The Yale Glee Club Blog

This blog has been long overdue, but for those of you who haven't been following us on Facebook, this blog will fill you in on what's been going on these first few weeks of school, and what the Glee Club has been up to! First things first, I'll introduce our new officer core! President: Rachel Protacio Manager: Ellie Killiam Alumni Coordinator: Lisa Zhang Archivists: Paul Styslinger and Kiri Van Lengen-Welty International Tour Managers: Max Bryski and Marianna Gailus Mini-Tour Managers: Emma Hathaway and Jane Strauch Outreach Chairs: Alison Levosky and Dan Rubins Publicity Chair: Victoria Pierre Social Chairs: Ruthie Prillaman and Alex Turner Stage Manager: Brooke Lamell Wardrobe Manager: Zoya Afridi Student Conductor: Scarlett Zuo Assistant Conductor: Max Holman As you can see, this year we've got quite a large group! We've also created two new positions, that of Alumni Coordinator and Mini-Tour Managers. It was decided at the end of last...

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...

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

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 que...

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 chees...