The
Notre Dame Glee Club
is a 75-voice, all-male
choral
ensemble at the
University of Notre Dame
.
[
citation needed
]
Founded in
1915
in the tradition of English and American
glee clubs
, it is the oldest Glee Club at a Catholic University in the
United States
.
[
citation needed
]
History
[
edit
]
Founding and development
[
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]
Samuel Ward Perrott founded the Notre Dame Glee Club in 1915. Perrott had studied at Notre Dame (1912?1914, 1915?1916) as well as Harvard University (1914?1915). While at Harvard, Perrott joined the Harvard Glee Club under direction of Archibald Davison. According to the 1916 edition of Notre Dame's yearbook, the Dome, it was at Harvard that Perrott "got the idea of how a (glee) club should be run." Perrott returned to Notre Dame again as a student in the fall of 1915
[1]
and held auditions for a Glee Club. At these first auditions, one hundred young men tried out for fifty places. Thus the Notre Dame Glee Club was born.
The Glee Club first took the stage on December 11, 1915 in
Washington Hall
on the campus of the University of Notre Dame and performed to a receptive audience. The student magazine, The Scholastic, called the performance "a triumph" and the Dome observed, "Before this time there had been grave doubts expressed about the success of the club," but with the first concert, the clouds of doubt were dispelled. Perrott began plans for a major concert tour. Although the major tour plans fell through, the Glee Club did perform its first tour concert in Indianapolis, IN on May 6, 1916.
[
citation needed
]
The Glee Club today
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]
For formal performances, the group members wear formal evening dress (
White tie
). On other occasions the group performs in matching
blazer
and necktie, matching polo shirts, or in street clothes.
[
original research?
]
The club performs four annual campus concerts, one in Autumn, one at Christmas
[2]
(three consecutive performances of the same program, the proceeds of which go to the South Bend Center for the Homeless and Food Bank), one in Spring,
[2]
and one for commencement.
[2]
All major concerts
[
according to whom?
]
have been performed in the 950-seat Leighton Concert Hall in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center (DPAC). Before the construction of the DPAC, the concerts took place in Washington Hall, which can seat 550 people.
The group or portions of it perform other concerts over the course of the year. These include ND in Revue (Saturday mornings before each ND home football game), joint concerts with other campus and outside ensembles, events in and around the South Bend area, and certain University functions. The group has partnered with visiting artists; in recent years, these have included
Ronan Tynan
,
Leon Fleisher
,
Dave Brubeck
,
Vince Gill
, and the
Kronos Quartet
.
[
citation needed
]
The group also partners with the South Bend Symphony Orchestra;
[
citation needed
]
pieces they have performed together in recent years include
Symphony No. 2 (Mahler)
, the
1812 Overture
, and Alexander Nevsky. Every year the group sings at Mass in the
Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Notre Dame
on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.
[
citation needed
]
In popular culture
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]
The Glee Club performs in songs in the film
Rudy
,
[
citation needed
]
especially during scenes of football games at
Notre Dame Stadium
. These songs include the Notre Dame Victory March and Hike, Notre Dame.
[
citation needed
]
The Glee Club also performed on
The Ed Sullivan Show
on April 5, 1953. The songs that the group performed were
Home! Sweet Home!
,
When Johnny Comes Marching Home
, Hallelujah and Amen, and the Notre Dame Victory March.
See also
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References
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Further reading
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]
External links
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]
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