The Yale Glee Club Blog

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

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 performa...

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 ga...

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

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 yea...

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...

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.