Virginia Glee Club
Encyclopedia
The Virginia Glee Club is a critically acclaimed men's chorus based at the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...

. It performs both traditional and contemporary vocal works, typically in TTBB
TTBB
In musical choral notation, TTBB denotes a four-part men's chorus. Its configuration is Tenor 1, Tenor 2, Bass 1 , Bass 2....

 arrangements. Founded in 1871, the Glee Club is the University's oldest musical organization and one of the oldest all-male collegiate vocal ensembles in the United States. It is currently conducted by Frank Albinder
Frank Albinder
Frank Scott Albinder is an internationally acclaimed conductor of male choral music. A former director of Chanticleer, Albinder currently conducts the Washington Men's Camerata, the Woodley Ensemble, and the Virginia Glee Club, and is president of Intercollegiate Men's Choruses, Inc., a national...

.

History

The Virginia Glee Club was founded in 1871 as the Cabell House Men. In the 1893–1894 session of the University, the Glee Club was combined with other extant student musical groups to form the Glee, Banjo, and Mandolin Club, a more permanent organization, with professor of mathematics (and University Chapel organist) Harrison Randolph
Harrison Randolph
Harrison Randolph was the 13th President and professor of mathematics at the College of Charleston from 1897 to 1945.Randolph was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to John Feild Randolph and Virginia Dashiell Randolph, née Bayard...

 as the director. During this period, the group toured major Southern cities annually, playing to standing room only crowds in Richmond and traveling as far afield as Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...

, St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...

. and Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....

, according to contemporary accounts, donating the profits to the Athletic Association of the University of Virginia. The group continued to perform and tour the South through the early 1900s; they are recorded as visiting Atlanta on tour under the direction of a student, John Shishmanian, in October 1905, and a contemporary letter attests to their existence in that fall 1905.

After the fall of 1905, the group disbanded and reformed periodically; University historian Philip Alexander Bruce
Philip Alexander Bruce
Philip Alexander Bruce was an American historian who specialized in the history of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Author of over a dozen volumes of history, Bruce's scope ranged from the first Virginia settlements to the early 20th century...

 indicates it disbanded in 1905, then reformed in 1910–1911 and began to perform again. The group went on hiatus for a year in the fall of 1912, citing "disadvantageous circumstances" with the hope of reforming later. It apparently did reform in late 1913 or early 1914, based on a January 1914 photo of the group. Finally, in January 1915, it was reorganized under the leadership of Professor Alfred Lawrence (A.L.) Hall-Quest (professor of educational psychology); Hall-Quest is said to have modeled the group after the glee club
Princeton Glee Club
The Princeton Glee Club is the oldest and most prestigious choir at Princeton University, composed of approximately 50 mixed voices. They give multiple performances throughout the year featuring music from Baroque to Modern, and also tour internationally every other year...

 of his alma mater, Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....

.

Since 1915, the Virginia Glee Club has been in continuous existence as a men's chorus at the University. From the 1920s into the 1980s, the Glee Club enjoyed an association with the McIntire Department of Music through a series of directors who were members of the music faculty, including Arthur Fickenscher
Arthur Fickenscher
Arthur Fickenscher was an American composer and academic...

, Harry Rogers Pratt
Harry Rogers Pratt
Harry Rogers Pratt was a professor of music and drama at the University of Virginia from 1923 to 1954. Though he had no academic degree, he is credited with several accomplishments, including drawing the composer Randall Thompson to the University and founding the Virginia Players.Pratt was born...

, Stephen Tuttle
Stephen Tuttle
Stephen Davidson Tuttle was a musicologist and chairman of the department of music at the University of Virginia , and an associate professor of music at Harvard University...

, Donald Macinnis, and Donald Loach. The group was viewed as an educational resource that enhanced other offerings; a course catalog from the 1920s offered students in the Composition class the opportunity to have their works performed by the Glee Club.

During the 1940s, the Glee Club worked with composer in residence Randall Thompson
Randall Thompson
Randall Thompson was an American composer, particularly noted for his choral works.-Career:He attended Harvard University, became assistant professor of music and choir director at Wellesley College, and received a doctorate in music from the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music...

 when director Stephen Tuttle commissioned Thompson to write The Testament of Freedom, a setting of Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...

's words about liberty, for the Virginia Glee Club. In the later years of Tuttle's tenure, the Glee Club recorded an album with RCA of traditional university songs, accompanied by the University of Virginia Band.

In 1953, members of the Glee Club formed the Virginia Gentlemen
Virginia Gentlemen
The Virginia Gentlemen, a men's singing group, is the oldest a cappella group at the University of Virginia. Founded in 1953 as an offshoot of the Virginia Glee Club, the group continues to perform a mix of contemporary and classic vocal music. The group performs around the University of Virginia...

, the oldest a cappella group at UVA, which originated as a performing subset of the Glee Club and became an independent organization in the 1980s.

The 1960s and 1970s found the group developing a specialty in Renaissance music under the direction of University professor Donald Loach, who developed a countertenor section within the group to meet the demands of the polyphonic style. At this time the group performed on national and international stages, including a performance at the State Department for the Washington Diplomatic Corps Banquet in 1968, the only college glee club to be so honored at the time. In 1971, the Z Society
Z Society
The Z Society is a philanthropic organization that was founded at the University of Virginia in 1892. It comprises outstanding student leaders who give time, talent, and financial contributions to groups and individuals that exemplify the spirit of the society and uphold the ideals of the university...

 gave the Glee Club its Organization Award in recognition of its concerts, the recording of its album A Shadow's on the Sundial, and its pending first European tour. The group toured Europe in 1972, funding the trip with individual and community contributions, as well as profits from their 1972 recording, A Shadow's on the Sundial.

In 1989, the Virginia Glee Club became a Contracted Independent Organization, with substantial assistance from Gilbert J. Sullivan
Gilbert J. Sullivan
Gilbert J. "Gilly" Sullivan was the longtime director of the University of Virginia Alumni Association for 35 years. Appointed to the position in 1958 after the retirement of J. Malcolm "Mack" Luck, Sullivan remained in the position until his retirement in 1993...

 and the UVA Alumni Association, when the Music Department moved unilaterally to combine it with the Virginia Women's Chorus into a mixed choir, which would have eliminated the Glee Club's independent identity.

Jeffersonian performances

The Glee Club has often provided musical accompaniment to public observances in honor of the founder of the University of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...

, and his home, Monticello
Monticello
Monticello is a National Historic Landmark just outside Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was the estate of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence, third President of the United States, and founder of the University of Virginia; it is...

. They presented musical accompaniment to a visit to Monticello by the French Ambassador to the United States, Jules Jusserand, in 1904, and sang for the ceremony honoring the creation of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation in 1923. At one of the group's concerts in Washington, DC in 1912, the then-owner of Monticello, Jefferson Monroe Levy
Jefferson Monroe Levy
Jefferson Monroe Levy was a three-term U.S. Congressman from New York, a leader of the New York Democratic Party, and a renowned real estate and stock speculator....

, was in attendance and was publicly baited for not turning Monticello over outright to the United States government.

The Glee Club was also active in the celebration of Jefferson's 200th and 250th birthdays in 1943 and 1993 with commissioned works and public performances (see Commissioned works for more details).

Notable alumni

Over the years the group has counted various famous UVA students among its alumni, including Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...

, who joined the Glee Club while attending the University of Virginia School of Law
University of Virginia School of Law
The University of Virginia School of Law was founded in Charlottesville in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson as one of the original subjects taught at his "academical village," the University of Virginia. The law school maintains an enrollment of approximately 1,100 students in its initial degree program...

, Harrison Randolph, who went on to serve as the president of the College of Charleston
College of Charleston
The College of Charleston is a public, sea-grant and space-grant university located in historic downtown Charleston, South Carolina, United States...

 for nearly 50 years, and Edward A. Craighill, author of The Good Old Song
The Good Old Song
The Good Old Song is the de facto alma mater of the University of Virginia. It is set to the music of Auld Lang Syne...

. Other notable alumni include Lee Trinkle, governor of Virginia from 1922 to 1926; Fulton Lewis, Jr.
Fulton Lewis
Fulton Lewis, Jr. was a prominent conservative American radio broadcaster from the 1930s to the 1960s.-Early life and career:...

, radio personality and author of the UVa fight song, "The Cavalier Song," Ernest Mead
Ernest Mead
Ernest Campbell Mead, Jr. is professor emeritus of music at the University of Virginia.Mead graduated from the University of Virginia in 1940 with a major in German language and literature. While a student at the University, he was a member of the Virginia Glee Club. He went on to Harvard...

, chair emeritus of the McIntire Department of Music at the University of Virginia; James F. Jones
James F. Jones
James F. Jones, Jr., is the 21st president of Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. Jones is a native of Atlanta, Georgia. He and his wife, Jan, have three children.- Education :...

, president of Trinity College (Connecticut)
Trinity College (Connecticut)
Trinity College is a private, liberal arts college in Hartford, Connecticut. Founded in 1823, it is the second-oldest college in the state of Connecticut after Yale University. The college enrolls 2,300 students and has been coeducational since 1969. Trinity offers 38 majors and 26 minors, and has...

; John Edgar Park
John Edgar Park
John Edgar Park is a technical director in computer animation, author, and host of Make: television.Park received a Bachelor of Arts in Drama from the University of Virginia in 1994, where he was a founding member of The New Dominions and sang in the Virginia Glee Club...

, host of Make: television; and Michael Butterman, Music Director of the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra and the Shreveport Symphony Orchestra.

List of Directors

In the early years of the Glee Club, the group's director was often a student. When Woodrow Wilson was a member in 1879, the director was John Duncan Emmet, who received his medical degree from the University in 1880. Similarly, in 1894, Harrison Randolph was a graduate student and instructor in mathematics, and Shishmanian in 1905 was a graduate student. From 1915 through 1989, the director was a member of the University faculty. Since the Club's separation from the music department, the post has been held by faculty, students, and outside professionals.
  • John Duncan Emmet (late 1870s–1880)
  • Harrison Randolph
    Harrison Randolph
    Harrison Randolph was the 13th President and professor of mathematics at the College of Charleston from 1897 to 1945.Randolph was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to John Feild Randolph and Virginia Dashiell Randolph, née Bayard...

     (ca. 1893–1895)
  • John A. Shishmanian (ca. 1905)
  • A.L. Hall-Quest (ca. 1915–1918)
  • Arthur Fickenscher
    Arthur Fickenscher
    Arthur Fickenscher was an American composer and academic...

     (ca. 1920–1933), head of the Music Department
  • Harry Rogers Pratt
    Harry Rogers Pratt
    Harry Rogers Pratt was a professor of music and drama at the University of Virginia from 1923 to 1954. Though he had no academic degree, he is credited with several accomplishments, including drawing the composer Randall Thompson to the University and founding the Virginia Players.Pratt was born...

     (1933–1943)
  • Stephen Tuttle
    Stephen Tuttle
    Stephen Davidson Tuttle was a musicologist and chairman of the department of music at the University of Virginia , and an associate professor of music at Harvard University...

     (1942–1951)
  • Donald MacInnis (1951–1957)
  • David Davis (1957–1964)
  • Donald Loach (1964 – Fall 1989)
  • Scott DeVeaux (interim) (Spring 1989)
  • Cheryl Brown-West (Fall 1989 – Spring 1990)
  • Michael Butterman (Spring 1989 – Spring 1991)
  • John R. Liepold (1991–1996)
  • J. Craig Fennell (interim) (1996)
  • Bruce Tammen
    Bruce Tammen
    Bruce Tammen is a conductor and artistic director. Tammen holds degrees from Luther College, Northwestern University, and the University of Chicago and has taught voice and directed choirs at Luther College, the University of Chicago, and the University of Virginia...

     (1996–2001)
  • Burke Morton (interim) (2001–2002)
  • Michael Slon (2002–2003)
  • Frank Albinder
    Frank Albinder
    Frank Scott Albinder is an internationally acclaimed conductor of male choral music. A former director of Chanticleer, Albinder currently conducts the Washington Men's Camerata, the Woodley Ensemble, and the Virginia Glee Club, and is president of Intercollegiate Men's Choruses, Inc., a national...

     (2003–present)

The Glee Club today

Since its separation from the McIntire Department of Music in 1989, the Glee Club has existed as a Contracted Independent Organization at the University. The group currently receives no funds from the University, and is entirely student managed.

The Glee Club rehearses and performs the majority of its home concerts at Old Cabell Hall on the University of Virginia Lawn, where it recorded its 1947 record Songs of the University of Virginia. The Glee Club's concert schedule typically includes a mix of home and road concerts, mostly notably including its annual Christmas Concerts, which have been produced each year since 1940. The Glee Club also gives its Finals concert the night before University Commencement, during which graduating members are bid farewell. The Glee Club typically collaborates on the road with such women's choirs as the Wellesley College Choir.

The Glee Club was recently recognized with a Jefferson Trust grant "to research, perform and record a collection of songs that reflect the historical significance of the University's choral music legacy," under a project called Songs of Virginia.

The Glee Club terms itself a "Fraternity of Talent". In its own words, the Glee Club is "committed to performing at a professional level, promoting fellowship, preserving longstanding tradition, and upholding the ideals of student self-governance." Members are said to adhere to the lifestyle set forth in the motto "Virginia's Messengers of Harmony, Love, and Brotherhood".

Commissioned works

One of the high points of the group's early years was its 1943 premiere performance of The Testament of Freedom
The Testament of Freedom
The Testament of Freedom is a four-movement work for men's chorus and piano composed in 1943 by Randall Thompson. It was premiered on April 13, 1943 by the Virginia Glee Club under the direction of Stephen Tuttle; the composer served as pianist. Thompson later orchestrated the piece, and also...

by American composer Randall Thompson
Randall Thompson
Randall Thompson was an American composer, particularly noted for his choral works.-Career:He attended Harvard University, became assistant professor of music and choir director at Wellesley College, and received a doctorate in music from the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music...

, then a Virginia professor. The Glee Club commissioned Thompson to write the piece in honor of the 200th anniversary of the birth of University founder Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...

.

The group continues to commission choral works for men's voices; recent examples include Young T.J., commissioned by the Glee Club from composer Neely Bruce
Neely Bruce
Neely Bruce , Professor of Music and American Studies at Wesleyan University, is a composer, conductor, pianist and scholar of American music....

 in honor of Thomas Jefferson's 250th birthday. The piece was performed at various celebrations of Jefferson's 250th birthday on April 13, 1993, including a special performance for President Bill Clinton.

Other recent commissions include The Jabberwocky, a 2006 setting of the Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...

 poem by Judith Shatin
Judith Shatin
Judith Shatin is an American composer. Currently, she is William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor at the University of Virginia.She also founded and is Director of the Virginia Center for Computer Music.-References:...

.

The Glee Club most recently was part of a group to commission a work by Lee Hoiby
Lee Hoiby
Lee Henry Hoiby was an American composer and classical pianist. Best known as a composer of operas and songs, he was a disciple of composer Gian Carlo Menotti. Like Menotti, his works championed lyricism during a time when such compositions were deemed old fashioned and irrelevant to modern society...

called Private First Class Jesse Givens. The lyrics are the text of the last letter sent home by PFC Givens before he died in Iraq in March, 2003.

Discography

A list of currently available albums is available on the Glee Club web site.
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