2011-12-11T19:04:00.001-05:00

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 beginning of an evening of song. After the concert, we walked across the street to Grand Central and sang carols to passersby from the Vanderbilt Avenue steps. We finished by singing “Wassail” as we hurried to our New Haven-bound Metro-North train. In keeping with my favorite Glee Club tradition, we treated the train ride home as a time to celebrate by singing with friends, old and new.

Carolling in Grand Central

Every year I look forward to the Glee Club’s end of term concert at the Yale Club, and this year was no exception. I would like to extend a note of thanks to all those who make this concert so fantastic every year:

Thank you to our Yale Professors, who make us appreciate the last day of term that much more by scheduling exams and papers during the last week of class.

Thank you to our families, friends, and all the lovely Yale alums in our audience for your enthusiasm and energy. There’s nothing quite like singing Bright College Years to an audience with handkerchiefs at the ready.

Thank you to the wonderful chefs at the Yale Club for temporarily making dining hall food a distant memory.

Thank you to the stage crew in the President’s room for adding only one extra platform to our stage this year. Nothing brings the group together like forced physical proximity!

Thank you to the audience that collected in Grand Central for encouraging us to keep singing after we were kicked off the steps.

And thank you, Metro-North conductors past and present, for letting us sing and be merry all the way back to New Haven.

This Yale Club concert was my last with the Glee Club. I feel so lucky to have had the chance to sing with the group for an extra term, and to have befriended many of our wonderful new members. I wish them luck with the wonderful, joyous ride that is membership in the Glee Club!

Harvard-Yale 2011

2011-11-23T11:03:00.001-05:00

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 your tuxes and your perfectly coiffed curls/ But I guess they weren't quite good enough to draw in any girls."

Student Conductor Andy Berry '12 conducts the Yale Glee Club singing Loch Lomond (Right)

'nuff said.

Alums and both glee clubs come
together on stage to sing Fair Harvard and Bright College Years, the two schools' alma maters.

Video of the Yale Glee Club performing
Qui Habitat by Josquin des Prez (right) and the Football Medley (below), thanks to Sean McCusker!

Not That it Matters...

2011-11-16T03:37:00.001-05:00

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 thePrinceton Glee Club down yonder in Princeton—enemy territory…

We arrived after a long bus ride (4.5 hours!), due toexcessive New York City traffic. Flustered though we were, we shuffled on stageand had a shortened rehearsal before dinner. As we walked through the dressingroom in the basement of Richardson Auditorium, we began to notice the orangepieces of paper that would become so important later on in the concert.

Before the concert, we had dinner, “which was like, a MILEaway!” as described by a candid Glee Clubber. We are spoiled by our dininghalls here at Yale. Either way, we were fueled and ready to go as Andy Berry,student conductor extraordinaire, gave a pep talk and gotus thinking about not thinking.

As the Glee Club walked onstage and got into place, therewas an energy and focus that I hadn’t yet felt in the group. As a freshman,my only concert experiences before this one have been in Woolsey, which is atleast a little bit intimidating. The auditorium at Princeton was more intimate,which I think helped us all focus more on Jeff and the music. Opening withZephyr Rounds set the tone for the concert: energetic, precise, and focused.Chamber Singers sang a piece, and we closed our first set with four movementsof Howells’ Requiem.

Coming back onstage after intermission, we tried to hide ourYale gear, but they knew it was coming--there was even some preemptive hissingas the Princetonians spotted our Yale blue. During the football medley,Princeton proceeded to throw hundreds of orange paper airplanes onto the stage.We were well prepared with Yale umbrellas to shield us from the rain of orange!Hissing and “Yale sucks” abounded, but we still had lots of fun singing themedley, and the audience appreciated our good nature towards their hissing.

After Princeton sang their second set, we joined themonstage for BCY and their alma mater, Old Nassau. (Yale’s is so much better! But they don’t matter anyway.) Singing each other's songs seemed representative of our experience there: rivalries aside, we were all there to shareand make music, and at the end of the day that was all that mattered. Of course, we’re better, but it doesn’t mean we can’t sing together!

We’re looking forward to our concert on Friday with theHarvard Glee Club! As Jeff says, we’re going to “show them who’s boss.”

Family, Friends, and Happiness: Parents' Weekend Concert

2011-11-09T23:29:00.000-05:00

Claire 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). This year he cried in the song On My Journey Home, a traditional sacred harp tune arranged by our conductor, Jeffrey Douma. I know the sentiment of being on a journey home, and "facing the fears of a frowning world" expressed in the song appealed to my father, who has to face both of his girls being away from home—my older sister living in Germany and me living on the opposite coast (we’re from California). Having my dad come to visit me at school made me think about journeys and what I hope to achieve with my time at Yale. I’m not certain that I will ever know the answer to that, even after I graduate, but the Glee Club is definitely a central part of my experience here. The friends I make, the life experiences I have during our international and domestic tours, and the inspirational music I have the chance to sing are all things that I have come to rely on at Yale. Amidst the stress of exams, hectic schedules, and the ongoing rush of time, every Monday and Wednesday night I have committed myself to singing. It is a stabilizing force that grounds me, helps me focus, and helps me remember the important things: family, friends, and happiness.

I hope my dad was cheered up by the end of the concert when we closed with the Yale Football Medley and Bright College Years. The Football Medley has a piano accompaniment and this year I played this piano part along with my two alto buddies, Leah Latterner and Julia Meyers. Playing instead of singing was a different experience as well! We had fun switching off who was playing, running around the piano, and being silly. One of my favorite moments was when Julia kneeled on the bench behind me, playing the piano on either side of me as I sat scrunched on the bench, not playing but grinning naughtily for being in her way. The piece in itself is a treat to play—it’s upbeat and has unexpected glissandos and key changes all over the place that keep it exciting. I think that ending with our traditional Yale songs is a nice way to reflect on the transience of our college lives, helping us remember to appreciate being at Yale for the short four years that we get to spend here. Singing these songs is a way to remember those who have come before us—all 151 years of them—appreciate being here now, and help to carry on the tradition for those who will come.

Meet the 151st Glee Club Officers!

2011-10-23T13:47:00.003-04:00

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 out of the oven. The world may never know.

Connor “Boobie” Kenaston (social chair) hails from a town that no one has ever heard of in the lovely state of West Virginia. His biggest life moment was when Yale Professor John Gaddis showed a video of a Cold War bunker located “literally five minutes away” from Connor’s house. Recently, Connor got his first haircut in almost a year. When he is not busy being the captain of every IM sport at Yale, Connor spends all of his extra time planning social events for the glee club as part of the Connor-Connor social squad. His favorite entertainer is the illustrious David Hasselhoff.

Connor Buechler (social chair) has a beard. This beard gives him strength, courage, and shelter from the rain. At the age of 13, Connor befriended mountain goats who taught him the art of growing fierce beards. He utilizes his beard to entice Glee Clubbers to come to social events, but also to intimidate the smelly blokes of the Harvard Glee Club. But there is more to Connor than his dominance of “beard-dom:” Connor’s a Mississippian. Because the two social chairs share the same first name, most Glee Clubbers simply call Connor Buechler by his nickname, “awesome-mcawesome-awesome.”

Marisa Karchin (publicity chair) was born at the ripe old age of zero in the deceptively tall metropolis of Short Hills, NJ on February 4, 1992. From a very young age, she felt a special connection to bullfrogs, the original inspiration for her vocal style. She is well known for her unique interpretations of major works by such famous artists as Mendelssohn, Faure, Debussy, and P!nk, and loves jumping jacks, furry clothing, and bananagrams.

Stephanie Tubiolo is a sophomore in Silliman, majoring in music. She is the stage manager, but also unofficially the mother of the glee club, providing the glee club with PB&J and snacks in the hardest of times (namely, 5am flights across the country). When she’s not at rehearsal for one of the 7354983721 choruses she sings in, she can be found playing viola, and sharing her talents with children in New Haven through the Music in Schools Initiative. If you help her set up chairs before rehearsal she will reward you with cookies and everlasting love.

Sam Sanders is our beloved archivist, making her the first glee clubber in its 151 years to hold the same officer position three times in a row. A Calhoun senior majoring in Chinese, Sam hails from Huntingtown, Maryland. When she isn't lovingly stuffing glee clubber's binders with beautiful music or singing as a Soprano 1, Sam also sings with Whim 'n Rhythm, where she is the soprano section leader. The YGC is currently trying to get every glee clubber to promise that they will never lose their music again in the hopes of persuading Sam to keep her record growing and remain our archivist for the 152nd season.

Miriam Lauter's boundless kindness, embodiment of Glee, and stunning alto voice make her a fabulous member of the YGC officer corps, but it is her keen fashion sense that makes her our wardrobe-manager-extraordinaire. Every finely-pressed tuxedo collar and luscious flowing hemline you see on a Glee Club member this concert season will be her doing. Outside of YGC, Miriam enjoys expressing her lovely alto-ness in Magevet, saving the world through research, communicating her brilliance in both Chinese and Hebrew, and being awesome at life. Our very own wardrobe superhero will solve any and all wardrobe problems! Just don't ask her to tie your bowtie.

Ari Susu-Mago, a.k.a. Fuzzy Mango, a.k.a. the Glee Club’s outreach chair, stands out in the glee club for being best friends with a monocled velociraptor. An aspiring Young Adult (YA) novelist, she is widely known for her wit, warmth, and enthusiasm for life. We all miss her dearly in the month of November, when she disappears to write 50,000 words in a month as part of NaNoWriMo. She loves tea, Phillip Pullman, interrobangs, and M.U.F.A.S.A., the Multiverse Undergraduate Fantasy And Science-fiction Association. The raptor’s name is Fred.

Peter Thompson (tour manager) is a junior studying music and religion. When he is not singing or planning Hawaiian festivities, Peter likes to count the number of fish in lakes, people-watch for hours on end, and cuddle with a large stuffed animal wolf. His playlists consist of 65% MJ, 30% Britney, and probably some Beethoven and Wagner. If Peter were wardrobe manager, he would reverse tye-dye all of our dresses and tuxes. Fortunately or unfortunately, Peter is not wardrobe manager. However, he is often seen stylishly sporting toe shoes, and watching the sun set over New Haven through his floor-to-ceiling windows. He also draws a mean exclamation mark.

Cynthia Weaver, a San Diego native, is using her knowledge of SoCal to plan a very exciting California portion of this year's Glee Club tour. It probably doesn't hurt that she's a senior Cognitive Science major, either: she knows enough about people's minds to be able to coax the managers of any venue into welcoming us. Cynthia is planning to put her cog sci know-how to less nefarious use, however, when she graduates. Her interests lie at the intersection of cognitive science and the law, and she intends to go to law school to further explore the connection. When she isn't busy planning tour or thinking about the nature of intellectual property, she works at the Yale Music Library and for the Arts Council of Greater New Haven.

And now we would like to share with you the tale of how Claire Paulson became President of the Glee Club:

Claire lived in the midst of the great Iowa prairies, with Uncle Henry, who was a farmer, and Aunt Em, who was the farmer's wife. Their house was small, for the lumber to build it had to be carried by wagon many miles. There were four walls, a floor and a roof, which made one room. There was no cellar—except a small hole dug in the ground, called a cyclone cellar, where the family could go in case one of those great whirlwinds arose, mighty enough to crush any building in its path.

Though Claire loved Iowa, she found the semi-regular onslaught of cyclones tedious, and she decided to run away from home.

Now, Claire knew that she could never pull off the old-fashioned kind of running away. Therefore, she decided that her leaving home would not be just running from somewhere but would be running to somewhere. To a large place, a comfortable place, an indoor place, and preferably a beautiful place.

She planned very carefully; she saved her allowance, stuffed the money and some clean clothes in her trombone case, and she chose her companion. She chose Minnaloushe, her cat. He could be counted on to be quiet, and now and then he was good for a laugh.

After several days on the road, Claire happened upon a small valley, but as she entered everything changed. The wind no longer rustled the leaves, the car no longer squeaked, and Minnaloushe no longer purred. Not the slightest thing could be heard.

"WELCOME TO THE RED RIVER VALLEY OF SOUND" read a large placard some ways down the road. In her confusion, Claire hardly noticed that she had entered a large crowd of people, all holding signs which proclaimed:
"DOWN WITH SILENCE"
"IT'S LAUDABLE TO BE AUDIBLE"

And one enormous banner stated simply:
"HEAR HERE".

Claire tried to call out to the protesters, but of course, her voice made no sound. As she did, four more placards announced:
"~~LISTEN~~ LOOK CAREFULLY"
"AND WE, THE MEMBERS OF THE YALE GLEE CLUB"
"WILL TELL YOU"
"OF OUR TERRIBLE MISFORTUNE"

While two YGC-ers held up a large whiteboard, a third, writing as fast as she could, explained why there was nothing but quiet in the Red River Valley of Sound.

"At a place in the valley not far from here," she began, 'where winds of night around us sighing, in the elm trees murmured low,' there is a great stone fortress called Hendrie Hall, and in it lives the Soundkeeper, who rules the glee club. The Soundkeeper used to let us raise our voices here, and we'd let melody flow wherever we'd go. But slowly she began to keep more and more of the music for herself, until we were left with no sound at all."

"You must visit the Soundkeeper and bring from the fortress one sound, no matter how small, with which to load our cannon. For, if we can reach the walls with the slightest noise, they will collapse and free the rest."

So brave Claire marched up the steps of Hendrie Hall. "Knock, knock," she wrote neatly on a piece of paper, which she pushed under the crack. In a moment the great portal swung open, and a gentle voice sang out:

"Right this way; I'm in the office."

Ushering Claire in the, Soundkeeper said, "Every song the glee club has ever sung is kept here."
"That's wonderful," said Claire. "May I have one little song as a souvenir?"
"Certainly not!" exclaimed the Soundkeeper. "Glee clubbers don't always make beautiful music you know. Sometimes they are noisy and talkative. If they won't make the sounds that I like, they won't make any."
"But---" Claire started to say, and it got no further than that. For while she was about to say that she didn't that that that was quite fair, she suddenly discovered the way she would carry her little sound from the fortress. In the instant between saying the word and before it sailed off into the air she had clamped her lips shut--and the "but" was trapped in her mouth, all made but not spoken.

Claire quickly hurried back to the waiting glee clubbers, and loaded the little sound into their cannon. From far away they heard a faint "but," and then a mighty crash, as the Soundkeeper's walls came a-tumblin' down.

Then the Glee Clubbers burst out into song, and strains of
"Brave and gallant Claire Paulson..." and "It's Claire, It's Claire..." could be heard the valley round.

The Glee Club made Claire their President, and from that day forward, were free to make music whenever they chose.

My apologies to
L. Frank Baum,
E. L. Konigsburg,
and Norton Juster

So Much Freude!

2011-09-25T09:15:00.001-04:00

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 are truly a new choir.

You may perceive a subtle increase in masculinity due to our 22-member bass section (!), which includes our new undergraduate and graduate assistant conductors; however, the ladies will counterbalance this manliness with their beautiful new dresses. You will notice a prominent increase in waist visibility and a prominent decrease in scalloped necklines, not that we ever complained…

It seemed a daunting task to tackle Beethoven as our first work, but as we began navigating his vocal acrobatics together it became clear that there could be no better way to open this season - this era - of YGC than with his Symphony No. 9 in d minor.

-"Wait, that has a chorus?"-

Indeed it does! The very famous Finale is set to a poem by German poet and philosopher Friedrich Schiller entitled "An Die Freude" - To Joy. The Ninth premiered in Vienna in 1824 with one of Beethoven's only other major choral works, the Missa Solemnis in D major.

It is curious that our dear Ludwig chose to write a choral movement into his last major work, as there was no significant precedent for blending the choral and symphonic worlds. Beethoven is considered the composer primarily responsible for bringing music from the "beautiful" of the Classical period to the "sublime" of the Romantic era. His instrumental music was praised for its ability to express the inexpressible - to access an emotional inwardness and intimacy (Innigkeit) inaccessible by any other art forms, especially those involving text. Under his reign, instrumental music was elevated above vocal music and prized as the chosen genre of the educated upper class, for it somehow conveyed what words could not. Beethoven opens his soul to us in this manner so that, in peering into his emotional depths, we may reflect subjectively on our own inner selves. (I'm not biased, I swear.)

So why add text to unsurpassable sublimity? Romanticism is largely an anti-Enlightenment concept; it exalts that which cannot be explained by rational thought and that which goes beyond reason. Romantic works express a longing for pre-Enlightenment purity and uncorrupted human-ness, and this is what Beethoven and Schiller give us in the D Major choral finale of the Ninth - unadulterated human joy. The chorus is not merely a vehicle for text expression but a symbol for humanity, proclaiming the purest of emotions in the purest of ways - by unified singing.

Tenor Peter Thompson '12.5 emphasized the importance of conveying this joy in a moving pre-concert pep talk. He shared an excerpt from Beethoven's Heiligenstadt Testament, the letter he wrote to his brothers before he withdrew from society in 1802 with the knowledge he would go completely deaf:

O Providence - grant me at least but one day of pure joy - it is so long since real joy echoed in my heart - O when - O when, O Divine One - shall I find it again in the temple of nature and of men...

Beethoven asserts that music - "his art" - was the only thing that kept him from taking his own life once he lost his hearing. He states his determination to "bring forth all that [he] felt was within [him]" and accomplishes this tenfold in the Ninth Symphony.

Peter closed his talk by sharing with us his decision to switch his major from Religious Studies to Music. To him, the two areas are very related; he feels that singing together is one of the most sacred and transcendent acts in which we can partake.

Minutes after we gave every ounce of freude into our performance and the audience jumped to its feet, Jeff commented further on Beethoven's words:

That Beethoven found joy to be elusive in his personal life illuminates so much of the Finale - the sound of a great artist trying through the strength of his own will to bring into being an emotion he fears he may never experience again. I wish he could have heard you tonight.

It is an incredible testament to the power and profundity of Beethoven's devotion to music that he was able to access such joy in a time of such utter despair, and it was the greatest privilege to be able to sing his work with each other and for each other. I cannot imagine anything more gleeful.

Final Destination: Istanbul

2011-06-21T15:02:00.012-04:00

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 potential for greatness is vast and so is the potential for mayhem. Luckily you’re veering toward greatness.”

We spent the next two days between rehearsals and sightseeing. We went on guided tours of the Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, and the Blue Mosque. We learned about religious customs and heard the call to prayer resounding across the city; we heard stories about Turkish marriage rituals (when a man is ready to start looking for a wife, he can perform a certain task, such a stabbing rice with a spoon over dinner, or stealing a horse, depending on the region); we saw the inside of the Sultan’s Harem, covered in elegant blue tile. We navigated the Spice Market and the Grand Bazaar, developed various methods of bargaining (and heard some interesting pick-up lines in the process), and naturally, ate copious amounts of Turkish Delight and kebab.

(Photo: Cynthia Deng '14 and Claire Donnelley '14 outside the Hagia Sophia)

And then it was time for the concert. This was a strange concert for us musically, in that we were not singing any of our tour rep, but were bringing back the Vaughan Williams’ Dona Nobis Pacem we had sung with the YSO at Carnegie Hall. We were also singing a few new pieces- a Turkish folk song we all came to love, along with Yale School of Music grad Colin Britt’s “A Dream and a Song,” Khachaturian’s “Song About Peoples’ Friendship,” and “Make Our Garden Grow” from Candide.

The concert itself was exhilarating. The Vaughan Williams especially was the perfect work for the occasion. In his speech a few nights earlier, Mark Dollhopf talked about how this year is not only the 150th anniversary of the Glee Club, but also that of the Civil War. The Civil War memorial in Woolsey Hall, our usual performance venue, is special to our community in that it is one of the few in the U.S. that memorializes both the North and the South. It is a place of pure reconciliation and reuniting. He continued, “It’s about what the power of a community like Yale can do.” By performing together and singing works like Dona Nobis Pacem, the Glee Club and YAC “suggest there could be, through the power of our song, healing.”

(Photo: Singing Dinner with YAC at the Elif Gonul Davet Salonu)

Three months had passed since we’d last sung the Dona Nobis, and this time it was in an entirely different context. Three months ago we were in Carnegie Hall, in New York, just the 85 of us. This time we were in Istanbul, a city many of us never dreamed of visiting, singing with 200 other singers and the Tekfen Orchestra, comprised of players from 23 different countries. Because of the new ensemble, the interpretation of the piece changed significantly. I was surprised at our first rehearsal to hear the movements sung at different tempos, with a different timbre, and different phrasing than I had remembered. But the intrinsic beauty of the music and Whitman text, and the feeling of being surrounded by hundreds of musicians and former glee clubbers, brought me to tears once again as the soprano part floated over the chorus singing the hauntingly simple melody in “Reconciliation.” Between these two performances we’d seen the Berlin Holocaust Memorial, the newly restored churches and buildings in Dresden, heard personal stories about the fall of the Berlin Wall and seen the international artwork painted on the broken pieces of the wall. And now we were in Istanbul, historically a city of much turmoil as the center of the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman Empires, as well as the connection between the eastern and western spheres. Our understanding of the world has changed, and we could feel this propelling our performance at this concert. I could not have imagined a more meaningful way to end our tour.

Paris, June 14th

2011-06-16T17:43:00.005-04:00

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 than four years. It was especially emotional for me to sing Robert Vuichard's "Zephyr Rounds", which we had learned for the first time during my freshman year, as well as Glee Club favorites like "Shenandoah." But perhaps the hardest song to sing without shedding some tears was "Red River Valley," a beautiful arrangement by our very own director that I heard for the first time when I visited Yale during Bulldog Days.

Jeff has always warned us that audiences on tours are hit-or-miss; it's hard to tell who will show up and how enthusiastic they will be. But he's also always told us that if we can make an impact on just ten people, that would be far more valuable than sending away 500 people who'll forget the concert as soon as they leave. Tonight, though, I'd say we got the best of both worlds - a large audience that was clearly appreciative. As we left the stage, they stood and clapped for so long that Jeff and Emily ran back onstage quite a few times; we'd actually sung our entire tour repertoire, so an encore was hard to come by. But finally, Jeff decided on the old Glee Club favorite "Little Lamb." I've rarely seen a more excited audience.

I'm thrilled that our tour isn't over yet, but it really hit me tonight that I'll never spend time like this with the Glee Club again. Well, we'll always have Paris.

Photos: Awesome shot of the Eiffel Tower, courtesy of Peter Thompson '12, and a restaurant called "Gaudeamus."

Munich!

2011-06-16T16:34:00.005-04:00

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 day, we took a bus tour around the city and learned a bit about it. We were shown the BMW headquarters that is shaped like four cylinders, the adjacent BMW world where your new car comes down in a glass elevator, Olympic Park from the last summer Olympics held here, and then disembarked at Nymphenburg. Nymphenburg, or Palace of Nymphs, was the summer palace of the Bavarian monarchy from the 1600s through the end of the monarchy in 1918, and it was beautiful. We frolicked on the grass surrounding the canal and harassed the domesticated swans. Our tour then continued through the city; we learned about everything from Ludwig II’s obsession with Wagner to the history of Oktoberfest. The city definitely offers a diverse array of entertainment possibilities. In the words of Andrea, our local guide, “We sell ourselves as if nobody is working here; we are all dancing and yodeling in leiderhosen!”

Speaking of leiderhosen, we saw a lot of it later that night at our concert. The LMU students in their choir, though not singing with us, showed up to our concert in various types of traditional dress in an attempt to convince us (successfully) that this was a normal thing to wear on any occasion. Well played, LMU. You really had us going there. Of course, our own Sam Sanders turned the joke on them when she bought her own traditional garb and rocked it. Pranks aside, our concert was a great success. The concert hall was beautiful, with a golden mosaic reminiscent of the Gold Room in Sweden where the Nobel Prize ceremony is held that we saw earlier on tour. The Harvard Radcliffe Collegium performed their set first, followed by our set. The concert ended with two joint pieces all ~100 of us crowded together on the steps.

The real star of that night, however, was Jacob Levine. The one-time winner of Best Pep Talk Ever Created, here he is to tell you about the night in his own words:

(to the tune of "American Pie")

A long, long time ago,

Back in mid-September,

I was trying to fight the senior blues.

I wanted my last year at Yale

To be the best one without fail,

But I had no idea what to do.

I told my friends of my intentions

And they came back with great suggestions:

Some said I should start thinking

‘Bout 7-day-a-week drinking.

But the words that made most sense to me

Came from my best friends in TD:

They told me to join YGC.

The rest is history.

Oh my, my, I’m a Yale Glee Club guy.

I’m in love with Jeffrey Douma and think Sean’s pretty fly.

Though my time is short, I swear I’ll try not to cry

When it’s time to say my final goodbyes…

Time to say my final goodbyes.

Did you know that Yale Glee Club

Is an institution filled with love?

No lie, at first I didn’t see.

But then we finally went on winter tour

And it wasn’t long at all before

This little glee club felt a lot like family.

Well, Chicago was a total ball

Though, what I did I can’t quite recall.

But one thing’s crystal clear:

Someone was belting Cs in my ear.

...

And I was singing…

My, my, I’m a Yale Glee Club guy.

I’m in love with Jeffrey Douma and think Sean’s pretty fly.

Though my time is short, I swear I’ll try not to cry

When it’s time to say my final goodbyes…

Time to say my final goodbyes.

Now the past 6 months have been so much fun!

We tore up Carnegie with blazin’ guns

And Vaughn Williams we enacted flawlessly.

And though “Partition” made me wanna die

I finally saw the beauty deep inside,

Though I’m still haunted by the words: “not so easy.”

Oh, reunion was a blast, of course.

Alumni showed up with such force

The halls of Woolsey rang

When City Song we sang.

And who could forget YGC outreach?

We raised our voices for Tony Leach

As New Haven kids he tried to teach

That day in history.

And we were singing…

My, my, I’m a Yale Glee Club guy.

I’m in love with Jeffrey Douma and think Sean’s pretty fly.

Though my time is short, I swear I’ll try not to cry

When it’s time to say my final goodbyes…

Time to say my final goodbyes.

I guess that brings us to summer tour,

Where I’ve learned so much I never knew before,

Like bears in Sweden love a crowd.

In Germany we drank cheap beer

And shared our laughter and good cheer,

Though often we were just a touch too loud.

In Prague we toured the local bars

While some of us checked out ERs.

Now France and Turkey beckon.

The ending’s near, I reckon.

And the two men I admire most,

To them I raise this final toast:

To say we’re lucky is no boast.

You’ll go down in history.

We’ll be singing…

My, my, I’m a Yale Glee Club guy.

I’m in love with Jeffrey Douma and think Sean’s pretty fly.

Though my time is short, I swear I’ll try not to cry

When it’s time to say my final goodbyes…

And bid farewell with BCY.

Prague Blog

2011-06-16T16:08:00.011-04:00

Ellen Ray '11 writes about our time in Prague. This would have been posted sooner had the Czech keyboards been easier to decipher. Photos courtesy of Monica Qiu and Mari Oye '11.

The Glee Club's stay in Prague consisted of much wandering on streets with names we were unable to pronounce. Luckily, with the help of a local guide, we were able to glean some sense of the city's history and architecture. Our tour the first morning took us to the astronomical center of the city, an incredibly large clock with a fanfare at noon each day. We joined in the streets with crowds of other tourists, equally confused, but also impressed by the ritual and history in this city square. I spent most of my own time in Prague trying to orient myself in relationship to this landmark and others. For example, our tour also went past Wenceslas Square, named after a member of Czech royalty who gained enough notoriety in English that even American tourists (us, for example) understood the hilarity of this connection. Wenceslas Square was also an important landmark for our time in Prague, as most of us could at least pronounce it.

Near both of these landmarks was the Communist Museum of Prague. Located between a McDonald's and a casino, one can only find this museum by glimpsing it through the columns dividing the McDonald's and the casino. Large posters which say "The Communist Museum is Here!"are the ultimate giveaway. However, the true treasures rest inside. In every corner, there were statues of Stalin or Lenin or even occasionally Engels.

The content of the museum focused on Czechoslovakia's relationship with this model. Much attention was given to the Velvet Revolution, the student and intellectual movement which accompanied the collapse of Czechoslovakia's Communist state. Large photographs of youth were paired alongside a bust of Vaclav Havel. Pictures of youth storming Wenceslas Square, or simply sitting on stages were labeled with captions which proudly described the actions of these young revolutionary heroes.
While it's easy to peg Prague for its kitsch, or its excessive amounts of Art Nouveau, our guides pointed us toward places which display the literary and musical traditions of this country. Some members of the Glee Club went to the Kafka Museum. Luckily, none were transformed into giant insects.

Our concert was in a wing of the National Museum, the Nordoni, which featured an exhibit on Antonín Dvořák. The concert was sold out, and it was a pleasure to perform for such a large audience in a building which celebrates the country's musical heritage. A few members of the audience were even spotted crying during our performance of Red River Valley.

Though confused in terms of navigation, the Yale Glee Club enjoyed its time in Prague. This meandering with other members of YGC led to some of my most enjoyable afternoons on tour, even if I won't be able to pronounce the names of anything I saw.

Top: Ryan Dailey '12, Helen McCreary '13, and Katie Dryden '11 by St. Vitus Cathedral

Right, middle: Lennon vs Lenin!

Below: Our Prague concert venue

Days 9-11: Berlin

2011-06-12T18:04:00.007-04:00

Daniel Olson '12 writes about Berlin.

We’re packing up for Prague this evening and continuing the behind-the-iron-curtain leg of our

European Tour. It’s incredible how much this part of the world has changed in the past 25 years! That change is certainly on display in Berlin, where the glee club has spent the last few days.

We arrived on Saturday evening, with just enough time to change quickly at our hotel before taking off for a Vespers service at Berliner Dom (Photo at left: Daniel Cruse, Daniel Thompson, and Daniel Olson in front of the Dom). The Church is spectacular. Badly damaged during World War II, it was restored in 1993 and is a major site in Berlin, very close to the center of the former East Berlin. The glee club sang for the majority of the service, but it was really cool to hear the minister repeat the words “bleib bei uns” during his sermon, the opening words of Rheinburger’s Abendlied, which we had just sung!

After a group dinner, we had time to check out some of Berlin’s legendary nightlife. One group went to a bright red space-themed bar in the former East Berlin and one dance club housed in a former train repair warehouse had a beer garden, two dance floors, and a rock wall!

The next day began with a bus tour of Berlin. I think the entire glee club was moved by the tragedies that occurred in this city in the 20th century and how contemporary Berlin has confronted them. At Checkpoint Charlie, one of the most famous border crossings between East and West Berlin, an exhibit explained the history of the wall and of the people who were killed trying to cross it. The East Side Gallery features the longest remaining portion of the wall that is now covered in murals painted by international artists.

At the Holocaust memorial (or the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe) concrete Stele stand in a wave-like field right in the center of Berlin. There, the glee club contemplated this utterly horrifying genocide. The memorial has no didactic message. Our guides explained that it was the architect’s (Peter Eisenman) intention to leave interpretations up to the people who walk through the stele and experience the memorial themselves. We also spent time in the museum downstairs, learning both about the lives of Jewish families in Europe before the Holocaust and about their inhumane treatment and murder at the hands of the Nazis.

Later that afternoon, the glee club confronted history head-on, with our performance at Zwinglikirche, a church in the former East Berlin. Built at the beginning of the 20th century, this church was abandoned during the rule of the GDR. Because being a member of a religious organization meant serious consequences (like not being able to go to free university), people simply stopped coming. Since reunification, an organization called KultuRaum Zwinglikirche has tried to bring culture back into the church through concerts, lectures, and other cultural events.

It was an honor for us to be included in this series, especially because of how amazing a space it is both historically and physically. It had an amazing acoustic. It was resonant, but we could also hear each other very well. Everything seemed to click during this concert. We were also encouraged by the enthusiastic audience, who burst into thunderous applause after almost every piece. I think it’s fair to say that this was one of our most memorable concerts on the trip so far. What made it even better was the reception afterwards featuring beverages and German pretzels!

The next day we had for ourselves in Berlin. Glee club members explored the city in so many ways! Some biked around Potsdam, a city on the outskirts of Berlin, home to the great Prussian summer palaces. Many visited the Pergamon Museum, on Berlin’s incredible Museum Island. Inside are monumental and huge treasures from the ancient world, including the entire Pergamon altar and the blue Ishtar Gate of Babylon. Thanks to the minister at the Berliner Dom, the glee club was given free admission to the roof of the Cathedral in the afternoon. We ended the night with a festive German dinner at a local restaurant all together.

Berlin is such a dynamic city in so many ways; it certainly is one the favorite cities I’ve been to. It’s hard to believe that we’re already at the halfway point of tour, but we’re all very much looking forward to being in the medieval city of Prague. It will be quite the contrast to contemporary Berlin.

Days 7-8: Denmark

2011-06-12T02:47:00.007-04:00

Markus Boesl '14 on our concert in Copenhagen. Photo credit: Monica Qiu '11

Copenhagen, with its strategic location in the Baltic sea, has historically been an important point of contact between northern europe (Norway, Sweden, Denmark) and the rest of Europe. It was for us, as well, a point of contact, sharing the stage with the Yale Spizzwinks in a beautiful concert at the Vor Freisers Kirke. Founded in 1914, the Spizzwinks are America’s oldest underclassmen a cappella group, performing hundreds of concerts around the world and delighting audiences with a repertoire that extends from popular numbers to spirituals to traditional Yale songs.

The resounding final notes of pieces echoed above Jeff’s outstretched hands as he waited for the reverberations to die down, not wasting a second.

But there was a far more interesting and exciting reason that this joint concert with the Spizzwinks was important. There are currently 7 Spizzwinks in the Glee Club. This concert was not only a wonderful celebration of cooperation among Yale groups, but the point at which Spizzwink tour ended and those seven joined the Glee Club for the rest of tour. The concert itself was a wonderful success, with the audience even demanding an encore (‘Neath the Elms, which we did from the back of the auditorium)

That evening, many Glee Clubbers went into the town to experience the unique music festival/street dance party/riot called “Distortion.” The streets were filled with blocks upon blocks of people and dozens of Deejays laying down some pretty rocking beats. All in all, Copenhagen was a blast, and not only because of the things lit on fire in the streets.

Europe Tour Days 5-6

2011-06-02T18:56:00.007-04:00

Publicity chair Marisa Karchin '14 on the YGC in Stockholm, Sweden. Photos: Monica Qiu and Mari Oye.

Day 5: After a luxurious breakfast at the hotel, we traveled into the city center of Stockholm, where we were given a guided tour of City Hall. A few highlights included the largest organ in Scandinavia (although it has 1000 fewer pipes than the Woolsey organ), the conference room with a massive Viking boat suspended from the ceiling, the 'Oval' in which Swedes can marry and/or divorce in under 5 minutes, and the Golden Hall, covered in over 18 million gold and glass mosaic pieces. We were then driven to a restaurant for dinner, where many of us were introduced to another new dish, reindeer (see left). Stuffed with delicious meat and chocolate cake, we rehearsed for our concert in the Adolf Frederik kyrka. A few hours later we performed in the beautiful gold and white church for an enthusiastic crowd (Emily once again sang her verses of Eli Yale in Swedish, and I have yet to figure out what she's been saying...). After the concert most of us stayed in the city to explore and experience Stockholm nightlife! A few YGC members even got to walk the 7-mile journey back to the hotel.

Day 6: The next day was a free day to explore Stockholm. We started off at the Vasa Museum exhibiting the ship, Vasa, which was built in 1626 and then sunk immediately in the Stockholm Harbor. It was recovered about 300 years later- we got to see the enormous restored ship and preserved bones of those who died in the accident, and learn about its history and restoration. YGCers also spent the day observing bears, reindeer, and owls at Skansen, and canoeing/kayaking/paddleboating on the rivers (Lauren and Aria pedaled while Henry conducted our paddleboat with a twig baton, Mari and Helen apparently 'beat' the Connors at canoeing, Markus and Dylan had a smooth ride until the last minute when one of them may or may not have ended up in the water).

We were also graced by the presence of party trucks filled with dancing and cheering college grads parading around the city. From our unofficial poll, we extrapolated that at least 50% of Swedes are blond. 100% are beautiful, friendly and at least somewhat fluent in English (for which we are immensely grateful). We're sad to be leaving this dreamlike country, so full of sunlight, lilacs, and unreal beauty, but we're excited to exchange our Swedish kronor into Danish kroner and continue onto Copenhagen!

Europe Tour Days 1-4

2011-06-02T18:21:00.004-04:00

Monica Qiu '11 on our time in Uppsala, Sweden.

Hej from Sweden! The first stop on YGC's 150th international tour was in Uppsala, Sweden, a small university town that is the fourth largest city in Sweden at 200,000 people. We arrived bleary-eyed to our hostel on Day 2 (Day 1 and the better part of Day 2 were spent traveling) and then on Day 3, May 29th, we sang at 11AM Swedish time (but 5AM EST) the Sunday mass at Uppsala Cathedral, the largest cathedral in all of Scandinavia (pictured at left). The Swedes take pride in this cathedral, and the kings and queens of the country are crowned there. The majority of YGC experienced their first Swedish church service and also watched two adorable Swedish children with white-blond hair be baptized.

After the service, Stefan Parkman, the musical director of the Uppsala Akademiska Kammarkor with whom we would be singing with later, led us to the main building of Uppsala University where we were served smorgastarta, which consisted of the ingredients of a smorgasbord but layered into cake form (photo below). YGC was then set free to explore the city, with many taking walks along the river, traversing the hills to see Gamla Uppsala Slott, and shopping and preparing meals in the hostel kitchen with ingredients purchased from the supermarket.

Day 4, we had a free morning that some used to explore the city more and others used to sleep. We then had a group lunch at the restaurant above the hostel where we were served Swedish meatballs with potatoes and lingonberry sauce. Rehearsal was once again at the Uppsala Cathedral where we rehearsed for our evening concert. YGC then had a joint concert with several notable musical ensembles: the organist Andrew Canning opened with a Processional March by Harold Nutt followed by selections played by the Kungliga Akademiska kapellet, the Uppsala University Jazz Orchestra and its trio of singers. Funny thing about Swedish concerts that one would often not find in American concerts- they have sing alongs! The program was broken up with four "allsangs" and YGC did its best to sing along in our vague knowledge of Swedish pronunciation.

Our day then continued with our concert at the Cathedral after we devoured some "American" sandwiches (roast beef with potato salad in a baguette). We sang a large portion of our tour rep to a large audience, some of which were from Minnesota, including one man who knew the lyrics to two of our songs! We performed two songs, "Sommerpsalm" and "Red River Valley," together with the Akademiska Kammarkor, and apparently this time our Swedish pronunciation was great! Emily, our president, during "Eli Yale," was evermore funny with her written verses this time in Swedish (ask her later about what those lyrics actually were). After a photoshoot in front of the cathedral, YGC got on a bus and took off to Stockholm where our next adventures begin! Hope to see you at a future concert along this tour!

Hej da!

From New Haven they say you are going

2011-05-28T18:00:00.005-04:00

Publicity chair emeritus Mari Oye ’11 on Yale Commencement and commencing tour.

“There’s the family you’re born into,” said YGC President Emily Howell, “and the family Jeff [Douma] chooses for you.” That was ten days ago, as the Glee Club, stranded in San Francisco by an American Airlines flight cancellation, gave an impromptu concert for the rest of the travelers stuck in line. “Raise Your Voices,” “Abendlied,” and that other classic, “Baby You’re Not Alone,” all graced SFO. Given an extra day downtown, a quartet of stray Glee Clubbers sang “Dover Beach” on the beach by the Golden Gate bridge.

Ten days later, we find ourselves in another airport – this time, JFK, bound for Sweden via Paris. In between, though, we’ve been busy. The Glee Club collectively sang three baccalaureate services, two Class Day hymns, and our own Commencement Concert in Sprague Hall (above, shenanigans during the football medley). Gleeniors wore white roses with blue ribbons and a spray of baby’s breath, and cried – for real – during “Eli Yale,” at the line “the saddest tale we have to tell is when we bid Old Yale farewell.”

The baccalaureates take place in Woolsey Hall. Each year, we sing Randall Thompson’s “Alleluia” from the second balcony. My own baccalaureate was the eighth I’ve attended, but it’s different when you’re the one graduating. We could hear the “Alleluia” drifting down from the balcony, and be in two places at once – up there mentally singing it with the rest of the YGC, and down in the seats by the stage, gown on, cap in hand, listening.

Later we seniors stepped into Old Campus and “smoked our pipes and sang our glees,” according to Yale tradition. Graduates receive a clay pipe to smoke and then break. (If you see any shards in the Vandy courtyard, you can blame Derek Tam, Jasmine Dyba, and me).

I guess I’m now an alumna of Yale College, but until this Glee Club tour ends, I stubbornly refuse to leave. I’ve even started to take this joy and craziness for granted. Right now, some tenors are teaching Jeff how to juggle by Gate 5. Max Blum MUS ’11 appears to be conducting along with the “Fast and the Furious” arcade game. He’s interrupted by an announcement: “Attendez-vous!” We’re headed for Uppsala, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Berlin, Prague, Munich, Paris, and Istanbul. Sunset is at 10 pm, our first concert is at 11 am in Uppsala Cathedral, and there are 23 days of tour to go.

YGC Goes to San Francisco!

2011-05-17T03:31:00.007-04:00

Publicity Chair Marisa Karchin '14, on our anti-bullying benefit concert this past weekend.

On Saturday night, the YGC sang at the Yale Glee Club and Glee's Darren Criss Gala Benefit to End Bullying. After spending the morning exploring sunny San Francisco, we arrived at the Marines Memorial Theater in time for our rehearsal. We walked up ten flights of stairs to get to our dressing room, and then began our sound check. We were so fortunate to be singing with the lovely San Francisco Girls’ Choir, the Duke’s Men of Yale, and of course, Glee’s Darren Criss. Before the concert started, we got the chance to explore the hotel, and look at the library and museum of U.S. Military and Veterans memorabilia.

The concert began with the Alumni Chorus of the San Francisco Girls Chorus, who sang three selections, including a beautiful rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. The Dukes’ Men belted out a few of their classics, and then sang (and danced) backup for Darren Criss in Katy Perry’s Teenage Dream. The Glee Club sang our set, which included some of our favorite pieces- Red River Valley, Weep You No More (Gilbertson), Raise Your Voices (Douma), My Soul's Been Anchored (Hogan), along with a few traditional Yale songs. Darren Criss was up next, singing and accompanying himself on the piano. His soothing, lightly gruff voice flowed effortlessly as he riffed around the vocal lines, impressing the audience (including several teens shrieking “Marry me Darren!”) with his musicality, skill and charm.

Meanwhile, the YGC, waiting backstage, was invited into a party in the next room, which was being held for the Cal Veterans Association. We danced the night away, and sang Shenandoah for the veterans and their families, until we were called for our next entrance. We then returned to the stage for the grand finale of the concert. Darren Criss performed his song “Not Alone,” with the YGC, SFG, and the Duke’s Men all on stage and scattered throughout the aisles singing the soulful backup arrangement (for which the stage manager repeatedly told us to “Be Fabulous”)

We walked backstage after the concert to find Darren Criss and Jeff Douma reminiscing about their days at the University of Michigan (and snapped a few photos, of course.)

photo credit: Stephanie Tubiolo

Then YGC Blog got the chance to talk to Darren ourselves. He pulled us into the corner of the room backstage to talk privately before he was hounded by fans, and was brimming with excitement from the momentum of the concert. When asked why he got involved in this benefit, he responded, laughing, “I was asked.” But his devotion to the issue was obvious; he continued, “It seems like a no-brainer... It’s nice to be in a position where you can not only do something you love, but help out with something you care about.” The conversation moved from the benefit concert to his years at Michigan, where he briefly joined an a capella group, then left to work on his own musical projects. He didn’t do much choral singing, but he enthusiastically told us about some of his favorite pop arrangements- Robin Wiley’s arrangement of “I Thought She Knew,” and “O Holy Night,” sung by N’SYNC. He also said he was going to apply to Yale if he hadn’t been able to get work by the time he was 25 (oh well), “Just for Pepe’s!”

Even in the midst of the concert excitement, it was impossible to forget the real reason we were all singing at this benefit. Whether it was recalling the latest episode of Glee, in which Darren Criss’ character stands up to heartbreakingly cruel bullying, or being surrounded by memorials to the Marines and a crowd of returning veterans, or standing on stage, singing with over a hundred other young singers who all shared the same love for music, the same devotion to creating music that leads to changes in thought and in action, we all felt a sense of community, security, and mutual support for this universal cause. Backstage before the concert, Jeff said to us, “I’d go out on a limb and say that everyone here’s been bullied, because, well most people are, and we sing in choirs.” This may be true, but we’re so lucky to be able to use choral singing to raise awareness for the cause. To quote Jeff Douma one more time, “It’s all about the love.”

The Glee Club in The New York Times!

2011-04-22T13:47:00.002-04:00

The YGC received a rave review of its April 8 performance with the Yale Symphony in Carnegie Hall. Read the full review and the feature story about our concert and reunion weekend that ran as a preview. Some highlights:

"exciting, beautifully sung,"

"powerful,"

"one of the best collegiate singing ensembles, and one of the most adventurous,"

"[The Glee Club] is to the television show 'Glee' approximately what the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions are to 'American Idol.'"

The YGC Blog would also like to attest that, indeed, our "director, Jeffrey Douma, didn’t settle for an evening of chestnuts." This concert - the sustained high notes in "Nemo", the rhythms of "Partition" - was extremely tricky, some of the most difficult music we've sung. And some of the most beautiful. At Carnegie, the audience came with us every step (and half-step) of the way, from Dominick Argento's "Dover Beach Revisited," James MacMillan's "Nemo Te Condemnavit," Michael Gilbertson's "Weep You No more," and Robert Vuichard's "Zephyr Rounds" through Ted Hearne's "Partition," and finally Vaughan Williams' "Dona Nobis Pacem." We'd like to thank them for that, to thank the composers of these works, many of whom were in attendance at Carnegie, and to thank Jeff -- for pushing us musically to be the best that we can be, and for teaching us to love it.

YGC @ Carnegie

2011-04-22T13:23:00.016-04:00

Adam Fishman '13 on our April 8 performance at Carnegie Hall
When I was little, my dad loved telling the same old joke: a lost tourist on 57th street in Manhattan stops Jascha Heifetz on the street and asks him how to get to Carnegie Hall, to which Heifetz replies, “Practice, practice, practice.”

At New Years, my mother was talking to her friend whose daughter recently graduated from music school and had just played in Carnegie Hall. This friend had flown out from Chicago to New York to see the concert because well, it’s Carnegie Hall. My mother looked at me with a smile and said, “Well Adam. When you play in Carnegie Hall, I’ll fly out to see it too.” I then said, “Oh! So you’ll be flying out in April?” I had forgotten to tell my parents about the concert, which, to a Midwestern family of musicians, is certainly the most important concert of my life thus far. Whoops. They bought two plane tickets.

So how did the Glee Club get to Carnegie Hall? There are several answers to that question. With a lot of help. By bus from New Haven. To my family and to me, though, we got there through a lot of history, talent, and (of course) practice.
When we first walked onstage for rehearsal, all I could think was, “ohmygodohmygodohmygod.”

After that brief freak-out, I started singing. The acoustics in Carnegie Hall are beyond belief. Not only could I hear my neighbors, but also I could hear the performers on the other side of the hall. When the orchestra began to play, I could pick out individual instrument parts. It was as if everyone was playing a personal concert to me. I might be exaggerating a little bit, but after all, it’s Carnegie Hall; why wouldn’t I exaggerate?

After the group left for dinner, I stayed to listen to Derek Tam '11 practice his piano accompaniment. Seemingly out of nowhere, a security guard with a thick accent (and a thick frown) appeared and said, “Can you please take your water bottle off the 100,000 dollar piano.” Derek grumbled and removed the empty disposable bottle from the music stand.

The concert itself was amazing. I sometimes forget how much of a privilege it is to be able to perform with such talented people. I was particularly moved by the professionalism of the Yale Symphony Orchestra. Granted, my understanding of orchestral music is far more underdeveloped than my appreciation for it, but still, I love every moment of their performance. These choral orchestral works are by far the best moments of the year. Not only do I get to listen to amazing musicians weave together beautiful music, but I also get to help. That is the real privilege.

After the concert ended, I said goodbye to the gleaming walls of Carnegie Hall only to find all the New York transplant alums of my high school choir, some of whom I hadn’t seen in three years. One girl had intended to leave at intermission but was so moved that she couldn’t bring herself to leave.

I don't exactly know what was responsible for our performance on Saturday being so darn good, but whether it the space, the practicing, or the excitement, I felt we sounded better than we ever have. Although I’ll probably never get to sing in Carnegie again, this was everything I dreamt it could be and will be a concert I remember forever.

Have you been to as many places as the Glee Club?

2011-04-12T10:53:00.000-04:00

The Glee Club has visited 59 countries. That's 26.2%, meaning YGC has shared the power of song with over a quarter of the world's countries!

Have you been to as many places as the Glee Club?

post above courtesy of YGC president Emily Howell '11

"partition" notes from composer Ted Hearne

2011-04-07T12:41:00.009-04:00

For 150 years, the Yale Glee Club has existed as an institution; it is part of Yale University, also part of New Haven, Connecticut. In writing this piece, I wanted to express the questions faced by a YGC singer living in today's New Haven. Is it a divided city? To which community (or communities) is a Yale student responsible? How do these local questions relate to the geopolitical education a student comes to Yale to receive? Does a musician in the Glee Club - or a composer writing for the Glee Club - have the ability to communicate their experience in New Haven through music?

I was drawn to a passage from Parallels and Paradoxes, a book of conversations about music and society between Palestinian-American theorist and cultural critic Edward Said and Argentine-Israeli conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim. This exchange took place in New York in 1996:

SAID: One thing that is going around in this country, unfortunately, is a sort of amnesia about the fact that the United States is really an immigrant society, and always has been. And the attempts made recently to declare that America is one thing and not another, and the quarrel over what is the American tradition, and what is the canon, and what are the unifying aspects of America is a conversation that makes me deeply uncomfortable, because it can turn into a kind of imported sense of nationalism... It has very little to do with the quite volatile and turbulent and finally, to me, deeply attractive aspects of America, which are that it's a society continually in a state of flux, continually in a state of unsettlement, rather than something that is given and formed once and for all... [P]laces like the university or the orchestra - those places in the arts and sciences where one's life is given over to an ideal - should be places of exploration rather than places of simple affirmation and consolidation...

BARENBOIM: ...How can you explain that market globalization makes everything the same?... And yet political conflicts and national conflicts are deeper and pettier than ever before. Why is that?

SAID: Well, there are two reasons. The first is the reaction against global homogenization. One way to defend yourself against the sense of an all-encompassing global atmosphere - represented by America, to most people - is to return to comfortable symbols of the past. In the Islamic world, for example, more people are wearing traditional dress, not necessarily as a form of piety, but as a way of affirming an identity that resists this global wave.

Second is the legacy of empires. In the case of the British, whenever they were forced to leave a place, they divided it up. It happened in India. It happened in Palestine. It happened in Cyprus. It happened in Ireland. The idea of partition as a quick way of solving the problem of multiple nationalities. It's like someone telling you, "Okay, the way to learn a piece of music is to divide it into tinier and tinier units, and then suddenly you can put it all together." It doesn't work that way. When you divide something up, it's not so easy to put it all back together.

Both of these factors have produced xenophobia and identity conflict, which are endemic to modernity and very dangerous.

Said's pronouncements about social partitions are as true as they are vague: "When you divide something up, it's not so easy to put it all back together." The piece I have written opens with a setting of this text that is very repetitive, but begins from the middle of the phrase and gradually works its way outward: "easy... easy... so easy.... not so easy.... not so easy to...." This opening movement is put together through a pronounced cutting and pasting of short fragments of material - including one bombastic chord lifted from Mahler's 9th Symphony and dropped into the texture over and over. (Mahler of course had his own bit of New Haven history, having conducted at Woolsey Hall in 1910).

The second movement departs from Said and focuses instead on a found text - the names of streets and businesses collected while traveling a 1.5-mile stretch of road in New Haven last summer. This route goes from one end of town to the other through several different neighborhoods, culminating at Hendrie Hall, the building on campus where the Yale Glee Club rehearses. These places go by without much feeling, as if being passed in a car. Gran Rodeo is next to Porky's Bail Bonds, next to Arroyo's Package Store. Avellino's Apizza is down the street; Zolio's European Deli is blocks away; Harold's Formal Wear and the Public Library are on the other side of the train tracks. The music gets louder as we reach Hendrie Hall - this is where the singing happens.

The third movement sets Said's words about music itself: "It's like someone telling you, 'the way to learn a piece of music is to divide it up into tinier units, then suddenly you can put it all back together.' It doesn't work that way." I found this to be an ambiguous comparison because sometimes this is precisely the way to learn a piece of music! (After diligently practicing small passages, you are indeed better prepared to put them all back together, but Said seems to be implying the magic of the whole piece can only be achieved by learning it as a unified item.) Here, the orchestra trembles and swells on a single quiet chord, a texture made up of each instrument repeating its own short phrase at a different speed. The choir sings only nine chords, divided up and sequenced in different orders. By constructing this movement as an assemblage of tiny movable parts with no “correct” order, I intended to explore the ambiguity of Said’s statement about the relationship of music to political conflict.

The fourth movement sets texts from the same New Haven route - this time starting at the other end of town and leading along a thoroughfare back to Hendrie Hall. This movement is more of a walking tour. Melodic musical fragments with soulful inflection are set against stacked vertical sonorities, punched out in a repetitive rhythmic pattern. Just as urban design plans of the past have been undertaken on top of each other, resulting in a unique and sometimes awkward cultural patchwork in these neighborhoods, these sonorities are made up of overlapping units that shift note- by-note throughout the piece.

The final movement features the choir divided in two, slowly and evenly repeating the same word: easy. In the middle of this movement, the double basses take on the challenge of fusing an imitative passage into a single unified rhythm.

New Haven is certainly a segregated city, but because of the presence of a massive research institution (Yale), it is as studied in segregation as it is segregated. There is a certain kind of academic focus on these issues that, even while aggrieving the socioeconomic divisions within a city, nonetheless serves to strengthen them. To assume the role of examiner is to be inherently divisive, even when (especially if?) your stated goal is to "understand" the root cause of such divisions, or "work toward" their loosening.

I know that when I lived in New Haven I was a textbook embodiment of this contradiction. There were neighborhoods to which I hardly ever went, and I was very conscious of that fact, very conscious of economic disparity, very conscious of the relationship between the town and the gown. It was almost as if that consciousness was enough to make me feel like I was actually participating; but of course, I wasn’t. It only increased my passivity, and strengthened the partitions in my own head.

the YGC and YSO will perform "partition" April 8 in Carnegie Hall.
visit http://www.tedhearne.com/ for more.
design for amazing graphic above: Emily Weidenhof

"Storied" and "Distinctively Social"

2011-04-05T17:03:00.010-04:00

Re-posted from Goings On About Town: Classical Music

Yale Glee Club

The storied ensemble, led by Jeffrey Douma (and accompanied by the Yale Symphony Orchestra), comes to Carnegie Hall to celebrate its hundred-and-fiftieth anniversary. Vaughan Williams’s “Dona Nobis Pacem” is the centerpiece of a program that also features the première of “Partition” by the Yale alumnus Ted Hearne, as well as music by Dominick Argento and James MacMillan. (212-247-7800. April 8 at 7:30.)

Date: April 8
Venue: Stern Auditorium—Carnegie Hall
Venue Address: Seventh Ave. at 57th St., New York, N.Y.
Venue Phone: 212-247-7800
External URL:carnegiehall.org

From the archives... publicity in the NYT in 1896:

It's a sign... but of what?

2011-04-05T16:34:00.013-04:00

Exhibit A: Orchestra seats sold for YGC concert in Carnegie Hall (below left).
Exhibit B: Totoro (below right).

Spotted by stage manager Dylan Morris '11

Saturday, April 2: Concert with the Yale Symphony Orchestra!

2011-03-30T02:21:00.004-04:00

Event is on facebook here.

In other news, the Glee Club now has Twitter.
1861 - first performance by the Yale Glee Club. 2011 - first tweet.
http://twitter.com/#!/YaleGleeClub

La Gloire de la Musique Française!

2011-03-22T17:10:00.003-04:00

Quelques idées... Daniel Cruse '12, Derek Tam '11, et Arden Rogow-Bales '10.

In the words of Beverly Shangkuan ISM ‘10, Simon Carrington “embodies French elegance.” This February 27th the Glee Club had the pleasure of singing three songs under his baton as part of a large concert of French music featuring the Schola Cantorum, Camerata, YSO and Collegium Players. Several weeks of struggling with French diction were rendered somewhat less painful with assistance of Arden Rogow-Bales ’10 and numerous other Francophone Glee Clubbers. Jeff warned us that Simon “doesn’t kid around,” and indeed anyone who forgot to bring her music to rehearsal or sang with a zombie-like facial expression was told off in fine British fashion.

The afternoon of the 27th soon arrived, and midterms and studying gave way to black dresses and white tie. I could occupy several minutes of your time raving about Schola (an ensemble Carrington founded during his time on the Yale ISM faculty), their performance of de Mondonville’s Dominus Regnavit (I hadn’t heard of it either) and the voices of Sherezade Panthaki and Dashon Burton, but I’ll fast-forward to the Glee Club’s set. The men had the pleasure of listening to the Glee ladies sing in haunting harmony about Ophelia “slowly sing[ing] herself to death” (program notes from Derek Tam ’11 below) in Hector Berlioz’s La mort d’Ophélie; the menfolk then joined them onstage and pretended to be spirits in the jaunty Le Ballet des Ombres, another Hamlet-inspired piece (translation from Arden Rogow-Bales ’11 below). Returning to the audience for Camerata and the YSO’s performance of Poulenc’s somber Stabat Mater, all singers took the stage to conclude the concert with a rousing anthem by César Franck. A great time was had by all.

- Daniel Cruse '12

La mort d’Ophélie

Beside a raging river, Ophelia
Was picking, all along the bank,
Periwinkles, buttercups,
Irises with opal tints
And some of those pale pink flowers
They call fingers-of-death.
Ah! Ah! Ah!

Then, raising in her white hands
The laughing treasures of the morning,
She started hanging them from the branches,
The branches of a nearby willow.
But, too weak, the limb bends,
Breaks, and poor Ophelia
Falls, her garland in her hand.

For a few moments her puffy dress
Kept her up above the stream
And, like a sail full of wind,
She floated, still singing,
Singing some old ballad,
Singing just like a naiad
Born in the middle of that raging river.

But this strange melody
Passed away as swiftly as a brief sound.
Weighed down by the waves, her dress
Soon pulled into the deep abyss
The poor senseless woman,
Leaving her melodious song
Just barely started.
Ah! Ah! Ah!

Like many of his contemporaries, Berlioz’s infatuation with Shakespeare bordered on the extreme. The composer not only quoted Shakespeare frequently in conversation, but also associated personal events with scenes in Shakespeare’s plays. Berlioz also used the bard’s works as a foundation for three major works: the Roi Lear overture (1831), the choral symphony Roméo et Juliette (1839) and the opera Béatrice et Bénédict (1862).

Written in 1828, “Le ballet des ombres” (The dance of shadows) was one of Berlioz’s Shakespeare-inspired works; an 1827 performance of Hamlet at the Théâtre de l'Odéon in Paris had sparked Berlioz’s passion for Shakespeare. In the epigraph to the song, Berlioz quotes Hamlet’s speech from the end of Act III, scene 2, as the prince steels himself to confront his mother:

’Tis now the very witching time of night,
When churchyards yawn, and hell itself breathes out
Contagion to this world…
Shakespeare, Hamlet (III.2)

Berlioz’s fantasy on Hamlet’s words captures the supernatural power of the nocturnal spirits with unexpected accents, enormous dynamic shifts and “special effects” such as glissandi. While the spirits ultimately take leave, their final, whispered words remind the listener than “you will become what we are.”

The 1827 performance of Hamlet also marked another watershed moment in Berlioz’s life: in the role of Ophelia was the British actress Harriet Smithson (1800–1854), who was to become Berlioz’s first wife and the muse behind the Symphonie fantastique (1830), perhaps his most famous composition. But by the time Berlioz composed “La mort d’Ophélie” (The death of Ophelia) in 1842 (initially for solo voice and piano; the choral version was composed six years later) the couple had separated. Berlioz had come to realize that the real Smithson, who had become obese and an alcoholic, fell far short of his Romantic ideal.

In “La mort d’Ophélie,” Berlioz paraphrases Gertrude’s description of Ophelia’s death in Act IV, scene 7 and draws it out over four strophes, linked by a beautiful, lullaby-like melody; over the water-like tremolos of the piano, Ophelia — and by implication, the love between Berlioz and Smithson — slowly sings herself to death. Even for a composer whose works often reflected personal turmoil, “La mort d’Ophélie” is intensely autobiographical and provides valuable insight into the personality of an artist largely misunderstood in his own lifetime.

-Derek Tam '11

Le ballet des ombres

Formez vos rangs, entrez en danse!
L'ombre descend, le jour s'enfuit.
Ombres, votre règne commence
Dans la sombre horreur de la nuit. (Hou!)
Quand le souffle des orages
Agite les vertes forêts
Il vient aussi dans nos bocages
Faire frémir les noirs cyprès.
Formez vos rangs, entrez en danse,
Ombres, prenez-vous par la main,
Troublez cet auguste silence
Qui règne sur le genre humain!
(Formons nos rangs, entrons en danse, etc.)
Ah!

Pour les rangs point de jalousie,
Ombres de bergers et de rois!
Oubliez que l'orgeuil, l'envie
Vous divisèrent autrefois! (Hou!)
L'un n'éprouva que des traverses;
Dans le bonheur l'autre vécut.
Tous ont pris des routes diverses
Pour venir tous au même but.
Ombres, oubliez de la terre
Et les plaisirs et les travaux!
Formez une danse légère
Qui courbe a peine les pavots.
(Formons une danse légère, etc.)
Ah!

Formez vos rangs, entrez en danse!
Mais la lune se lève et luit.
Gagnons l'Élysée en silence,
Et rendons le calme à la nuit!
Mortels, lorsque dans les nuits sombres
Notre voix vous réveillera,
Songez bien qu'à la voix des ombres
Un jour la vôtre s'unira!
Pourquoi nous craindre, enfants des hommes?
Ce que vous êtes, nous l'étions,
Et vous serez ce que nous sommes.
Au revoir! Nous nous reverrons!
Ah!
Oui, vous serez ce que nous sommes,
Au revoir! Nous nous reverrons!

The Shades' Ballet

Get into rows, begin to dance!
The darkness falls, the daylight flees.
Shades, your rule begins
In the dark horror of the night. (Boo!)
When the windy gusts of storms
Shake the green forests,
They also come into our groves
To make the black cypresses shiver.
Get into rows, begin to dance,
Shades, take each other by the hand,
Disturb this haughty silence
That reigns over humankind!
(Let's get into rows, let's begin to dance, etc.)
Ah!

No jealousy among the rows,
You shades of shepherds and of kings!
Forget that pride and envy
Divided you once in the past! (Boo!)
One experienced only hardships;
In happiness the other lived.
All of them took different paths
To all end up in the same place.
Shades, forget of the earth
Both its pleasures and its pains!
Form up into a dainty dance
That barely bends the flower-stalks.
(Let's form a dainty dance, etc.)
Ah!

Get into rows, begin to dance!
But now the moon rises and shines.
Hence to the Elysian Fields in silence,
And let the night be still once more! (Boo!)
Mortals, when in the still of night
Our voices rouse your from your sleep,
Remember that, one day, your voice
Will join the chorus of the shades!
Why fear us, children of mankind?
What you are now, we once were too,
And you will be what we are now.
Goodbye for now! We'll meet again!
Ah!
Yes, you will be what we are now,
Goodbye for now! We'll meet again!

All translations from Arden - but "real people" aren't allowed to read them.
For Glee or Ghost Eyes Only.

Ten Songs of Yale you didn't know about

2011-03-22T16:41:00.003-04:00

Bram Wayman '09 delves into the depths of songbooks past. The views shared here in no way represent the official opinion of the YGC Blog nor the YGC... & c. & c. & c.*

Though clear favorites stand the test of time, and the old song books of Yale are full of the high stupidity of yesteryear, a few gems that aren't often — if ever — sung today stand out for me. Some of these songs are beautiful, some hilarious, and some downright offensive, but they all deserve a second look, and I'm not convinced all of them should have fallen out of use. I'm no expert on the history of Yale songs, and have only picked from a few books, but here are ten songs of Yale that still bring a smile to my face.

1. "Old Tom Wilson." TTBB. One of Barty's cleverest arrangements, this piece is a song from the Appalachian mountains of Kentucky. It features vocal banjos, vocal beer-chugging that gets longer each time the jug goes around, lyrics such as "Big fat gals that eat hot mush," and numerous key changes. Somebody had the cojones to put it in the 1953 songbook, which is the one Yale sells in the bookstore to unwitting visitors. Represent!

2. "Shall I, Wasting in Despair." SATB/TTBB. This rejection song's pretty tune and effective setting caught my eye when researching for my men's quartet last year. The lyrics date to the 17th century (thanks, Tim!). Though I much prefer melody in the soprano to melody in the second tenor (an inner voice), this song is particularly effective when sung by the TTBB ensemble. Present in every songbook going back to 1918.

3. "Daddy Is a Yale Man." TTBB. This is a song about a mother of three who marries somebody from Yale, then apparently sleeps with the entire student body before moving on to Harvard? You can puzzle it out for yourself, while appreciating its terrific "boom-la" accompaniment and hysterical lyrics. Someone had the grace to not put this in the more recent songbooks, but it's still in Barty's collection of 1953.

4. "And When the Leaves." SATB/TTBB. This anonymous song has been in the songbook since the nineteenth century. Though its lyrics seem somewhat obfuscating, I like their vague poetry, and have my own interpretation of their meaning. An old letter written to Barty (which is on display in the YGC 150th exhibit, in the SML exhibit room), references poorly written songs that would make the Club's music teachers cringe. Undoubtedly this fits the bill, with some remarkably poor counterpoint, but it sounds beautiful anyhow. It remains in the 150th Anniversary songbook.

5. "Bzt! Bzt!" TTBB. Something about fish balls and soup, this is probably the most idiotic college song I've seen yet. Back in 2009 a few of us crept into Battell under cover of night to sing all the songs we didn't dare try out in Hendrie. I couldn't breathe for laughing at "Bzt! Bzt!" We found it in the 1918 songbook, and I haven't run across it anywhere else.

6. "A Purple Cow." TTBB. This one's for the older alums, I guess, because my mom knew this nursery rhyme growing up. The mystique of the lyrics about this royally-arrayed bovine is heightened by a "Moo! Moo!" accompaniment from the chorus. Find it in the 1918 songbook.

7. "Comin' Through the Rye." TTBB. This is an inventive arrangement, by Frank Goodale, of an old Scottish song. Though its harmony is influenced by the barbershop tradition of the time, it is largely devoid of the typical schlock. "Comin' Through the Rye" features a trio of soloists in a sort of concerto-grosso-for-chorus setup, and thus stands out from the mundane songs that surround it in its likely debut publication, the 1918 songbook.

8. "Graceful and Easy." TTBB. A very short barbershop tune, I've never been able to sing this song with a straight face, due to a rather dubious third line in the lyrics and the five ladle-fuls of schmaltz the arranger poured on. You can find it, for some reason, in the current songbook, but it goes back at least as far as 1918.

9. "High Barbary." SATB/TTBB. Right in front of my face for years, I didn't bother to look at this until after I'd graduated. I wish I had. Though it requires some rehearsal — it's slightly above the difficulty of "Shenandoah" and probably not suitable for a singing dinner — it delivers, as Barty's arrangements usually do, a large reward for so little effort required to learn it. Present in the most recent songbook and many before.

10. "The Pope." TTBB. During my senior year this one became a favorite among some of us for its slightly (?) offensive lyrics, about how the Pope and the Sultan can engage in either alcoholic or libidinous behavior, but not both. The fourth verse is particularly hilarious for the way the music interacts with the words. Present in at least the 1918 and 1953 songbooks.

So sing to old Yale, to brave old Yale —
Bram

*credit to the Pedant's Corner.

Scenes from the 150th Reunion

2011-03-20T02:18:00.009-04:00

Photographs above courtesy of Bram Wayman '09, Dylan Morris '11, and assorted others. Send more pictures and stories from Reunion to yalegleeblog@gmail.com

“When I was in the Glee Club…" The YGC’s 150th Reunion

2011-02-21T08:33:00.003-05:00

Abigail Droge ’12 on the joys of our 150th Reunion Weekend. Above, Commons in its finery for the Singing Dinner (Photo: T Sean Maher)

I realize now that “once a glee clubber, always a glee clubber” is an understatement. The sense of community and friendship that I experienced this weekend are like nothing I have ever seen before. The whole weekend was one of the highlights of the year for me, but there are a few moments that especially stood out:

Friday, February 11

2:00 pm I’m standing in Hendrie 201 with a smile on my face and my brand new lapel pin clipped to my sweater. As the amazing Reunion Chair Jasmine Dyba ’11 explains the registration process to me, alums pour in, excitedly examining the contents of their registration packets, donning name tags, hugging old friends, and pointing at the rows and rows of photos behind us. These thousands of sepia-tinted faces with bangs, buzz cuts, center parts, or mutton chops (depending on how far back you go) have gazed at me for three years, but I have never seen them come alive as they do now, as the glass reflects real eyes eagerly searching for the year when such-and-such happened on tour and, oh my gosh, do you remember when..? Back in October, I must confess that these photos seemed rather daunting to me. I volunteered to help out with the commemorative book written by Tim DeWerff ’92, and my task was to put together a comprehensive roster of everyone who has ever sung with the Glee Club. When I walked into rehearsal after first starting my research I remember looking up at the solid wall of tiny faces and thinking, “You all have names, and I have to find out what they are!” But now, with “Louder Yet the Chorus Raise!” in hand, I scan the wall again and feel like I am smiling at old friends, many of whom now appear, in the flesh, streaming through the door.

6:00 pm Hundreds of alums and current glee clubbers sit in Sprague Hall, captivated by the first screening of the new documentary film, Raising Voices. Cheers go up from the classes of ’09 and ’10 during the Brazil and Argentina scenes and everyone claps as the faces of beloved alums light up the screen. The sound of old recordings fills the hall and as we see photos of Old Campus with different trees, we recognize buildings decades younger and imagine where fences full of singers used to be. Those guys sitting on the fence and singing is one of the elements that sticks out most to me. A proud Hounie, I lived in Bingham my freshman year and remember well the first time I saw the plaque on the College Street side commemorating the site of the old fence. That was move-in day, freshman year. Little could I have imagined that a few days later I would make 80 instant friends in the Glee Club and that a few years later I would make 800 more instant friends at the reunion and all because of the men who sat on that fence, pushed their bowler hats rakishly to one side, looked out at the carriages rolling by, and decided to sing together.

Saturday, February 12

5:00 pm Woolsey is packed. I am sitting on the side, looking out over the heads of current glee clubbers at a stage brimming with 70 years of alums as the first notes of Shenandoah mesmerize the audience. I can hardly keep from crying when the crowd rises in unison to give a standing ovation to Stowe Phelps ’39, after an incredible solo performance of Pretty Saro. The YGCA Mixed Chorus touches our hearts with The Lamb and brings the house down with Ride the Chariot. When we take the stage ourselves, City Song is particularly memorable, as alums stand in both side balconies to join us --- what a special gift to be able to sing about a city that we all share, no matter how far flung our roots or current homes. When we get to the Yale songs, I realize that the Football Medley is ten times more fun when the whole audience knows all of the words and there is a surprise appearance of the band (!), and during BCY, singing chickens flutter as nearly every hand waves a handkerchief.

9:00 pm The dance floor is packed as glee clubbers old and new twist and shout and think to themselves, what a wonderful world. I hardly recognize Commons with streamers and twinkling lights draped from the ceiling and tables gorgeously set with tulip center pieces and cloth napkins. Just after the salad, we sing “We Meet Again Tonight Friends” (my favorite), and I cannot keep from smiling, remembering the first time that I sang it at glee club retreat freshman year, leaning over someone’s songbook around the campfire, trying to hold the flashlight and turn the pages at the same time, and fumbling through the soprano line. Tonight I sing it with confidence, no song book needed (though I open mine just to see it lie flat with its new spiral binding!) and realize how appropriate the lyrics are: We meet again tonight friends with mirth and song. That just about sums it up.

"Yale Glee Club: Reuniting, And It Feels So Good" on NPR!

2011-02-07T01:45:00.005-05:00

Naomi Lewin '74 put together a wonderful piece about us for "Morning Edition" on Sunday, February 6. Listen to it here. A partial transcript is below:

My freshman year in college, someone asked me my major. My immediate response was "Glee Club." At Yale, Glee Club is an extracurricular activity, but I continued to "major" in it all through college. The group celebrates its 150th anniversary this year, and next weekend, decades' worth of Glee Club alumni will head to New Haven, Conn., for a reunion.

Singing has always been a big part of life at Yale, no matter what you're studying. The Yale Glee Club dates back to 1861, and over time has attracted a diverse crop of future luminaries. Vincent Price and William Sloane Coffin both spent time in Glee Club, as did Cole Porter, who penned Yale's fight song as an undergraduate.

Another alum is Richard Brookhiser, who is now senior editor at the National Review. In college, he was already active in conservative politics, so he enjoyed the wide cross-section of people he met in the Glee Club.

"These were people who weren't into politics, or didn't share my politics necessarily," Brookhiser says. "But when you were singing, that didn't matter, because you were all focused on the music."

The Glee Club rehearses (photo at left).

Students through the years have found the Glee Club's rehearsal room in Hendrie Hall a refuge from academic and other pressures. Prochie Mukherji arrived at the Yale Law School in 1972 from India; Glee Club, she says, provided her with instant kinship.

"The Yale Glee Club really was my door to making friends and to meeting people," she says. "It was a wonderful experience to have a common language in music."

Current conductor Jeffrey Douma says the social element is key to his group.

"When the personal connections are strong," he says, "we're not only trying to serve the music and the composer, and we're not only singing for the audience, but we're also singing for each other. And we want to get it right for each other."

Next Saturday's reunion concert will feature 75 years' worth of Glee Club members on stage together — including this year's group, which is set to perform at Carnegie Hall in April. Current senior Mari Oye says she's looking forward to it.

"I'm hoping we'll still be kicking for the 200th reunion," she says, "and we'll be able to come back to Hendrie and bawl our eyes out."

The 150th Reunion Concert - Saturday, February 12, 5 pm.

2011-02-07T01:11:00.005-05:00

There will not, as far as we know, be any dancing chickens.
That said, many props to Sandra Boynton '74, who drew them.
RSVP to the Facebook event for our concert here.

"Yale found its Glee 150 years ago," New Haven Register

2011-02-07T01:07:00.009-05:00

An article from Donna Doherty in today's New Haven Register. All photos Arnold Gold/New Haven Register... and a video in the original article here.

NEW HAVEN — It has sung all over the world, survived wars and co-education. Its alums include legendary songwriter Cole Porter, former senators Prescott Bush and James Symington, and peace activist Rev. William Sloane Coffin, so reaching 150 years old seemed cause for celebration.  

The Yale Glee Club, the oldest musical organization on campus, has big plans for that occasion, ones which embrace the community and continue through May, including two specially commissioned works, each composer and writer, unbeknownst to the other, choosing to honor the city of New Haven.

  “City Song,” by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and former Yale Glee-er Lew Spratlan and renowned Yale poet Elizabeth Alexander, will have its world premiere at a gala free concert at 5 p.m. Saturday at Woolsey Hall, featuring current Glee Club members and five decades of returning alumni, who will dine later at a “singing dinner” at the Yale Commons.  

The club is big on reunions, having celebrated its milestones every five years since the 125th, but Jeffrey Douma, the director of the Glee Club for the past eight years, says this is a biggie — there’s even a 250-page commemorative book.

  “Reunion weekend is the main celebration. Alumni total about 2,300, and they are extremely active and engaged, probably more than any other college chorus in the country,” he says of the club, noting that its seamless transitions among its few directors over the years has led to its “incredible continuity.”  

It started as a 13-member student-run group, and became a faculty position when Yale’s first professor of music, Augustus Stoeckel became its head, and enjoyed a long run of lengthy-tenured directors — just seven over its century and a half, which Douma says contributed to its “incredible continuity” — including Marshall “Barty” Bartholomew (1921-1953) and Fenno Heath (1953-1992).  

“People join because they love to sing, they love good music, but I think they remain committed because of the friendships that are formed ...,” says Douma, who will be conducting Saturday’s concert.

  The weekend begins with Douma moderating a panel on “Collegiate Choral Singing in the U.S.: Past Present and Future,” with leading choral directors Jameson Marvin (Harvard University), Joseph Flummerfelt (Westminster College Choir), Robert Scholz (St. Olaf College) and Marguerite Brooks (Yale Camerata director) Friday at 4 p.m. at Sprague Hall. That will be followed there at 6 p.m. by the premiere screening of “Raising Voices,” the new Yale Glee Club documentary film.  

“We look for good singers who can read music well and be able to commit to rehearsals,” Douma says of the undergards who audition each year for one of the 85 spots. That commitment includes several performances during the year, a domestic tour in early January and an international tour right after commencement.

  As the city uncurls from one of its worst winters on record, and is hopefully enjoying an early spring, the Glee Club will perform its second celebratory concert, with another new anniversary work, Ted Hearne’s “partitions,” on April 2 with the Yale Symphony Orchestra at Sprague Hall.  

The work should also resonate with city dwellers as it is a journey through the New Haven neighborhoods from both sides of the city to the Glee Club’s home at Hendrie Hall on Elm Street.  “Ted took a walk from Fair Haven to Hendrie Hall and recorded what he saw,” says Douma, demonstrating some interesting chord structures at the piano, and reading from the sheet music — familiar street names and places, banks and on to Hendrie Hall. “... For the fourth movement, he started on Whalley Avenue ... and ends at Hendrie,” the word “easy” playing prominently in a neat juxtaposition of text and music.  

That concert, which also includes Vaughan Williams’ “Dona Nobis Pacem,” and other pieces the Glee Club has premiered, is a preview of a Carnegie Hall performance of it on April 8.  

The Yale Glee Club repertoire for its soprano/alto/bass/tenor voice parts, includes classical orchestral choral works, spirituals, contemporary works such as folk songs, and of course, its traditional Yale songs, which include several of Cole Porter’s famous football fight songs (“Boola Boola”).  

Including the city in the celebrations is a no-brainer.  

Douma says, “We try to be engaged with the city of New Haven, not just Yale,” noting the Glee Club’s yearlong commitments, such as hosting the annual High School Choral Fest (7 p.m., April 13) where 150 high school singers from Wilbur Cross, Co-Op Arts & Humanities, High School in the Community and Career, are invited to campus for the day; and sponsoring, along with the Yale School of Music, the All-City Choir.  

The celebration concludes with this year’s international tour from May 27-June 19.  

“This summer we’re trying to retrace the steps of the first tour in 1928,” says Douma, where they will collaborate with several universities in Sweden, Denmark, Germany, the Czech Republic, France and Istanbul, the latter venue the site of a joint gala concert with the Yale Alumni Chorus.  

For more information, visit www.yalegleeclub.org

Event: Yale Glee Club 150th Anniversary Reunion Choral Concert  
When: 5 p.m. Saturday  - Where: Woolsey Hall, 500 College St., New Haven  
Admission: Free  . Info: 203-432-4136

"Music Review: Yale Glee Club at Strathmore," from the Washington Post

2011-01-17T10:08:00.002-05:00

Alfred Thigpen of the Washington Post reviews our January 7 Strathmore performance.

What? No Charles Ives? For its sesquicentennial concert at Strathmore, Yale's Glee Club might have cited the name of the famous Yalie composer or rationed out more than a passing fight song. Even so, Friday's sellout audience heard an opera-length concert featuring jazz pianist John Eaton, Whim 'n Rhythm, the Yale Whiffenpoofs, alumni singers and, finally, the Glee Club itself, which broke the mold decades ago with the inclusion of women - clearly the right choice.

Under the direction of Jeffrey Douma, sopranos sang as one instrument and with flawless intonation. There was uniform vowel placement and the proscription of vibrato, which can sound like the choral equivalent of uneven pavement. Without this discipline, the contemporary sacred works of James MacMillan and Robert Vuichard would have fallen like bad souffles. Instead, their treacherously clustered semitones and contrapuntal subtleties became otherworldly, transcendent even.

In a evening laced with truly commendable performances, the only standing ovation - scattered but richly deserved - went to senior Whiffenpoofs member Nathan Calixto for his performance of "Salley Gardens." Jokingly referred to as the group's "cash cow," Calixto, with his Rostropovich-like high baritone, momentarily erased the infamy that was 2010. This is Yale's rising star.

Friday's concert was the final stop on the glee club's U.S. winter tour with an eight-city international schedule this summer. We can only hope that the Mayans were wrong about impending doom in 2012. With the backing of Yale's prowess and ambassadorship, clearly Douma is taking his group into a strongly viable third century.

Winter Tour 2011: Strathmore and D.C.

2011-01-17T09:46:00.006-05:00

YGC Manager Rachel Wilf '11 on our Domestic Tour's grand finale

In Chicago, on our second day of tour, Jeff announced that our last tour concert at the Strathmore Music Center had sold out. We had sold seventeen hundred tickets! The excitement about the concert built up over the week as YGC was abuzz with requests for spare tickets. My favorite request was one posted on Craigslist: “SAVE MY MARRIAGE. Was supposed to buy tickets, but didn't. PLEASE LET ME PURCHASE 2 OF YOUR EXTRA TICKETS!”

When we arrived in the D.C. area on Thursday night we had a brief rehearsal with the Yale alumni chorus and met up with our hosts for the night. On Friday morning they brought us to the White House, where we put our pre-concert jitters aside to take a guided tour. We didn’t see the Obamas, but Jennie Witthuhn ’12 did catch a glimpse of Bo getting walked on the lawn. We saved the rest of our D.C. sightseeing for Saturday and left the White House for lunch in Silver Spring, MD and a workshop at the nearby Piney Branch Elementary school. We worked in small groups with the students in the fourth and fifth grade choir and taught them the chorus to Eli Yale. The students seemed to really enjoy performing the song with us for the rest of their classmates (they were especially excited by the crying motions we make in the last verse).

After the workshop we traveled to Bethesda to our concert site, the Strathmore Music Center. The Glee Club fell silent when we first walked onto the stage for rehearsal. Strathmore is a stunningly beautiful space (see photo above). The entire center is newly built with honey-blond wood, boxes lining the walls of the concert hall, and seemingly endless tiers of seats. (I won’t comment on the Committee’s suggestion that the hall resembles the Space Federation building from Star Wars. Strathmore certainly has better acoustics).

As the concert began we looked out on the filled hall from the choir boxes above the stage. From there we watched the opening performances of the concert by pianist (and Yale graduate) John Eaton and Yale’s two senior a cappella groups, Whim’n’Rhythm and the Whiffenpoofs. When we took the stage after the intermission, we sang pieces with the familiarity gained from hours of rehearsal and concerts on tour. Nemo te Condemnavit and Dover Beach came together especially well and the quartet in Zephyr Rounds seemed to float out into the auditorium.

Red River Valley seemed especially relevant last night because of the presence of so many YGC alumni in the audience (for the past two years it has been the YGC Senior Song performed at Commencement). Nicholas Clemm, Anna Swan, Andrew Tschirhart, and Virginia Calkins, graduates from the class of 2010 who have taken jobs in the D.C. area, and Michael Dziuban, the President of the YGC my freshman year, were all in the audience. The recent alums sat together and I found myself grinning in their direction after almost every song. As of last night we also have a new YGC alumnus: Strathmore was Jamie Van Dyck’s last concert as an undergraduate member of the Glee Club.

Recent alumni weren’t the only alums present at the concert. YGC alumni of all ages performed a short set (including Switzer Boy, a classic known for its yodels) and joined with the current YGC in singing Fenno Heath’s arrangement of Shenandoah and the Yale Football Medley. As YGCA president Clay Kaufman pointed out on Thursday night, when we are all on stage together we span over 70 years of the Glee Club. I was glad that we could share the stage with so many committed YGC alums. And we hardly had to say goodbye—we’ll be seeing each other again at the reunion!

Photos: Mari Oye '11. Top, the Glee Club rehearses at Strathmore. Left, we stow our instruments (ourselves) backstage.

"Yale Glee Club Instructs and Performs at Piney Branch Elementary"

2011-01-17T09:35:00.005-05:00

An article on YGC outreach in Takoma Park, Maryland, from Kristi Tousignant at Gazette.net

Yale University junior, and Glee Club member Claire Paulson of Iowa City, Iowa (third from left) teaches Piney Branch Elementary school fifth-graders and chorus members (from left) Erin Obaonrin, Kira Goo and Nardos Chanyalew, all 10 and from Takoma Park a song the Yale Glee Club sings frequently on Friday afternoon. The Yale Glee Club performed a concert for the entire school that day. Photo: Raphael Talisman

Yale University brought a little glee to Takoma Park last week.

The Yale Glee Club performed at Piney Branch Elementary School Friday and taught the school's third and fourth grade choirs a few Ivy League tunes.

The glee club held an hour-long workshop with the kids, teaching them how to breathe and warm-up before singing. The kids in the choir filed into the school's gymnasium and sat on the bleachers. Some leaned over their neighbors to whisper not so quietly to their friends, others sat with their heads propped up with their hands, waiting.

Director of the Yale Glee Club, Jeff Douma, began by directing the college kids in a warm-up.

"Here we go," Douma said.
Silence.
Then the glee club hissed.
"Ssssssss."
Douma had the elementary school students join in and each age group faced each other, loudly hissing. Douma told the kids to relax their shoulders and breathe in deeply and quietly.

"I learned how to like make your voice go high and then really low," Elijah Busse, 9, of Takoma Park said. The club sang a few traditional Yale songs for the kids then broke them into groups of 10 to practice another song from the university.

"We love to sing," Douma said. "We love music. And we think it's really cool when kids are into music, too." The kids sat in a circle with a couple of the glee club members as they taught them the words to the song. "It's fun because they let you do fun stuff like sing," Kayla Armstrong, 10, of Takoma Park said.

The glee club tours the country every year for a week during the winter. This year the 65 singers traveled to Chicago, Ann Arbor, Mich., Cleveland, Ohio and Washington, D.C. They usually visit schools and then perform concerts in the evenings at venues or churches. After visiting Piney Branch, the group sang at the Strathmore Music Center in Bethesda Friday night.
"The kids learn there is more to music that what's on the radio and on the TV," Principal Bertram Generlette said.

After the lesson, the kids climbed back onto the bleachers, this time, joined by the glee club. The rest of the school sat cross-legged on the gym floor for the performance. The audience fidgeted and twisted around to talk to their neighbors and squirmed while introductions were made. Then the glee club started singing. And the kids went quiet.

The glee club's voices rose and fell with the song. Each put up their arm while they were singing and pulled it down when they were not. Their voices got quiet at parts and the drama rose.
When they were finished, a second of silence was followed by screaming and clapping from the young audience.

Douma announced it was time to sing the song the kids had practiced and the third- and fourth-graders pumped their arms, some whispering, "Yes!" The kids sang with the glee club, complete with hand movements.

"I really like the singing and being able to meet these good singing people," Alya Fawal, 9, of Takoma Park said. Generlette hoped interacting with college kids would get the kids interested in higher education at a young age.

"Our expectation is that we are getting them college-ready," Generlette said. "And not only college-ready, but life-ready."

ktousignant@gazette.net

Winter Tour 2011: Things I Learned In Cleveland

2011-01-10T10:38:00.004-05:00

YGC President Emily Howell '11 on Day 5 of Tour

1) People in Cleveland are friendly.

Before the concert, the Glee Club was treated to gourmet pizza at a beautiful house near the church. Afterwards, we enjoyed a delicious reception while we met our homestays and mingled with the audience. Over and over, I heard “Thank you for coming to Cleveland!” Then I had a fantastic homestay with Glee Clubber Ellen Ray, where our hosts gave us a full second dinner, held off my impending cold with cough syrup, and made sure Ellen, a vegan, had a tasty vegan feast.

2) Cleveland is important to the people of Cleveland.

After dinner, Jeff was interviewed briefly by a local TV station, who wanted to know two things: his name, and why we chose to come to Cleveland. (His answer: “Because it’s been a while since we were last here.”)

3) Cleveland likes the Glee Club.

It was the only time all tour I had to request that the audience stay standing for Yale’s alma mater, Bright College Years, because we got a standing ovation after the football medley. This was the third concert of tour, and the night before in Ann Arbor we had really hit our stride. Every once in a while when we sing there are moments when it seems like we’re one voice and one mind, because everyone is so focused, so responsive to Jeff, and so perfectly together. Those moments are exhilarating, and I felt a few of them in Cleveland, particularly in Dover Beach Revisited.

4) “With some teamwork, a lot of help, and a little bit of butter, we can get through anything.”

Glee Clubber Michael Haycock, himself born in Ohio, taught the Glee Club about Ohio native William Howard Taft in his pre-concert pep talk. Taft attended Yale, then went on to become President of the United States (one of eight from Ohio!) and, later, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Taft is also known for his general largeness: he once got stuck in a White House bathtub and had to be rescued by his staff. He then had a bathtub installed that was big enough for four men. Michael used the experience to teach the Glee Club how, when caught in a tight place, like a bathtub, you just need to “wait it out and get a bigger one next time.” Also, that teamwork is important.

And so, the next morning, we left Cleveland after less than 24 hours spent there—not long, but long enough for urban planning students David Eisenman and John Good to have some major struggles with its subway system. Thanks for the lessons, Cleveland. On to D.C.!

Atid Kimmelman '13 examines a butterfly at the Cleveland Botanic Garden.

Manager Rachel Wilf '11 eats an eighth note on the bus.

Winter tour 2011: Ann Arbor

2011-01-08T22:24:00.003-05:00

Day 4: From Elm City to Tree City
Bram Wayman (Saybrook '09) offers his perspective on the Glee Club's visit to Ann Arbor:

I had the wonderful fortune to hear the Yale Glee Club twice in the last week—once in Chicago and once in my hometown of Ann Arbor. YGC's visit to Ann Arbor was particularly special because I was not content to simply sit in the audience. As the traditional tour saying goes, "Be the first to help out and the last to complain," so I helped out with a number of miscellaneous tasks. Mari asked me to take pictures of the group in rehearsal, some of which you can see here.

One of the only joys of not singing in the Glee Club is observing the Glee Club. On those rare occasions when we are sick and have to sit out, or when we have already graduated and are shamelessly tagging along, we get to see YGC's defining characteristics at work. The attentive, humorous, hard-working but easy-going attitude we all seem to share has a direct effect on the rehearsal process, which is as fun as it is efficient.

I also felt, more than ever before, in touch with the smooth continuity of YGC tradition across the years. Speaking with Bruce Ryan ('71) in Chicago, I discovered that the contest for members between a cappella and YGC has barely changed in almost half a century. On stage for the Football Medley in Ann Arbor, I found myself next to Derek Tam, who was still jumping out of time on "Oh Yale, Eli Yale," so I reprised my old role of trying to coerce him into the right rhythm. Best of all, I got to hear some of the pieces that have become legendary amid the older singers of my generation, especially MacMillan's infamous and stunning "Nemo."

Mark Dollhopf gave a speech in Chicago about passing on the gift the Yale Glee Club gives us all. From helping out in Ann Arbor to conducting Barty's music with my choirs at the University of Texas, I'm honored and thrilled to keep the glee in motion! YGC is truly my second family, and this week was a magnificent reunion. See you all next month to celebrate our one hundred and fiftieth year.

Winter Tour 2011: Chicago

2011-01-06T10:59:00.012-05:00

Publicity Manager Mari Oye covers Days 1-3

Day 1: Sparsos congregavit!

We assembled from across the country on New Year’s Day. The Glee Club had been collecting in stages, something like a snowball, since the first bus left at 7 am from New Haven. A bleary-eyed crew joined at the LaGuardia central terminal and were greeted by our inimitable tour managers, Abigail Droge '12 and Arshia Chatterjee '11, who looked typically perky and handed out bags of sweets. “We’re lucky to have the Yale Glee Club on board with us today,” the captain announced as we took off for Chicago. We thanked him – and then collectively went back to sleep. I mean, it was New Year’s Day.

Song of the day: "Take Me Back to Chicago"

Day 2: Perspectives from Real Live Chicagoans

Three genuine Chicagoans from the ranks of the YGC, Hana Zegeye ’13, Ayanna Woods ’14, and Adam Fishman ’12, introduced us to their city with pride. Hana regaled us with stories of the time she ordered extra cheese on a deep-dish pizza and “almost died of a cheese coma” and then guided us through a similar experience at Pizano's Restaurant.

“It means a whole lot to me that the Glee Club came to my home,” Hana said. “It’ll be my mom’s first time watching us today. I invited a bunch of buddies and my old high school choir director to come. It’ll be a really warm affair.” This, despite the fact that is was 13 degrees outside at that point. And windy.

The YGC Blog caught up with Ayanna during rehearsal for our concert at the First Methodist Church downtown. "It’s like these people are from one part of my life and these people are from the other part of my life, and then they COLLIDE!!" said Ayanna. "It’s like Spongebob walking into the Shawshank Redemption."

"In which he wins an academy award for best guest actor," Hana added. "Yeah!"

We sang in the church's beautiful wood-painted interior to an enthusiastic and Yalie-filled audience.

The life-collisions continued afterwards, as recent and less-recent alums welcomed us with a Singing Dinner. We usually don't think about all the generations of Glee Clubbers over the last 150 years -- about the hundreds and hundreds of people who have stood in our places singing "Little Innocent Lamb" or "Shenandoah." Appearing all at once, we'd make one very crowded stage. Connecting with alumni like the group in Chicago gives us a chance to compare notes on increasingly legendary stories from tours past (and traditions like certain requirements for particularly brave renditions of "Bandolero").

Song of the day: "My Kind of Town"

Day 3: Outreach and Potlucks

Our third day in Chicago included two outreach concerts. The first took place at the Morton School for Excellence ("I can't think of a good rhyme for excellence!" sang YGC president Emily Howell in "Eli Yale") and the second at The Chicago Academy, where Julia Myers '12 caught a brief nap before lunch (photo at right). We were impressed by the Chicago Academy's cougar mascot and glad Handsome Dan didn't have to face off against it.

"What's college like?" a middle-schooler in the audience asked. Adam Fishman '13, YGC outreach chair, took the mike and said "It's like summer camp. You study what you want to study. So I really like math and music, and I study that." Those of us familiar with Adam's all-nighters looked up in surprise. "Well," he amended, "summer camp with a lot of homework." There we go.

The day ended with some free time to see the sights of Chicago, the city's brilliant architecture at once elegant and industrial. Some YGC alums from the classes of 04-07 held a potluck in Hyde Park with the current YGCers they were hosting. Sylvia Glauster '05 introduced us to her cats Credo, Kyrie and Gloria. Adam Varner and Hen Kennedy '07 rounded out our impromptu choir. The altos sang tenor, half the sopranos sang alto, Adam held down the bass, and we pulled out the Yale Songbooks again for a second, more casual singing dinner.

The night gave us hope that "you can keep the glee in your life after Yale," whether or not you end up marrying a fellow Glee Clubber.

Song of the Day: "You're the Inspiration"

Below: Four YGCers stroll in Millenium Park. All photos courtesy of Dylan Morris '11.

"Yale Singers Mark a Milestone" in the Washington Post!

2011-01-02T09:52:00.008-05:00

Re-posted from Moira E. McLaughlin at the Post. Original article available here.
We're already getting excited for the Strathmore Hall concert on January 7!

The storied Yale Glee Club, which boasts Cole Porter and Charles Ives among its alumni, is bringing its perfect pitch to Washington.

The collegiate choral group, one of the oldest in the country, is celebrating its 150th anniversary season and is performing at Strathmore next week. It will be joined by two Yale a cappella groups, the Whiffenpoofs and Whim'n Rhythm, as well as jazz pianist John Eaton, a Yale alum.

What began in 1861 as 13 men singing simple songs known as "glees" on the street corners of New Haven, Conn., has evolved into an 85-member coed chorus that performs such classical works as Verdi's "Requiem," Mendelssohn's "Elijah" and Hayden's "Creation" as well as pieces commissioned from such well-known modern composers as Ned Rorem and Dominick Argento. The group sings worldwide in venues as varied as the steps of Grand Central Station, small countryside churches in France and Carnegie Hall.

"The music is the heart of it," says senior Mari Oye, who has been in the group for three years. "But it's like if you're on a sports team, you all are working together for something."

Many singers remain loyal to the club after graduation, and an alumni group, the Yale Glee Club Associates, has a board of directors that holds annual meetings.

"I auditioned because of the music, but I stuck around because of the people," says Rachel Wilf, a senior who has been in the group for four years.

Throughout the years, the group has remained dedicated to tradition but at the same time open to new ideas.

"It's really funny because I don't think of [the Glee Club] as being that old. We're not pretending that it's still 150 years ago," Oye says. "The fact that it is 150 makes it really fun, makes it a way to connect with Yale's past, from back when it was all guys in tuxes to today, where we have women and people from all over the world in the Glee Club."

Maintaining a balance of tradition and openness has required experimentation with sound, formalwear and music. For a time in the 1920s and '30s, the Glee Club incorporated a banjo band, and for a brief stint in the 1980s, women wore blue sashes with their black dresses.

Tradition, however, stares down from photos of the club dating to the 1890s and lining Yale's Hendrie Hall, where the Glee Club rehearses.

"I know from what the students tell me, just seeing all those pictures on the wall and seeing how [the Glee Club members] are connected in this unbroken line well over 100 years ago is something that they really appreciate about the group," says Jeffrey Douma, the club's seventh (and current) director.

The Glee Club still sings "Gaudeamus Igitur," which dates to its first concert, and every May performs Randall Thompson's "Alleluia" at baccalaureate, singing from the balcony at Woolsey Hall.

"You see you're part of a tradition of people who have gone long before, and it's cool to uphold that tradition and carry it along," says Clay Kaufman, who graduated in 1984 and is president of the Yale Glee Club Associates Board.

Wilf echoes that sentiment: "I didn't quite know about it when I signed up, but it's another really rewarding part about singing in the group."

Yale Glee Club Appearing with the Whiffenpoofs, Whim'n Rhythm and John Eaton on Jan. 7 at the Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. Show starts at 8 p.m. 301-581-5100. www.strathmore.org . $20.

NYC Holiday Concert: Against the Law?

2010-12-24T15:07:00.025-05:00

Stage manager Dylan Morris '11 reflects on the Glee Club's holiday concert in New York City and explains how the YGC almost sang itself afoul of the law.

The first Friday in December is always a day of celebration at Yale. Fall term classes end that afternoon. Exams and papers remain, but with the seeming eternity of reading week stretched out before us, we students feel as if we can ignore them (a week later, we feel differently).

The Glee Club has its own traditional way of celebrating this campus holiday. We board the Metro-North train and head down to New York City for our yearly Holiday Concert at the Yale Club of New York. When announcing the trip at rehearsal, our manager Rachel Wilf told us that the Yale Club is her favorite yearly YGC concert. Or, as YGC president Emily Howell put it in her ad-libbed solo during “Eli Yale”: “Out of all our fall concerts, the Yale Club is always a winner / And that’s not just because we all like free dinner.”

We are indeed treated to a tasty meal before we sing, but Emily is right; there’s plenty to like about the concert besides the grub. We couldn’t ask for a friendlier audience than a crowd of Yale alums and New York-area YGC family members, and the approaching winter holidays give us an excuse to add traditional Christmas carols like “Es ist ein rose entsprungen” and the “Glouscestershire Wassail” to our repertoire.

Yet what Glee Clubbers most eagerly anticipate each year is the night’s second concert. We head back from the Yale Club to Grand Central Station to catch the Metro-North. Before we board, we assemble on the double-stairway at the west end of Vanderbilt Hall, the station’s largest atrium. There, our director, Jeff, conducts us as we sing a semi-spontaneous mix of carols and concert repertoire.

There’s a bit of an ImprovEverywhere or flashmob aspect to the Grand Central concert. A number of people know about the tradition (in 2008, Time Out New York featured it as a “must see for the holiday season”), but most of the crowd that gathers to listen is made up of travelers who take a break during their Friday commute to listen to the choir that has mysteriously appeared in their train station. We’ve learned to watch for looks of surprise-turning-into-pleasure on passing commuters’ faces.

This year, though, the concert was not all smiles. As we were starting our second carol, “Silent Night,” a pair of uniformed New York City Policemen walked purposefully out toward Jeff, who stopped conducting and began to talk to them. We could not hear the conversation, but the officers’ expressions said enough.

Then the crowd stood up to The Law on our behalf. “They do this every year!” one bystander shouted. “They’re singing about peace!” an indignant listener told the gun-toting cops.

As for the Glee Club, we turned and looked expectantly at our assistant conductor, Max Blum. He rose to the occasion, giving us the first pitch and the downbeat of “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.” We began again; the crowd began to cheer. The officers, who knew how to recognize a lost cause when they saw one, begrudgingly broke off their dispute with Jeff. Missing neither a literal nor a figurative beat, he turned back to us and conducted the end of the carol.

We sang the rest of the concert without incident, boarded the MetroNorth, and sang our way home to New Haven. On the ride, I kept thinking back to the supportive Grand Central audience and smiling.

“They do this every year.” “They’re singing about peace.”

Vuvuzelas @ Harvard

2010-12-24T15:01:00.005-05:00

On Friday November 19th, the members of the Yale Glee Club traveled to Cambridge, MA for our annual joint concert with our counterparts from Harvard. The concert is always the day before the big Yale-Harvard football game ("The Game"), so rivalry runs high. During the lead-up to the 2010 Game, there had been much ado about the possibility that both Yale and Harvard fans would be armed with vuvuzelas during the contest (the powerful plastic horns were eventually banned). During our football medley, we found a way to get in on the fun in B-flat:

John Clayton '13 juggles Yale vuvuzelas during "Lord Jeffrey ~~Amherst~~ Douma"

The Yale Vuvuzela Consort (Mari Oye '11, Rebecca Trupin '11, Jason Perlman '11, Dylan Morris '11), with a portrait of its spiritual leader

YGC alumna Kaley Sullivan '10 gets in on the fun

More photo fun from the Harvard Concert:

"The saddest tale we have to tell" — YGCers mourning the fact that we have to graduate.

"With Crimson in Triumph Flashing" — Noting that the Harvard Glee Club is all-male, the women of the Yale Glee Club don tailcoats when Harvard's fight song comes up during the Football Medley.

Messiah Sing-Along!

2010-12-09T20:16:00.003-05:00

Happening Sunday, 12/12, at 2 pm in Battell Chapel. RSVP to our Facebook event here.

She's with the band.

2010-11-20T02:11:00.009-05:00

Kate Carter '12 on divided allegiance, the YPMB-YGC football game, and transcendence of ancient hatreds.

I am, as my Glee Club bio aptly puts it, a Benedict Arnold, a traitor to the cause of Glee Club domination. After failing to cajole, coerce, or otherwise convince me, YGC left me to the ranks of that menacing and bizarre force, the Yale Precision Marching Band, in the annual epic

showdown of musical powerhouses. The YGC-YPMB football game. A battle of glee against “precision,” of spirit, of “Y’s.” The score is unimportant (*coughthebandwoncough*). Vastly outnumbered (think 300), facing an opponent honed by weekly practices and killer duck-duck-goose matches, the Glee Club put up a valiant fight and emerged battle-worn but proud.

I believe YGC’s efforts can be best described in the words of our manager and one of two fear-inspiring captains, Rachel Wilf: “Our all-star freshman (Ben Lewis, Connor Kenaston) played brilliantly, Atid Kimelman chose to play on our side instead of on the side of the YPMB-ers, some members from 2010 showed up (John Good and even Pete Clune) and the altos (Rebecca Trupin, Phyllis Thangaraj, Cynthia Weaver and I) were balanced out by our wonderful sopranos (Helen McCreary, Mari Oye, and Monica Qiu)! Derek Tam was an excellent QB, Dylan Morris ran barefoot, Adam Fishman was awesome enough to play without his glasses, Phyllis skipped studying for her midterm to run over and join us, and Daniel Cruse struck fear in the hearts of the YPMB runners.”

However, let me clarify. I did not play. See, I would be a handicap to whichever team I joined, and I don’t wish that on either side. Instead, I focused my efforts on cheering on the band while still quietly applauding YGC successes.

While whiling away my time on the sidelines, I learned some things that just can’t be taught by midterm-stricken textbooks:

1. “Bulldog, bulldog, bow wow wow…!” applies to all Yalies, not just the band…No matter what, Yale wins!

2. The show must go on. And the game must go on. So when you have a chamber singers performance and a football game that conflict, be prepared to get dirty, make a quick change, and catch your breath before breaking into beautiful song. Take a leaf from the YGC’s other fearless captain, Derek Tam’s book. He was a champion.

3. Touch football can be just as dangerous as that stuff you see on TV. Well, at least, dangerous enough for a bunch of Yalie music nerds. Get ready for lost glasses, rolled ankles, near-broken arms, and bone-crunching landings on the sidewalk.

4. A corollary: don’t put your end zone right next to a sidewalk. Concrete and momentum. Not a good combo.

5. Midterms can’t get us down. That’s what I love about Yale, especially the groups that I have

come to call my families: the band and, of course, the Glee Club. We never are too busy to take a moment and stop taking ourselves seriously (or maybe take a moment to take trivialities exceedingly seriously). Football and donuts in the middle of the New Haven Green, on a Sunday afternoon before one of the toughest weeks of the semester, and some of us spent the day

before in performance and some will spend the next hour in performance. Score.

So the Glee Club can shake off the dust from the battlefield and focus its ferocity on its next foe (or frenemy? Rather in the YPMB vein, but less cool), the Harvard Glee Club. As we put it at every halftime show: Harvard’s team may fight to the end, but Yale…Will…Win!

Memory, Leg-Breaking, Heels, and Sherbet

2010-11-07T19:03:00.006-05:00

New member Ari Susu-Mago '13 on our
Family Weekend Concert

Like many things in the not-so-distant past, my memories of my first YGC concert are still fairly fresh (as far as memories go), but enough time has passed that they have distilled themselves into discrete moments; these pockets of clear recollection are surrounded by a fuzzy knowledge of what happened in between these moments (there's rather a difference between knowing that you hung out in the Woolsey rotunda and actually remembering every facet of the experience). Thus, I'm going to focus on the beads of clear memory I've strung together and gloss over the spaces between them, because...well, because I can't recall them clearly. And that's probably because they weren't interesting enough to be worth remembering, so you're not missing anything either way.

ANYHOW, I remember...

...walking into Hendrie on the night of the concert and being abruptly conscious of how well-dressed everyone looked (except for the fact that, as Adam pointed out during his pep talk, that the women's dresses do tend to make us look more similar than, say, svelte and snazzy like the men's tuxes). Maybe I didn't really notice the clothes at the dress rehearsal because I'm a bit fashion-blind (entirely feasible), or perhaps because a space like Woolsey seems to demand fancy clothes in a way that Hendrie does not. Either way, that evening actually felt like the first night we'd dressed up.

...Adam's pep talk about what makes singing with the Glee Club such a special performing experience, as well as his (and his mother's) admonishment that we all break all of our legs.

...standing at the back of Woolsey, listening to the band playing, and worrying about all the wrong things. And what are the wrong things to worry about before a concert? I can't give a comprehensive list, but a brief sample might include: that the basic tacking I'd done wouldn't be enough to keep my dress hemmed, or that I would drop my Yale gear while running onstage, or that the heels of my shoes would catch in the grating and cause me to faceplant into the carpeted aisle. (For the record, none of these events occurred, a fact that is not due to my having worried about them.)

...that shimmering, soap-bubble-of-a-moment at the end of Abendlied, when we'd all stopped singing but the sound continued to float in the air. If anyone asked me why I sing in choirs, I'd probably answer with, "Because I love it." If they asked me why I loved it, this is the sort of example I would give. Same goes for that awesome, ringing final chord of My Soul's Been Anchored in the Lord. "Why do you sing in choirs, Ari?" "Because it just sounds so damn cool."

...the faintly-agonizing walk back to Hendrie in heels after the concert. This one still puzzles me, as I've done a ton of musical theatre and choir in my life and am not unused to wearing character heels for long periods of time---yet it was with the most profound relief that I was able to plop down on a chair in the rehearsal room and removed the accursed things from my poor, bruised feet. Maybe I'm just out of practice wearing tall shoes...or perhaps I'll re-hem my dress so I can wear flats for the Princeton and Harvard concerts. We'll see.

...under the expert tutelage of John Clayton, becoming a volunteer YGC-punch-brewing sherbet-meister. Mmm, sherbet in punch.

In summary:

To the YGC: thanks for a great first concert at Yale!
To Adam: I apologize for having failed at breaking my legs this time around. Maybe this can be rectified by wearing stilettos while running up to the stage, or through the judicious application of a baseball bat to the tibias?
To John (and the punch): More lemon sherbet. Always, more lemon. 'Nuff said.

Meet the 2010 YGC Officer Corps

2010-09-25T21:21:00.004-04:00

Welcome to all the fantastic new members of the Yale Glee Club. In keeping with tradition, we offer the following (extremely serious) bios of our officer corps for your edification and amusement.

President – Emily Howell, CC ’11

Emily Howell is a senior in Calhoun College, majoring in English. She hails from the charming city of Lynchburg, VA. Having already filled the roles of Social Chair and Tour Manager in the past, Emily is currently the longest serving member of the Glee Club Officer Corps. Other than presiding over the YGC, she spends her free time terrorizing elementary-schoolers with the Yale Children's Theater group, and lending her hunky alto vocals to the Christ Church Choir. Emily Howell is also a computer program developed in the 1990's as an interactive interface that facilitates musical and language communication. Look it up on Wikipedia.

Manager – Rachel Wilf, TD ’11

Rachel Wilf is the Manager of the Glee Club and manages to make that job look manageable. She is a senior in Timothy Dwight College and is majoring in History. A native Connecticutian, she has an older sister and a younger brother. When she is not singing alto, Rachel drums with the Konjo African Dance Troupe and writes for Midnight at Yale, an online magazine. In her spare time, she enjoys climbing up mountains, swimming in lakes, looking for sheep, and raising the slogan of Yale triumphant.

Stage Manager – Dylan Morris, BK ’11

Dylan Humphrey Morris is a native of the People’s Republic of Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is an incurable cross-country runner, and a tenor, except when he’s a bass. Dylan once spent thirty days in the wilderness, among rocks and hills and brooks and vales, but did not remain there forever at rest. He is a senior Ethics, Politics and Economics major in Berkeley College but can talk your ear off about fractal geometry anyway. His job is to make sure you hold your folders in the right hand – that is, your left hand – right?

Social Chair – Jenny Witthuhn, TC ’12

Jennifer "Jenny" Leigh Witthuhn (deceptively pronounced Vittoon) is actually Glee Club's Anti-Social Chair, the companion officer to Eli, the Social Chair. She knows all the words to the Lion King, and if she were a Winnie the Pooh character, she would be Piglet: he is small, adorable, and a loyal companion. A junior in Trumbull College, Jenny likes bad TV, chocolate, and puppies (very much), and she does not like mayonnaise. Some stats: she is a psych major, a tour guide, a second soprano, and she has visited 5/7 of the Earth's continents. She plans on sharing her German heritage with the Glee Club this year by wearing a dirndl to Gleetoberfest. If Jenny could befriend any mythical creature, she would choose a unicorn.

Social Chair – Eli Mitchell-Larson, MC ’12

Eli Mitchell-Larson, a junior in Morse College, grew up in the forested fiefs around beautiful Portland, Maine and saw his first color television only after arriving at Yale. As the Social Chair of the Glee Club, his primary task is to undo the damage done by his partner Jenny, the Anti-Social Chair, while also promoting a "gleeful" social atmosphere for all involved. When he’s not singing and traveling with the Glee Club or Yale Spizzwinks (?) a cappella group, he enjoys walking his goats and Nordic skiing. As an Environmental Studies Major, Eli thinks all singers should bring re-useable water bottles to each rehearsal so he can borrow them when he’s thirsty.

Publicity Chair – Mari Michener Oye, TD ’11

Mari Oye is the Publicity Chair for the Glee Club. She is a senior Political Science and International Studies major from the picturesque town of Wellesley, Massachusetts. At Yale, she can sometimes be seen rollerskiing around campus, which is a public safety hazard. Mari volunteers with Dwight Hall, is one of the founders of the Yale Afghanistan Forum, and spent last summer in Tajikistan learning Persian and making friends with goats. In her spare time, she enjoys shape-note singing and bothering people to write for the YGC Blog.

Archivist – Sam Sanders, CC ’12

Sam Sanders, a junior in Calhoun, is majoring in Indecision & Chinese and as Archivist is responsible for keeping your music together, usually involving the use of spreadsheets, mild threats, and baked goods as incentives. Failing that, she will employ Public Shame and/or Predator Drone strikes. Sam works for NASA as a research assistant in the summers (which means things she's made are in space - be afraid), probably plays video games more than you, and used to be a competitive dancer, which involved lots of out-of-character sparkly costumes. She enjoys cooking and feminism, at the same time, and sings in the New Blue, Yale's oldest all-female a cappella group. She is a soprano I for life.

Wardrobe Manager – Ben Robbins, SY ’12

Ben "Hot Lava" Robbins is the wardrobe manager of the Glee Club. He is a junior sociology major hailing from Grand Island, Nebraska (pop. 45,000) and members of the Glee Club like that he calls soda "pop." Ben used to be in a show choir called Ultimate Image and will put those skills to use this year as the performance manager for the a cappella group Living Water. Ben has impeccable taste in clothes and on South America tour challenged fellow bass Justin Quam to a modeling walk-off on a Río rooftop involving both swimwear and formalwear portions. Ben won.

Domestic Tour Manager – Arshia Chatterjee, SY ’11

Arshia Chatterjee is a Domestic Tour Manager this year as well as a senior in Saybrook. A native of New Jersey, she is double majoring in Political Science and Economics. When she is not singing Soprano 2 in Glee Club, she is also involved with the Hindu Students Council. Her favorite mythical creature is the hippogriff. She would love to take it on tour with her but is afraid it won't fit in her suitcase.

Domestic Tour Manager – Abigail Droge, CC ’12

Abigail Droge, a junior English major in Calhoun, is Glee Club’s own Southern Belle and domestic tour manager. When not wiling away her time contemplating Pooh, she practices her word-perfect recitation of Sense and Sensibility. Lest you think she is entirely domesticated, please be warned that years laboring on the Yale farm have made her a pretty tough gal. Abigail is a soprano I, and therefore alphabetically first in the YGC roster list, as well as first in our hearts.

International Tour Manager – Kate Carter, SM ’12

Kate "Benedict Arnold" Carter has twice deserted the Yale Glee Club to play for the Yale Precision Marching Band in the annual YGC-YPMB football game. Despite or perhaps of because of this, the YGC has triumphed. The rest of the year, however, Kate is a deeply loyal YGCer who sings Alto II, manages tours, and works with Sean in the YGC Office. Outside of the YGC and the Band, Kate is a Dwight Hall public school intern at Barnard Environmental Magnet School in New Haven. A junior in Silliman College, Kate is a student in Yale's teacher prep program with a focus on high school education. She is fluent in French and Iowan.

International Tour Manager – Claire Paulson, DC ’12

  Claire Paulson is now a junior in Davenport College from Ann Arbor, MI, and has previously been the one of our Domestic Mini-Tour Managers. Her musical experience ranges from high school choir in Iowa to Magevet, a Jewish a cappella group at Yale, which she pitched during her sophomore year. Claire is a Cognitive Science major and a closet trombonist, and is studying Chinese. She also is the proud owner of a rotating disco turtle light.

Outreach Chair – Adam Fishman, SM ’13

Adam Fishman, a sophomore in Silliman, hails from Chicago, giving him what he considers perfect, accent-free speech. In fact, he was offered a job recording language learning tapes for children in middle school. Adam's the most enthusiastic math major you'll meet at Yale, but loves a lot more than just numbers. His other passions include China, and music of the African diaspora. His doppelgänger is Owl from Winnie the Pooh. Adam gets 12 hours of sleep a night and is never sarcastic, ever. “You should be able to write much more searing info about me. I'm disappointed,” says Adam.

150th Reunion Chair – Jasmine Dyba, CC ’11

Jasmine Dyba, a senior in Calhoun, will be using diplomatic skills learned from Actual Diplomacy to navigate the complicated world of alumni relations as the 150th Glee Club reunion chair. When she isn't talking to our elders, Jasmine takes the time to be environmentally friendly and Epicurean. She has a culinary interest in Winnie the Pooh characters. Jasmine hails from Silver Spring, MD. You can find her in the Glee Club by her stylish glasses, but don't talk to her about cats, especially talking ones, because they creep her out.

Something Auditioning This Way Comes

2010-09-06T03:07:00.005-04:00

“Good Morning” from Singing in the Rain is blasting off President Emily Howell’s computer. The door opens. She hits pause. Officers rush to seats in the Glee Club Office, stow half-eaten bagels under chairs, and try to look semi-official and yet not intimidating to freshmen. “Something Auditioning This Way Comes,” says Emily.

I can’t shake the feeling I’m in a reality show. There’s one chair in the center of the room. Kids from West Virginia, South Africa, California, Vietnam, and Long Island are coming in one at a time to say hey, shuffle their feet, and talk music at Yale.

As a cheat sheet to those of you planning to audition in future who may be reading the Glee Club Blog, I offer a set of possible questions you should study up on. We’ll answer some of them ourselves, as a sneak preview of the new officer bios to be posted Monday.

Ahem.

Q: If you could build a house out of any unconventional material, what would it be?
A: “Ice cream sandwiches. They’re kind of like bricks and would be structurally sound.” - Claire Paulson, International Tour Manager

Q: If you could have any mythical creature as a pet or a friend, what would it be?
A: “In my youth, I 100% would have chosen a unicorn, and I’m not entirely sure that would have changed. But dragons are just really cool. Or like, a talking cat. Or something that could fly. I’ve given this a lot of thought.” – Emily Howell, President
Addendum: “But a dragon would be really hard to take care of.” – Emily
“Not if it could go kill its own sheep.” – Kate Carter, International Tour Manager

Q: If you were a Winnie-the-Pooh Character, which character would you be?
A: “I would be Piglet, because Piglet is small and adorable and a loyal companion.” – Jenny Witthun, Social Chair.

Q (from Jasmine, 150th Reunion Chair): If you could eat a Winnie-the-Pooh character, which one would you eat?
A (from auditionee): I’m a vegetarian.
A (From Jeff): “Well, obviously Piglet, right? Piglet would be tender.”
A (from Adam, outreach chair): “You could stew Piglet and Rabbit together.”

Q: Who’s your favorite Disney villain?
A: “Ursula, totally. Because she has the most baller song in all of the Disney movies, she’s modeled off of a drag queen, she’s played by Pat Carrol and she has eels.” – - Kate Carter, International Tour Manager.

After a few hours of this, Rachel Wilf, manager, began accidentally saying “With mychical” instead of “Which mythical creature is your favorite?” This is a clear indication of fatigue and the beginnings of insanity.

Some statistical data gathered over the course of the last two days:

We believe there may be a correlation between those auditionees who chose a dragon and those who chose Tigger; they may be extroverts. Please note that this dataset is not comprehensive… we had one Roo and one wyvern respond after I made the graphs.

Finally, please rest assured that the composition of the 150th Yale Glee Club was not, in fact, determined by these deeply revealing questions, but by the talent, commitment, and musicality singers displayed during auditions.

That said, we remain in awe of the members of the class of 2014 we have met. Between them, they can whistle Clair de Lune, beatbox with only their teeth, make fire by rubbing sticks, win archery championships, jump rope while sitting on the ground, sing the Kings and Queens of England, and memorize 200 digits of Pi. We wish them the best at Yale and in all the years after, and hope they stay as badass as they are now.

We also want to congratulate all the new members of the Glee Club – expect a (more serious) welcome post soon.

2010 Summer Tour: Santo Domingo

2010-06-10T03:41:00.019-04:00

Casey Klippel '09, the wise old woman of the YGC, on our last few days in Santo Domingo.

The last day on the Tour That Broke All The Rules started out by ... breaking another rule. The morning after our closing banquet usually consists of sad farewells and moaning-and-groaning about the early wakeup call. But not on this tour! Banquet technically happened last night (though more on that later), and instead of travelling home today, we had our first free time in Santo Domingo as well as our final concert. Time to rise and shine!

Those who rose and shone early enough could take a walking tour of the Colonial Zone in Santo Domingo. Since I am a professional athlete in the extreme sport of sleeping in, my day started instead at our awesome hotel’s even awesomer breakfast buffet (read: tons of pastries, three kinds of tropical fruit juice, and unlimited fried cheese). To be fair, twenty-two of us had toured the Colonial Zone yesterday afternoon. Santo Domingo contains many of the oldest European-influenced buildings in the New World, and its main church is the only truly Gothic cathedral in the Western Hemisphere. The walking tour also brought us into the National Mausoleum and the palace built by Christopher Columbus’s son.

This morning, about half the Glee Club took the opportunity to lounge by our hotel’s expansive swimming pool. I joined in the swimming party after an attempt to walk along the Malecón, a pedestrian path that runs along the Caribbean shore. My excursion itself is hardly noteworthy, except for the incredible traffic - not once in the entire half-hour walk could I actually cross the road to walk on the Malecón. But perhaps the sea is bluer from the other side of the street. The roads in the Dominican Republic have certainly been Breaking All The Rules, from the hilarious (cows), to the dangerous (cows at night), to the unexpected (rivers), to the insane (low-hanging power lines). In the last case, the driver of the “Guagüita Heavy,” or Cool Little Bus, climbed on top of our main 55-passenger coach to move the power line. Before you ask, yes: he is a superhero. Namely, Spiderman. Compare:

The entire Glee Club ate lunch together in Colonial Zone at a Dominican buffet. From there, we travelled to the palatial National Fine Arts Museum to rehearse for our final concert. We would be sharing the stage with the National Choir of the Dominican Republic tonight, and everyone eagerly anticipated this concert as the capstone musical experience of tour. Jeff told us the entire concert hall had been sold out and two overflow rooms were being set up, adding to our already great excitement. We had our first extended rehearsal in several days and enjoyed perfecting both the technical and expressive elements of all our pieces for the last hurrah. After we practiced our set, we rehearsed “Little Innocent Lamb,” “Guayacanal,” and the “Hallelujah Chorus” with the Coro Nacional. Similar to our version of “Muie Rendera” during our tour last year to Brazil, our tempo for “Guayacanal” was about half as fast as it should have been. After rehearsing with the Coro Nacional and their fantastic percussionists, the song sounded much more exciting and animated!

We had a couple hours of downtime before our final concert, during which we could have a snack at the backstage bar and simply hang out. A widespread outbreak of Gleeardia by this point on tour did nothing to dampen our spirits or lessen our end-of-tour traditions. Danny Townsend ’10 and Sarah Dewey ’10 each gave a pep talk inspiring us to cherish this last concert. Even though much mirth lay ahead in the the after-party and after-after-party, the next hour would be the last time the 149th Glee Club would meet as friends in song. The Coro Nacional began the program with a selection of five works, and about fifteen of us snuck into the wings to listen to their beautiful renditions of opera choruses. Next, we performed our hour long set without intermission. Music is the art of time, and our final time together passed much too quickly - the quietly blossoming “O Quam Gloriosum,” the inexorable “McKay,” the lighthearted yet poignant “into the strenuous briefness” by Ryan Harper ’10, and even the short and sweet International Football Medley (played blindfolded by Justin Jee ’10!). I teared up during the transcendent expansiveness of Bruckner’s “Os Justi,” and I’m sure there were not many dry eyes left by the end of Bright College Years. Of course, Breaking Another Rule, BCY was not the last piece on our program. The Coro Nacional returned to the stage for our three joint pieces plus an exhilarating encore.

The final applause over, it was time to Break As Many Rules As Possible before tour really, truly came to an end. The Coro Nacional hosted a mind-blowing, rule-breaking bash that involved a second final banquet buffet, outdoor merengue dancing, and unlimited rum and Coke (eerily parallel to my first-ever night on Glee Club tour five years ago, except in that case the drinks were airborne). We returned to our hotel after midnight, exhausted but unstoppable, as exemplified by the following exclusive interview with John Good ’10:

YGC Blog: John, you look tired.
Mr. Good: I’m SO tired!
YGC Blog: Are you going to sleep?
Mr. Good: No, I’m going to the party!

Alas, I had less resolve than John and went to sleep after returning my music to Sean. It turns out the catchy refrain of “Guayacanal” cannot be removed from one’s head by simply removing the sheet music from one’s folder. But sleep is a reconciling...

Song of the day: “GUAYACANAL!!!!” (not to be confused with “Guayacanal, Slow Version”)

2010 Summer Tour: Vallejuelo Outreach Slideshow

2010-06-06T23:25:00.007-04:00

Yale Glee Club Workshop Slideshow from Julia Myers on Vimeo.

On the Dominican Republic leg of tour, the YGC hosted arts workshops for young people from the town of Vallejuelo and its surrounding villages. "Team Film," an outreach group led by Julia Myers '12 and Phyllis Thangaraj '11, created a video slideshow documenting the workshop experience. The slideshow includes photos taken by the workshop students themselves.

2010 Summer Tour: Vallejuelo and Rio Arriba

2010-06-01T23:45:00.005-04:00

Rebecca Trupin '11 describes an epic YGC day in the mountains of the Dominican Republic. Photos: Josh Schoenfield '10

Yesterday, Jeff told us: Great work today, guys, in handling the unexpected. For sure there will be some kind of surprise tomorrow.

Never were truer words spoken. The day began smoothly enough with glorious sunshine and delicious oatmeal (there was fruit as well but the oatmeal earned rhapsodic praise from all who tasted it). We climbed aboard our buses at our hotel and set off for our second day in the remote town of Vallejuelo.

There, we separated into Film Team, Dance Team, Theater Team, Writing Team, and Quilting Team to lead creative arts workshops with children from the nearby villages. I’m sure I speak for most of the Dance Team when I say we got well exercised when, at the end of our workshop, the kids taught us salsa, merengue, and reggaeton.

After lunch, several Glee Clubbers began spontaneously singing on a balcony. Old beloveds such as “Ride the Chariot” and “This Little Light of Mine” soared over sunny fields of white and yellow butterflies while newer pieces such as “Ye Shall Have a Song” gave voice to our awe of the shadowy mountains rising over the valley.

With clouds gathering for the daily afternoon thunderstorms we boarded our flat bed trucks and drove off to do outreach and a concert at the village of Rio Arriba. As we approached, we began to grasp the true meaning of “remote.” We left the paved road and climbed higher into the mountains on bumpy stones and gravel. To the left – a sheer hill where the road was cleft into the mountainside; to the right – a steep gorge down to a brown river, and a steep rise again up jungle-coated heights. Everywhere was green and breathtakingly beautiful. Think Congo, or perhaps, Peru.

We disembarked and were so distracted by Nature’s glory that we almost failed to notice why the trucks had stopped. There was a river before us crossing over the path. A fast-flowing rain-swollen brown muddy river dividing us from our destination (Glee Clubbers naturally and helpfully resorted to singing “Bridge Over Troubled Water” at the sight of our impasse). A few of the older children we brought staggered in and were quickly swallowed up to the waist, though they made it across without trouble. Jeff commented that in all his training to direct choirs there was nothing about crossing rivers. And there we were.

Thus began an epic saga. We stood on the bank for more than an hour debating various solutions. Cross farther up at a narrower point…nope, just as bad as down below. Use our trucks…no, the drivers refused. Use a horse…a villager brought one, but it was very skittish. Turn back…no one liked this idea. Give a concert from the river bank…less than satisfactory. Wade across? Some Glee Clubbers began removing their shoes in preparation, but not everyone was willing nor did it seem particularly safe (what if it rained and the river grew larger, trapping us on the other side?).

We eventually decided to wait for a while and see if the water would sink. And what better to do but sing while we waited. A group of villagers had gathered on the opposite bank to witness the progress of this odd bunch of foreigners. We serenaded them with “Gaudeamus” and “Guayacanal.” In the meantime, the water had sunk a great deal and little girls were crossing back and forth. In the words of several Glee Clubbers, we were being “shown up.”

Our intrepid leaders Jeff and Sean finally managed to negotiate a deal with a truck-owning villager who agreed to ferry those Glee Clubbers who didn’t want to cross on foot. The truck revved its engine and took the river full steam ahead. The rest of us rid ourselves of socks and shoes (or not) and plunged in.

We marched triumphantly up the hill to the village and were overcome again by its beauty. Little pieces of land with cinder-block houses, subsistence plots, donkeys, banana trees, and luscious vegetation spread on either side of the dirt road. Never has the Yale Glee Club performed in such a faraway location.

After an enthusiastically-received concert in the one room, cement-floored church, we bid a hasty farewell and rushed down the mountain before the rain made the road impassable. With the clouds at our heels we jostled over bone-rattling rocks and, eventually, became rain-sodden for the second day in a row.

We are now returned safe and sound to hotel rooms and showers. But the memories of this day will be harder to remove than the stains from our socks. Most of all, I will picture the old woman who swayed beside me singing “Guayacanal,” a song she remembers from long ago. Though she may never have seen a concert in her life she sang beside us – the Yale Glee Club, of all people.

Song of the day: “Bandolero”

2010 Summer Tour: Film, Writing, and Quilting

2010-06-01T21:35:00.013-04:00

Neena Satija '11 and Daniel Olson & Dan Thompson (the so-called "Men of 2012") write about the first day of outreach in Vallejuelo. Photos: Josh Schoenfield '10.

[Daniel Olson]

The day started out early in San Juan with a delicious breakfast at the hotel. We didn't know what to expect from the massive outreach project we were about to begin with children from around the area of Vallejuelo, a small village 45 minutes from San Juan. We arrived at the Centro Agro where we first met the kids. We shared a couple of songs. They sang a Spanish version of "If You're Happy and You Know It" and we sang "Gaudeamus Igitur". Shortly after, we broke up into the six classes we had prepared for the children. Over the past month, Glee Club members had been working hard on lessons in drama, dance, singing, quilting, creative writing, and film. The glee club is a multi-talented bunch and those talents really showed today.

I helped teach the film class. With video cameras (one of which will be donated to the kids), we had the kids conduct and film interviews with one another. It was so great to hear them open up about their experiences at school and their favorite activities. Though I didn't witness the other groups firsthand, the stories I heard from other YGC-ers indicate similar success.

One of the biggest hurdles in conducting these classes was the language barrier. I had taken Spanish classes in high school, but never had a chance to use it practically until today. It was often difficult to express myself clearly to the kids. There are, however, some very good Spanish speakers in glee club who took the lead in classes. All glee clubbers, no matter their knowledge of Spanish, managed to find some way to communicate with the kids. We discovered that art is a universal language.

[Neena Satija]

It's hard to expect to accomplish a lot in less than an hour and a half, even for the groups who led workshops on dance or visual art. But those of us in the writing workshops faced some unique challenges: 1) It's much harder to overcome the language barrier, 2) Writing is a more personal, often solitary exercise, and 3) Writing is often only associated with school, and school often = boring.

We approached our activities with these challenges in mind. In terms of #1, we were fortunate to have a very high proportion of Spanish speakers in our group. For #2, we came up with writing or reading activities that could be done together - for example, each person in a circle would read a page from the Spanish translation of "Green Eggs and Ham" ("Huevos verdes con jamon"), or each person would write one sentence to contribute to a collective story. These activities helped us get over some of the hurdles of #3 as well. But to get at the heart of #3, we decided to have frank discussions with the students about why they write. Their answers were thoughtful, eloquent, and often very moving - responses included "to express yourself when you have too many emotions," "to communicate with my family," "to remember what's happened in the past," and simply, "because writing is beautiful."

After this discussion, we presented each student with their own journal, and encouraged them to write in it every day. What they wrote or how they wrote it wasn't important. They could write poetry, lists, one paragraph, even one sentence. The only important thing was to write every day. Then we asked them to write their first journal entry about their favorite place. Students wrote about everything from their houses to the beach to a baseball field.

We were so thrilled to see the students clutching their notebooks at the end of the day: They really didn't want to lose them! Even the next day, some students from our workshops the day before were still carrying their notebooks. A few even came up to me and showed me things they had written since the workshop. But the most rewarding thing about the workshops for me, personally, was that they reinforced my need to write as much as possible. How could I tell these kids how important it is to write every day if I don't do it myself?

[Dan Thompson]

Quilting might seem an odd project for a tropical country, but it provides a great medium to illustrate concepts of visual art and blending of culture. My group's approach has been to give a brief overview of quilting, starting with a history of the West African quilting tradition, brought to America by the slave trade. We discuss the concept of themes, first suggesting several of our own and then having them brainstorm four themes they find important. They then draw representations of these themes on a sheet of paper, and pick their favorite to make into a square of a quilt.

Of course, it would be much too time consuming to sew a typical quilt, so instead we have the kids work with a single ~10 square inch piece of felt. Materials they have available include fabric paint, extra felt, glue, and (most popularly) glitter. This project is unique since we will eventually piece together an entire quilt from each student's work. We hope to symbolize a sense of collective effort to produce an artistic work. Here are a few pictures of some individual squares, look out for a pic of the final product in a few days.

2010 Summer Tour: The Dominican Republic at last

2010-05-30T22:13:00.004-04:00

Mari Oye '11, YGC publicity chair, on our arrival in Santo Domingo.

A brief post about today's journey. You'll be reading accounts from many more Glee Clubbers over the next few days, as we go up into the hills of the DR to do a sort of creative arts outreach program. For now, I'll do my best to keep you up to date.

I'm on the top floor of our hotel in San Juan de la Maguana, watching a thunderstorm. First impressions:

This is not Florida. This is very starkly not Florida. It teems in a way that Florida doesn't. It's certainly very beautiful - we drove past fields of banana trees, tall mountains on the right, azure sea on the left. Caroline Mezger '10, from Switzerland, was especially glad to see mountains again. The flame trees reminded Rebecca Trupin '11 of Tanzania.

It's also very poor. There are piles of garbage that no one picks up, and shacks of cinderblock and corrugated tin. I woke up yesterday - was it only yesterday? in Winter Park, to see the sun rise over a lake that hosted jetskis, speedboats, decorative plastic Canada geese and a real stork. Oh, and alligators.

The DR is different. The buildings in Santo Domingo are painted pastel, sometimes with the very-recognizable names and faces of ballplayers. Outside the city, we drove past stands selling bananas in bunches and multicolored umbrellas with advertisements for Pepsi and Fanta. There are eroded ditches - very dry - and laundry hung on fences.

From the hotel roof, I can see the storms coming from far away, and the clouds stand out against the sunlight in the rest of the sky.

Favorite moment of the day: Diving into a cold pool after a long, hot bus ride.

Song of the day: "There but for Fortune"

Tomorrow: travel by flatbed truck to Vallejuelo, outreach, and a concert.

2010 Summer Tour: Miami and Fort Lauderdale

2010-05-30T06:13:00.010-04:00

Michael Haycock '12 muses on the power of music in Miami.

The time is 1:39am. The place is room 403 in the Fort Lauderdale Holiday Inn Express. The task is to encapsulate the radiance of the Glee Club’s tour (so far) into a blog entry in a relatively coherent fashion. And then wake up to depart for the airport at 4:00am.

Bring it on.

The difficulty is alleviated by the fact that my pep talk from St. Luke’s, still bouncing around in the echo chamber of my brain, was particularly appropriate for today’s primary activity. I spoke first of the incredible bonding force Glee Club can have, forging friendships through the traumatic trial by fire of Kernis’ intricate Symphony of Meditations, the triumphant final proclamation of “Ye Shall Have a Song,” or simply series of uninterrupted hours-long bus rides.

More than these, however prominent they would be (what else but confinement in a moving vehicle for extended periods of time could inspire impromptu films where getting locked in the tiny bathroom is a routine plot device?), I believe a more significant contributor to our unity is the Glee that forms a full third of our name, in both its senses: specifically referring to old college songs, and generally to the music we cherish and congregate to create; as well as a unquenchable elevated exuberance (which I like to represent as the emoticon “:D!”). When several people coincide on contentment, the happiness becomes contagious and flows to their fellows and back with a special synergy. The YGC, being full of such ebullient people, can even transmit this excitement to its audiences; and hence our power as performers and potential for service through song. Through our own happiness, we tacitly encourage and empower others to achieve happiness.

Our dynamic can change, however, depending on the crowd for whom we perform. It is all well and good to enthusiastically gesticulate throughout the Football Medley or tenderly caress the Latin phrases of Renaissance music when at Yale: both are normal there, and truly anticipated and cheered. But what happens when we leave the quasi-reality of our bright college home for a reality often bleaker?

Today the primary event – wedged between hours on the buses once more – was a stop at Thomas Edison High School, located in Miami’s Little Haiti. Posters displayed the names of every senior accepted at a college – and it wasn’t an incredibly long list. Having been threatened with closure, the school refused to keel over and instead started a choral program as a locus of pride. Less than a year old, the choir now boasts a membership of seventy-five students, some fifty of which came on a Saturday to sing with us. Is the presence of the Glee Club, with its own endowment and tours, a pretentious mockery of the desperate condition of these teens?

By no means whatsoever. Both choirs ran through their warm-up exercises together, discovering uncanny similarities, even down to the unpopular chopping during back rub time. The YGC sang some of its tour repertoire (“Oh, there are yiks!” Ryan Harper ’10 declared of his piece, and the high schoolers thoroughly enjoyed them), greeting us with interest and eager applause. Arianne Abela, assistant conductor, shared her heartfelt story of overcoming personal adversity. Then, after a whirlwind lesson to teach the chorus parts of “Little Innocent Lamb” and performing it together, we were able to enjoy the music of our Miamian counterparts. Their “Seasons of Love” was great, and I know it touched a good number of Glee Clubbers.

When I spoke with several of Edison High’s singers afterward, it became apparent what the interaction had been, and it allayed my fears: we were not perceived as cruel mockers, but instead were providers of reciprocated musical inspiration. Through sharing this performance and workshop, we coalesced around our one love: music. We were choirs: music makers, dream dreamers, in many ways an epitome of collective aesthetic achievement. Through dots on a page translated into sound waves, we accessed the deep recesses of the heart where the bonding links of human friendship are formed and connected. We drew from the rivers of delight refreshing draughts that lift the spirits and energize us for life, a well of happiness that never fails in dark and light times alike.

It was a beautiful experience, and one that I believe will be repeated many times in the Dominican Republic over the next week. Music and concern transcend language barriers, and the Glee in the Glee Club needs no mosquito to pass it around. And just as the remembrance of the “happy golden bygone days” can sustain Yale graduates through the troubles that “cloud the blue of sunny skies”, even so can the gift of Song, unconditionally given, pierce the overcast sky like silver lances, flashing and falling, to bring gladness of heart –Glee.

Song of the Day: "Seasons of Love"

2010 Summer Tour: Orlando

2010-05-29T18:57:00.003-04:00

Rachel Glodo '12 reconnects with the YGC tour in Orlando

This is probably the first blog entry written by a YGC member not on tour. As a student taking the spring semester off, I waited impatiently for my darling Glee Club to arrive in my home city of Orlando, Florida.

The story is (according to people actually on tour) that the Yale Glee Club spent a good portion of their free time today in Downtown Disney, an area that locals judiciously and invariably avoid at all costs. Pros: Downtown Disney allows you to buy some truly remarkable Legos and get your picture taken with an 8-foot Mr. Potato-head. Cons: DtD refuses to off anything but over-priced food of horrendous quality and over-priced souvenirs and t-shirts, which you will regret buying immediately upon crossing the state line. Fortunately, most Glee Clubbers managed to sustain themselves on $10 spinach and artichoke dip appetizers and waited out the typical Florida thunderstorm in safety.

Tonight’s concert was at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke in downtown Orlando. Orlando is a small city with vibrant arts, culture, and nightlife scenes, and tonight was especially busy as the Amway Arena filled up for the Magic-Celtics game (the result of which, I will note, was a tragedy).

However, the impending basketball game did little to diminish the turnout at the concert. St. Luke’s is known for sponsoring very fine musical performances and the YGC concert supported that tradition with style.

My first interaction with my fellow Glee members occurred in the fellowship hall where I was greeted with lots of hugs and kisses (aren’t Glee clubbers dear?). I was also diverted by Kaley Sullivan’s pep-talk, which consisted of the following five premises and conclusion:

1: Consider three types of swimming animals: fish, manatees, and dolphins.
2: Fish follow their school, never make their own decisions, and inevitably get eaten alive by larger creatures.
3: Manatees are fairly self-sustainable, but they lack initiative and creativity, preferring to lounge about the Florida waters in a sweet, but unexciting stupor.
4: Dolphins are intelligent, independent, aware, and creative creatures.
5: The above descriptions are a metaphor for singers in a choir (you figure it out).

Conclusion: Don’t be a fish or a manatee; be a dolphin!

With that in mind, the YGC ran into the sanctuary (losing a few select shoes along the way) and began a delightful and memorable concert.

It is very different to listen to a choir in which you usually sing. First of all, I rarely get to appreciate how large the group is, and how much sound they can produce at the appropriate times. I was also pleased to realize how little the group abuses its noise-producing capabilities; most of the songs (excepting the traditional Yale songs!) were sung with great sensitivity and attention to detail. (The only downside of being an audience member was that I couldn’t see Jeff’s face while he conducted, but the quality of the program made up for this lack.)

Song of the day: “The Road Home ” because it was sung at my home!

I also had the pleasure of hosting 3 lovely glee girls which we squeezed into the backseat of our car (kudos to my 13 year-old brother for letting me squish him in the corner). After a lingering meal of vegetable soup, cantaloupe, mango, and brownies, we retired. The next morning we ate a lovely breakfast outside on the lanai to the sounds of Floridian birds (and yes, there was grapefruit).

There really is no place like Florida. The Glee Club has seen several of Florida’s personalities (Sarasota, filled with ancients, and Downtown Disney, filled with over-spending tourists with small, screaming children). But the best part of the state is easily where locals live, like the city of Orlando or my suburb of Winter Park. The air is warm and embracing and thunderstorms come every summer afternoon at 4:30. Sego palms, philodendron, live oaks, and Spanish moss line each street. Floridians welcome visitors as their own, sharing the beauty and resources of their Sunshine State.

I am ridiculously proud to introduce my home to the Glee Club, and the Glee Club to Florida. Thank you for the friendship, the “’Neath the Palms” t-shirt, and, most of all, the music: it’s even better than Disney magic.

2010 Summer Tour: Sarasota

2010-05-28T18:45:00.003-04:00

Dylan Morris '11 describes Day 4

The Yale Glee Club reconvened early Thursday morning at St. Edward's School for the three-hour drive to Sarasota. Glee Clubbers always find novel ways to amuse themselves on tour bus rides. On this ride, a group of YGCers led by aspiring filmmaker Julia Myers '12 used a point-and-shoot digital camera to make a three-and-a-half-minute film that was as silly as it was short.

Arriving in Sarasota, we grabbed lunch before rehearsing in the Church of the Redeemer's beautiful sanctuary. We had a visitor at the rehearsal—Daniel Moe, the resident composer at the church and the former longtime director of the Oberlin Conservatory Choir. After hearing us sing Anton Bruckner's "Os Justi," he told us that it was one of his all-time favorite pieces and praised our rendition of it.

After rehearsal and a tasty dinner prepared for us by parishioners at the church, we had a free hour. Glee Clubbers stretched out on the church lawn, read on benches in its gardens, and sat in circles playing guitar and singing folk songs.

Soon, though, it was time for the concert. Arden Rogow-Bales '10 prepared us with a thoughtful pep talk. Drawing upon his experience as an actor, he encouraged us not merely to sing the music but to express and mean it. "When eighty people mean something together," he told us, "it can be almost too powerful."

As we prepared to run onstage for our first set, we saw that the church was packed—our first full house of tour, and a very enthusiastic audience. “Weep You No More,” “Little Innocent Lamb,” and the Chamber Singers’ rendition of “Hark I Hear the Harps Eternal” seemed particularly popular.

At intermission, Sarah Evans '10 encouraged us to enjoy the "giddy" feeling that singing can give. It was easy to feel giddy as we received a standing ovation for the Yale Football Medley, performed "Bright College Years," and ran out offstage to applause and ringing church-bells. Outside, YGCers jumped in the air, hugged one another, and danced to the bells.

As I write this, we are on the bus on Friday morning, on our way from Sarasota to Orlando. As we were about to pull away from the curb, Daniel Moe came aboard our bus for one last goodbye: "Thank you for your energy and excitement and your commitment to choral music." Coming from him, the words reinforce themselves.

Favorite moment of the day: Daniel Moe’s comments on the Bruckner and our singing.

Song of the day: In his honor, “Os Justi.”

2010 Summer Tour: Vero Beach and first concert

2010-05-27T14:04:00.011-04:00

Rachel Wilf, 2010-2011 YGC manager, reflects on Day 2.

Manatee sketch by Julia Myers '12.

You know you’re in Florida when you start your day with an ocean swim, a walk on Vero Beach, a viewing of Michael Haycock’s sand-shark, and a breakfast accompanied by fresh-squeezed orange juice. This is the life.

Our big expedition this morning was to the Manatee Observation center in nearby Fort Pierce. Sadly, manatees were in short supply. We did get to see seahorses and turtles, though, and we found out from Molly that the gestational period of a manatee equals the amount of time that she and Emily have been planning this tour (13 months). Stuffed manatee toys in hand, we walked into Fort Pierce for lunch. I ate with seven other YGCers, and our waitress first thought we were professional singers and then that we were all trying out for American Idol. She was gracious enough not to appear too disappointed when we turned out to be regular old Yalies.

The day only got better when we headed back to the St. Edward’s School for a short performance in front of the middle and high schoolers, followed by a rehearsal and our first concert of tour! St. Edward’s is a beautiful place (lots of open courtyards and red-tiled roofs) and their performing arts center is stunning. The St. Edwards staff was also incredibly welcoming; we were all shocked when we walked into the gym for dinner and found a dinner buffet and tables decorated with flower-filled vases.

The concert itself was a promising start to tour. O Quam Gloriosum and Ye Shall Have a Song are two of my favorite pieces this year, and I though they were particularly beautiful at our concert. The Football Medley also had a great momentum, and the audience got involved in the cheering (of Yale) and the booing (of Harvard). Onstage, we struggled to keep from laughing at Casey Klippel’s unique ode to Harvard—a blaring off-key note blown on a borrowed trumpet after we sang “Goodnight, Poor Harvard.”

There’s a rhythm to these days and nights of traveling and singing together that makes each tour a special part of the Glee Club year. If today is any indication, we have a lot to look forward to during the remainder of our stay in Florida and the DR.

Song of the day: "Round Round Get Around" by the Beach Boys

Favorite moment: When students from Daniel Koh’s choir at St. Edwards joined us onstage to sing The Road Home (which they sang last week at their senior baccalaureate).

Tomorrow, 5/27: Sarasota, concert at Church of the Redeemer at 7:30 pm

2010 Summer Tour: 'Neath the Palms

2010-05-25T23:49:00.005-04:00

Rising senior Mari Oye describes the first day's journey from New Haven to Vero Beach.

Louder yet the chorus raise,

Friendship lasts when youth must fail;

Jolly jolly are the days

'Neath the elms of dear old Yale!

So goes the last verse of 'Neath the Elms, a Yale songbook favorite dating from 1871. This year, the Glee Club is exchanging elms for palms, and will spend twelve days in Florida and the Dominican Republic. Our schedule includes concerts with the national chorus of the Dominican Republic (advertised here), extensive outreach, set up in part through the efforts of the Association of Yale Alumni, and, tomorrow, a chance to see manatees.

I'm writing to you from a deck near the water in Vero Beach, FL. It's hard to believe that around 5:30 this morning we were all huddled amid suitcases (too many), pillows (too few) and boxes of equipment on the steps of Hendrie Hall. A bus ride and a few hours' flight later, we arrived at the airport in Orlando. Starving tenors rushed straight for the local delicacies: Chick-Fil-A and a dozen Krispy Kremes, consumed in no time. I'll fast forward through the next bus ride to Vero Beach, since I spent most of it asleep (along with the rest of the YGC).

I can't get over the fact that we are in the presence of actual palm trees. The Californians among us are homesick. I'm from Massachusetts, and I keep expecting the palms to be of the plastic variety. But no, they're real - and so is the beach, a few steps from the hotel, where we all rushed to wash the travel dust right out of our hair.

Around six, we arrived at the St. Edwards school, where we'll be giving a concert tomorrow, and rehearsed for several hours. The choir at St. Edwards is directed by Daniel Koh, a beloved former assistant director of the Glee Club. At Yale, he somehow acquired the nickname "Kohbra," which YGC seniors are eager to revive down here in Florida.

Favorite moment of the day: YGC director Jeff Douma and a small red and brown lizard face off on a brick wall near our buses.

Song of the day, chosen by tour managers Emily Howell '11 and Molly Perkins '10 for "obvious reasons": "Leaving on a Jet Plane."

Tomorrow: the Manatee Observation Center, or MOC, and concert at St. Edwards School, which has already merited an article in the Hometown News of Vero Beach.

Notes on Mini-Tour

2010-02-07T22:09:00.001-05:00

Junior Rachel Wilf describes our January weekend tour to Philadelphia.

I have to admit, when I heard that Glee Club wasn’t having a winter tour I was disconsolate. Glee Club tours have given me some of my favorite memories of Yale. How could a “minitour” possibly live up to past trips? For all my reservations, our minitour to Philadelphia completely won me over. For those of you who didn’t get the chance to join us, here were some of the highlights from our time in the City of Brotherly Love:

On Saturday morning we had free time to wander around our hotel in the heart of downtown Philadelphia. I took a walk to Rittenhouse Square, while others visited some of the many downtown museums. Groups went to the Franklin Institute of Science, the Academy of Fine Arts, and to the Mutter Museum. The group that went to the Mutter museum came back with the best stories, since the museum features all things human and odd (if you ever want to see over 2,000 items that have been “swallowed and removed” from the human body, this is the place for you).

In the afternoon, we were lucky enough to have a workshop with students at the Settlement Music School. The Music School is in an airy, beautiful building and draws students from the Philadelphia area and New Jersey. We had a chance to listen to the students perform and to spend some time talking with them about college, music, and where to get the best Philly cheese steak.

The definite highlight of the trip for me was our concert at The Microsoft High School of the Future, a charter school in West Philadelphia. The Glee Club performed alongside two Yale a cappella groups, Red Hot & Blue and The New Blue, and the fantastic St. Thomas More Gospel Choir. I can’t quite describe the sound of the gospel choir except to say that they had the entire auditorium clapping by the end of their set. During our performance we got the chance to return to some of our most beautiful music from the fall semester, including “Weep You No More” and “Ye Shall Have a Song.”

Saturday night we were welcomed into the homes of Yale alumni in the Philadelphia area. My hosts took us out for delicious Japanese food in a futuristic restaurant called “Pod,” where colored buttons on the walls allowed you to change the mood lighting in the room. My host was a Glee Club alum who told us stories about singing on the stage of Carnegie Hall in the 1980s.

After a restful night we reconvened in the morning in the historic district of Old Philadelphia for a morning of (somewhat rainy) sightseeing. After a brief stop at the Liberty Bell and a final Philly cheese steak for lunch, we got back on the buses to head home to Hendrie Hall.

During our weekend in Philly we had time for bus games and sightseeing, for workshops, concerts, and homestays. Most importantly, we had the chance to spend time with each other. I got to talk with Glee Clubbers I already know and love as well as many of our (fantastic) new members. Here’s to a great start to the semester!

Looking Back: Symphony of Meditations

2010-01-18T17:28:00.002-05:00

This past November, the Glee Club, along with the Yale Philharmonia, the Camerata, and the Schola Cantorum, performed the East Coast premiere of School of Music professor Aaron Jay Kernis's "Symphony of Meditations." The new work was incredibly complex to learn and to perform, but after months of hard work and preparation, the performance was beautiful and the intricate, fascinating music was brought to life in front of a huge audience as the centerpiece of the 2009 National Choral Collegiate Organization's conference. Here, Michael Haycock '12 shares his own reflections on the piece and its meaning.

Aaron Jay Kernis’ Symphony of Meditations begins with an Invocation in which the soloist, preceding the chorus’ thunderous acclamation of divine almight, ponders searchingly, “What could the heart and tongue compose, or spirit’s strength within me to suit you?” The answer, unspoken, is given in its absence, and turning from suiting something to the Lord, Gabirol’s poet observes submissively, “but song soothes you, and so I’ll give praise to your being as long as your breath-in-me lives.” Even in this statement he sees that without the Lord he worships he would not have the song to offer: the words breath and spirit in Hebrew are one and the same, and it was God who breathed in Adam’s nostrils the breath of life.
But amid the towering chords of the chorus and the soaring melodies of instrumental solos throughout the piece that move the heart to contemplate the greatness of God, there are also sections of what may seem manic frenzy, or even violence, abject fear, trembling anger minimally resembling reverence. (Perhaps the spurting of spittle with each plosive and sibilant suggested that sensation in my case.) Why does Gabirol write of his “abominable acts,” being “a spider’s poison,” and all the horrendous vicissitudes and evils of a world and a man “uncut” for their Lord? Why the presence of the crazed and wrenching parts of the work?
Certainly earlier Hebrew harpists had similar motifs – the songs registered in the Biblical book of Psalms bear witness to this with utter clarity. Nevertheless, this song, according to Kernis’ arrangement of Gabirol’s words, is supposed to “soothe” the Lord of heavens and earth. How can this reminder of human cruelty and imperfection in the slightest comfort exactingly just Deity?
J.R.R. Tolkien is one of my favorite authors, and I believe he might extend an answer. In theAinulindalë, a part of his Silmarillion, he relates the story of Creation of Middle-Earth (which, in his mind, is none but our own world, in forgotten past times). “There was Eru, the One,” it begins, introducing the Judeo-Christian God in nomenclature not unfamiliar, and the Ainur, who are to be understood as the angels. The most striking image of this story is not visual, however; it is strictly auditory, and Eru “spoke to [the Ainur], propounding to them themes of music,” on which they elaborate with their stunning orchestral array of voices and tonalities: “a sound arose of endless interchanging melodies woven in harmony that passed beyond hearing into the depths and the heights.” This flawless music is not left unmarred, for “it came into the heart of Melkor [Tolkien’s Satan stand-in] to interweave matters of his own imagining that were not in accord with” Eru’s theme, his music being “loud, and vain, and endlessly repeated” whilst Eru’s was “deep and wide and beautiful, but slow and blended with an immeasurable sorrow, from which its beauty chiefly came.” The contention of Melkor with Eru continues, but the later weaves the former’s attempts at dominance masterfully and comprehensively into the great work.
Then comes the revelation, and the Ainur are given sight, and perceive the Earth, and that the singing of each contributed to its creation. Eru addresses Melkor, and explains that
“no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined.”
Melkor’s striving to destroy with cold and heat, by turning once liquid water into snow, hail, clouds, and rain, simply augments the physical beauty of the world. The omniscience and overwhelming supremacy of God, who comprehends all to a degree unknown to all, is capable of finding peace in discord, solace in dissonance, and ultimately a greater beauty in what is apparently repulsive.
Indeed, the primary intended function of reminders of one’s sin is to cause one to sink into the abysmal depths of humility before one’s Creator and acknowledge one’s “utter weakness and failing.” The grace of the Almighty and His astounding magnanimity is amplified by his longsuffering of man so helpless that he pleads to be sheltered if only by His “shadow.” Just as impractical as Stravinsky’s dismissing any bassoonist that could play the beginning notes ofThe Rite of Spring confidently, the intentionally high B in a baritone solo and the strain of that section of the work are brilliant vocal representations of soul-rending agony. The speechlessness of man before God is apparent in the last pages of the work, where after praising the Lord and His incomparability, the only words that can be expressed are “The Lord is God” and “The Lord is one” – and that in a language estranged, perhaps elevated, from the rest of the piece. The final remnants of human artistic expression meant to soothe the Lord eventually are exhausted, and the yielding last word is spoken and not sung.
The purpose of the work is to represent Man before God. It is not a self-defense, nor a whitewashed worship. The sins strike contrast with perfect righteousness. However, even in the depiction of the evil and cacophony man causes when he has “gone against [the Lord’] teaching and held [His] commandments in scorn”, God is still uplifted and praised, and – seemingly paradoxically – in his prostration man is forgiven and “cleansed with the light” of the Lord’s countenance, renewing the world and birthing something greater than mortal ever conceived and of more beauty than ever envisioned.

The Game

2009-12-09T11:22:00.006-05:00

Below, officers Elaine Sullivan, Danny Townsend, and Dan Schechner '10 describe the annual Glee Club-YPMB football game--in which the Glee Club was, of course, victorious.

The 15^th of November, 2009 will go down in history as the third consecutive Glee Club win against the YPMB in the annual football showdown. Members from all years and sections of the 149^th Glee Club (except for sopranos) destroyed the Yale Precision Marching Band in football, 5 – 2, in what was the shortest and perhaps most deadly rampage in the age-old conflict between forces of Glee and forces of YPMB.

Led by the 2009 YGC-YPMB Football Captains Sarah Dewey, Dan Schechner, Derek Tam and Rachel Wilf, the team never let the YPMB lead. Quarterbacks Rob Williams and Peter Clune overcame the challenge of low-lying branches to deliver beautifully spiraling footballs arcing through the air and landing in the receiver’s hands.

A special shout-out to the YGC Alto Section, whose members (Miriam, Elaine, Phyllis, and Mary as well as Captains Sarah Dewey and Rachel Wilf) marched, marched on down the field, and who had to sing soprano at our closing rendition of BCY as there were...no sopranos. Elaine also caught a beautiful pass in the end zone for the final touchdown, securing the win (the captains had previously agreed to play to 5 touchdowns or 4:00pm, a new agreement since last year the game lasted past sunset).

The sons of Eli spanned both tenor and bass sections, with Sam, Atid, Jacob, Dylan, and Danny receiving, blocking, and occasionally leading cheers from the sidelines, including one of “we have talent.” Later, chants of “put the girls in” from the Glee Club side could be heard, and the captains used the unusual strategy of putting every Glee Club woman (i.e. alto) present on the field. Because the offensive team was in charge of deciding the ratio of men to women on the field, the Glee Club’s choice of two men and five women proved fatal to the YPMB, who switched the ratio whenever they had a chance.

At rehearsal the next day, Jeff explained, “for my first years here, the Glee Club never won this game.” We lost so much, he said, that is had become a joke. But no longer! With our three-peat win we have shown that our mastery of the football medley in rehearsal translates to a mastery of the game on the field.

Meet the Officers!

2009-09-14T22:56:00.007-04:00

The 149^th Glee Club is off to a great start! We welcomed 34 wonderful new members, began rehearsals, and went on a fantastic retreat in northwestern Connecticut. Since not everyone could make it to retreat, this year’s Officer Corps (the group’s student leaders) wanted to virtually introduce ourselves and show that as much as we love Glee Club, there’s more to who we are than our YGC responsibilities.

President – Danny Townsend CC ‘10

Danny Townsend is a senior in Calhoun, majoring in Ethics, Politics, and Economics. Outside of the Glee Club, Danny is a Senior Fellow for the Roosevelt Institute Campus Network and a Yale Tour Guide. Originally from Denver, Colorado, he is an unfortunately poor skier. His favorite bird of prey is the Peregrine Falcon.

Manager – Mary Schnoor CC ‘10

Mary Schnoor is a Calhoun senior from Brookline, MA. She's majoring in Chemical Engineering and Classics, which is convenient because they're right next to each other in the Blue Book. Aside from singing Alto II in the Glee Club, she spends her time using carbon nanotubes to filter viruses out of water. Mary does not have a favorite bird of prey; she preys on birds. Especially puffins.

Stage Manager – Dan Schechner MC ‘10

Dan is a senior in Morse College from the great state of New Jersey (Exit 142!) He wishes that the Glee Club wardrobe came with pocket watches. Outside of the Glee Club at Yale, he's involved in student government, freshmen outdoor orientation trips, club Ultimate Frisbee, and slam poetry. After college, he hopes to work in the renewable energy sector.

Fun Fact: He once broke his ankle during a World War I re-enactment in high school.

Social Chairs – Virginia Calkins PC ’10 and Elaine Sullivan PC ‘10

Virginia is a senior in PIERSON hailing from the great state of Michigan (Hail to the Victors!)! She is a proud Alto 2, a section represented very well on the Officer Corps. She enjoys playing Frisbee both with the women's club team and with the Glee Club at various events. Most nights you can find VA meandering about the architecture studio.

Elaine Sullivan is one of the Social Chairs, sharing her position with Virginia (the two met on FOOT even before arriving at Yale). She is a senior English and Art History double major in Pierson College from Berkeley, California. Outside of Glee Club she devotes a lot of time to writing poetry, looking at and talking about art, and making Pierson College the best college at Yale (clearly, it is already the most social, since both social chairs are Piersonites). She was also Glee Club social chair in 07-08, prompting the campaign slogan "Grover Cleveland and Elaine Sullivan: the two non-consecutive greats."

Publicity Chair – Jenny Witthuhn TC ‘12

Jenny is a Trumbull sophomore from New York majoring in Psychology. She holds the esteemed position of Publicity Manager, keeping the wheels of the YGC turning in our recruitment season, and keeping us well-known around campus…and the world. Outside of Glee Club, Jenny is a Yale Tour Guide and involved with research on absolute pitch. Currently, her favorite German word is der Kugelschreiber, aka the most ridiculous-sounding way to say “ballpoint pen.”

Archivist – Sam Sanders CC ‘12

Sam is a sophomore from Maryland in Calhoun College. The sassiest archivist the Glee Club has ever seen, she keeps YGC-ers and their sheet music in order. She also belongs to New Blue, Yale's oldest all-female a cappella group, where she serves as a Rush Manager. Sam enjoys astrophysics, feminism, dancing--especially the Argentine Tango, and chocolate.

Wardrobe Manager – Anna Swan CC ‘10

Anna Swan is a senior Psychology major in Calhoun College. She hails from Charleston, SC. When not singing as a second soprano in the Glee Club, Anna enjoys leading performances with Yale Children's Theater and assisting with research about the effects of emotion regulation on generalized anxiety disorder. Her favorite bird of prey is the osprey.

Domestic Tour Managers – Emily Howell CC ’11 and Molly Perkins SM ‘10

Emily “Stealth” Claire Howell, a junior English major from Virginia, loves Glee Club, Alto 2s, Calhoun, and playing “Eyes.” On the other hand, she dislikes soda, long lines, and people who dislike kittens. She hates cauliflower with all her heart, but she doesn’t mind broccoli in some contexts. Emily plays an awesome bishop from the Pwincess Bwide, and she is deeply interested in zoos. Don’t worry, she likes you.

Molly Perkins is a senior Anthropology major in Silliman College who hails from Palos Verdes Estates, California. In addition to her devotion to the YGC, she is also a member of Taps, Yale's only tap-dancing dance group. If she had a sandwich named after her, it would be a BLT. With avocado.

Mini-Tour Managers – Kate Carter SM ’12 and Claire Paulson DC ‘12

Kathleen “Kate” Alicia Carter, an Alto 2 from Iowa, is a sophomore English major in Silliman. She plays clarinet in the Yale Precision Marching Band, which throws her into an agonizing conflict of interest at the annual YGC-YPMB touch-football game. Kate likes wearing her hair in braids, kittens, Alto 2s, belting “Poor Unfortunate Souls,” chocolate, sleeping, tomatoes, Hendrie Hall, and playing “Eyes.” (We hope those aren’t all the things she likes, but are too afraid to ask her.) She’s starting Swahili this year.

Claire Paulson is a sophomore in Davenport from Iowa City, Iowa. She plans to major in Cognitive Science with a focus on the relationship between language and music. Besides Glee Club, her main extracurricular activities are directing Magevet, Yale's "first, best, and only" Jewish, Hebrew, and Israeli a cappella group, and playing the piano.

Outreach Chair – Phyllis Thangaraj JE ‘11

Phyllis is a junior in Jonathan Edwards College from Leonardo, NJ who plans to major in Physics. When she's not singing with her favorite people, YGCers, she's either singing in OTYC productions or other choirs, or teaching middle schoolers science through DEMOS. She wishes she could live off chocolate and watching Project Runway. Her favorite animal is her black and white cat, Sweetie. She can't wait to get to know all of the new members!

A Photographic Look at Tour: Brazil

2009-07-05T18:36:00.004-04:00

A few pictures from our recent time in Brazil.

Overlooking the beach in Copacabana from the top of Sugarloaf Mountain.

A snapshot taken during our drive from Rio to Campinas.

The famous Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro.

In rehearsal with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra and conductor Roberto Minczuk.

A view from atop Corcovado Mountain.

Glee Clubbers and members of the children's choir from the Cidade de Deus before our joint concert.

A view of the beach in the evening.

2009 Summer Tour Reflections: The Creation

2009-07-03T10:58:00.003-04:00

Below, Dylan Morris '11 shares his memories of performing Haydn's Creation with the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra.

When YGC director Jeff Douma outlined the schedule for our South American tour, I was excited to learn that, in addition to performing our “tour repertoire” of a cappella and choral-piano pieces, we would be reprising all of the large choral-orchestral pieces we had learned and performed during the year: Brahms’s Nänie, two short pieces by Mendelssohn, and Haydn’s Creation oratorio. We would be performing The Creation in Rio de Janeiro with the professional Brazil Symphony Orchestra.

Before a typical tour concert, the YGC will arrive at the venue the afternoon before the show, and rehearse our a cappella repertoire in the space to get a feel for its particular acoustical quirks and challenges. Putting on a large-scale piece like the Creation meant a different kind of tour schedule; in addition to afternoon concerts and outreach, we now had morning rehearsals with the BSO.

At the rehearsals, we worked with the BSO and its conductor, Roberto Minczuk, becoming attuned the orchestra’s playing and Minczuk’s conducting. We also met the soloists for the oratorio, including a jovial bass with an appropriately booming laugh and a young tenor (only a year or two older than some YGCers) whose Met-bound voice left a big impression. By the time we lined up to go on stage for the first of our two performances, I felt confident that we — the YGC, the BSO, and the soloists — had begun to develop a unified sound. The crowd in the Candelaria Church spilled into the aisles, and more listeners stood in rows in the back. The concert went well, and I began thinking ahead to the next night.

We would have had excuses if our energy level had dropped during the second performance. The audience was likely to be smaller, we had lost an usually large number of singers to illness, and the Creation was beginning to feel fairly familiar. Haydn was stuck in everyone’s head. If you listened closely while walking through the hotel, you might have heard a few bars of a movement — “Awake the Harp” or “The Heavens are Telling” — coming through the air ducts of our hotel.

Our energy did not drop. The audience was just as large, several sick YGCers returned to the singing ranks, and we got one last boost in the minutes before the concert. We were assembled in our dressing room getting some last minute tips from Jeff when he said to us: “Maria and the kids from the Cidade de Deus are here.”

Emily Howell has already blogged about our outreach concert with the choir from the “City of God.” Our experience with the choir had been one of the most moving moments of tour. Their unexpected appearance at the Creation concert was equally memorable. As we filed on stage, we could see them sitting on the floor in the aisle, right at the very front. Though some of them were under 10 years old, they happily sat through the nearly three-hour oratorio. Afterward, I thought to myself that the Creation might be a pretty good piece to introduce young children to art music; it is exciting, dramatic, and playful.

After the concert, the kids came to meet us and congratulate us. They had even made us cards. The 13-year-old choir member I’d met at dinner after the outreach concert delivered me a card. I thanked her, and, still worried that the long concert had bored her, asked her in a broken combination of English, Portuguese, and sign language what her favorite part had been. “Tudo” (all of it), she said.

We would have liked to spend even more time with the choir, but we had to return to our hotel. The choir stood on the steps of the church and waved to us as we boarded. Smiling, we waved back through the windows as the bus pulled away from the curb.

2009 Summer Tour Reflections: Wrapping Up

2009-06-28T19:18:00.003-04:00

A poetic look at the end of tour from rising sophomore Julia Myers.

Having sung for the young girls who gave a standing ovation after every song, for the vast audience spilling into the aisles for the Creation, and for the elderly woman who kissed my cheeks with tears in her eyes, repeating “Obrigada” over and over in my ear and so many other things I only wish I could understand, I found myself sitting on the bus back to New Haven with a very heavy feeling. I couldn’t begin to imagine how a group that had just sung Bright College Years in an ill-formed circle at the baggage claim could be dispersing all around the world. But then I settled on what I remembered best about Rio, this one moment when I looked out of the bus window and saw along the shore a line of white ships poised on the glassy water. Their maiden names once painted in blood red were chipped and faded from the burning sunlight…the waves lapped up against their sides like rivulets of cool relief and when they fell away the wood gleamed with newfound heat. Their bows were securely lodged in the copper sand, but their sails stretched out to some other place. The image compelled me to write as the tour came to a close, “I cannot believe I have come so far through such a beautiful country only to have reached the end of the journey...” I thought of us parting ways to go and serve others or to further our own passions, and to hopefully also find a bit of ourselves along the way. “…and the start of another.”

And now, sitting here and writing this on a humid Friday afternoon in New Haven, with a film script beside me and the spirit of adventure in the air (please see the movie Up), having come together with people I have never met before to capture beautiful moments on film, I realize that this is exactly where all of us probably are.

2009 Summer Tour Reflections: Campinas

2009-06-23T20:14:00.003-04:00

Below, Cynthia Weaver '12 talks about our days in Campinas, Brazil.

After a scenic 9-hour bus ride filled with song, mischief and sleep, the Glee Club arrived in Campinas, home of the Universidade Estadual de Campinas, or Unicamp for short. On our first day in Campinas, we gave a concert at Unicamp to a small but enthusiastic audience. After a lunch in the university dining hall, we headed to rehearsal. That evening, the Glee Club enjoyed an American-style pizza dinner with some music students from the university. It was great to get to talk with some local music students, many of whom hope to eventually study music in the United States.

The next morning was a free morning, so the Glee Club enjoyed an evening of socializing. After our afternoon rehearsals and some free time at the mall due to drizzly weather, we headed to our evening concert at Igreja Católica Santa Rita de Cássia. The concert was a collaboration with the Unicamp Symphony Orchestra and two local soloists. Our program included pieces by Mendelssohn, Brahms, and Haydn. Over the tour, we were able to fine-tune Haydn’s Creation to a level of familiarity and mastery which choirs are not often able to establish with their repertoire. There couldn’t have been a more fantastic way to wrap up our 2009 international tour than by singing The Creation one last time. It was a successful concert with great attendance. After a reception and a night in the hotels, we packed up our things and boarded the buses for São Paulo.

2009 Summer Tour Reflections: Outreach

2009-06-23T19:57:00.002-04:00

In this post, rising junior Emily Howell details our amazing outreach activities with the children's choir from the Cidade de Deus, a favela in Rio de Janeiro.

Our outreach with the children’s choir Grupo Vozes da Cidade de Deus, from the Casa de Santa Ana—Cidade de Deus is the City of God slum (favela) in Rio de Janeiro, featured in the movie The City of God—was, for me at least, the most amazing part of an amazing tour. We didn’t go into the dangerous favela, but instead met the children at the Escola SESC, where they performed for us and we for them. The students, who learn various dancing and rhythmic activities from a young age before they join the choir, demonstrated activities from ballet to samba dancing. They even encouraged us to join them in the samba, and kindly didn’t laugh at us (too much, anyway) when we tried to dance along.

We sang “This Little Light of Mine” from our tour repertoire together after Jeff taught them the words and the melody. We also sang “Muie Rendera,” part of our repertoire and a traditional Brazilian folk song, together with the kids. Then came the concert, which was actually a joint one—first several groups of students danced and sang for us. Our performance was preceded backstage by a stirring pep talk from our very own Dylan Morris, who urged us (more eloquently than I’m summarizing) to take this small concert for the kids as seriously as any other. Dylan explained that he was initially skeptical about this outreach, wondering what good we could really do for children who grow up in the midst of gang violence and poverty by singing for them. But, he told us, this was more than that. Giving them not only our music but also our respect can do more than we realize.

Dinner was the best part of the day, as well as the part that required the most ingenuity. We went to a pizza restaurant with the kids, many of whom spoke no English; Steph Strauss, as our sole Portuguese speaker, was in high demand. I was sitting with Sarah Dewey and Kate Carter, forming a triangle of French students. I’d been nervous about the dinner, afraid that our complete lack of shared language skills would leave us at an impasse. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Instead of focusing on the basics of introduction—did you like the concert? Do you like school? Can you believe how much pizza I’ve eaten?—we got right to the important stuff: the games. Deciding that art would have to be our main avenue of communication, Sarah began a beautiful napkin drawing, to which the kids all contributed, and I produced several paper cranes, the only origami trick I know. Kate’s paper airplanes were also a huge hit, as they started flying between tables in our area (to be honest, we actually enjoyed this more than the kids).

Of course, the funny thing about outreach is that the ones who are supposed to be doing the reaching out learn at least as much, and get at least as much out of it, as the ones they’re supposed to be helping. Yes, it’s cliché to say so, but maybe it’s cliché because it’s the truth. Either way, I think it’s something Glee Club was extremely aware of on June 4^th.

When, two days later, Maria (the incredible woman who leads the school) brought some of the Grupo Vozes kids to our second concert of Haydn’s Creation, there were smiles, hugs, even tears. Many of them wore the Yale hats and Glee Club polos they’d received at the concert the other day, and one of my new friends from dinner still clutched a paper crane in her hand. We waved goodbye as the buses pulled away, and they waved back.

I still have a napkin from dinner. The drawing on it features a tree, a cat, a dog, a bird, and three smiling girls, and, in an elementary school girl’s handwriting (bubble letters!), the words “Animal,” “Feliz,” and “Amor.”

Emily, Kate Carter, and Sarah Dewey at dinner with girls from the Grupo Vozes da Cidade de Deus.

A Photographic Look at Tour: Argentina

2009-06-21T15:22:00.006-04:00

Here are some pictures from the Argentina leg of our recent South American tour.

A scene from the tango show we saw on our last night in Buenos Aires.

A snapshot of the colorful Argentinean neighborhood of La Boca.

The 148th Glee Club at the Santa Susana Ranch in Buenos Aires.

Glee Clubbers horseback riding at the ranch.

Gauchos perform at the ranch. If a gaucho snatched a ring (pictured), he gave it to a lucky Glee Club lady in exchange for a kiss.

Cathedral in La Plata, the capital of the province of Buenos Aires.

2009 Summer Tour Reflections: Outreach

2009-06-18T18:05:00.003-04:00

In this post, rising sophomore Ben Robbins talks more in-depth about our outreach concert at a Buenos Aires school.

On our first full day in Buenos Aires, we performed an outreach concert at the Colegio del Buen Consejo, a private girls school near La Boca, one of the slums of the area. We sang our tour repertoire for nearly 250 girls, ages 5--18, in the chapel of the school. They responded with a lot of enthusiasm, especially to our native Colombian Andres Torres '09, who was translating for Jeff. After the concert we didn't get to talk much to the girls (the H1N1 outbreak and our group's poor overall level of health made people uneasy) but the director of the school was very appreciative of our visit and performance. She emphasized the importance of music in the education of the girls, all of whom are from poor families and are sponsored to attend the school. She explained that music is integrated into the rest of the curriculum so that they can learn a skill to be proud of, while making huge gains intellectually. It was a fun concert overall and a great start to tour. The "Power of Song," as the title of our potential documentary seems to be, seemed very apparent in that school building as we could see the girls at the second floor windows, overlooking the barbed-wire-topped walls around the school, waving goodbye to our buses as we pulled away.

2009 Summer Tour Reflections: Buenos Aires

2009-06-17T20:33:00.004-04:00

The Glee Club just got back from an amazing South American tour to Argentina and Brazil. Below, rising senior Sarah Dewey looks back at our time in Buenos Aires, our first stop.

"Buenos Aires Capital City" was, as advertised, the Paris of South America, a fact evidenced superficially by the couture and the locals' affinity for their dogs; however, it was clear that here was a city and a nation with great spirit and an easygoing attitude. All of this was visible in the graffiti we passed in each South American city: in Buenos Aires, flights of fancy and colorful characters; scrawled initials in Rio, and in Campinas a kind of cramped Portuguese futhark that covered the struts of every building. Argentineans express themselves in a way that only Argentineans can, as we soon found out when our buses rushed from stop to stop before an organized protest could clog the city streets near the Plaza del Mayo and impede our progress to the hotel.

Appropriately, we started off our tour with a pilgrimage to Eva Peron's grave, and visited also the La Boca neighborhood. La Boca is a barrio divided into extremely touristy and extremely impoverished areas, with its charming brightly-colored corrugated tin buildings catering to the romantic imaginations of travelers, and its slums next to Rio de la Plata serving as a reminder that all throughout South America, YGC would encounter such surprising juxtapositions. We wondered what this abstract "power of song" could possibly do for the people of this continent, rich and poor alike. Why was there a cameraman with us documenting every moment, every arm wrestling battle, and every jubilant chorus in the streets of whatever city we descended upon? We received our first answer when we gave a concert at the Colegio del Buen Consejo, an all-girls’ school, and found our biggest fans. The little girls used the prayer benches in their academy's nave to great effect, standing on them and giving thunderous applause. It was an excellent reception to the country and a reassuring moment for everyone when they greeted us with enthusiasm.

Eager to try out our classroom Spanish in practical settings, many of us soon felt meekly resigned to the basics of menu Spanish, namely "empanada carne" and "agua con gas"--the power of song, it seems (ah, the relief!), is that music really is the most universal language. It was with this, the enumerated of our innumerable epiphanies about foreign travel and our odd sort of statesmanship, that we met Nestor Zadoff, a leading Argentinean choral conductor. While his name evoked delightful memories of the grandiose "Zadok the Priest", the man himself was amazingly humble, friendly, and overall charming. While music was the universal language for the duration of our workshop on Astor Piazzolla’s tango arrangement, “Adios Nonino.” Zadoff also proved fluent in French, Spanish, Portuguese, and English, language skills which greatly aided everyone in understanding and led to not a few chuckles as our translators got cheeky or the Francophones in the group suddenly got a chance to feel smug in a linguistically hostile continent. Zadoff teased out the subtleties of the piece, explaining to us its meaning as well as showing where we should emphasize certain aspects of the tango style. He could hear colors in the notes that were foreign to us, because the piece was written by his countryman with a musical attitude purely Argentinean. As much as song is international, it became clear from this workshop that music requires incredible cultural intuition to properly perform, and that merely perfecting one's diction on a rolled "r" is not going to accurately represent great music. Zadoff taught us all of those things without saying them, and gave us his director's comments with such good humor that the hour-long workshop flew by and we quite regretted not having more time to work with him. Our performance of the piece had clearly greatly improved, and we couldn't wait to debut it the next night, hoping to wow the crowd with tango v2.0.