Department of Music

Come join the Virginia Glee Club as it honors the Class of 2010 on the evening of May 22, 2010 for its annual Finals Concert.  As the oldest musical organization on Grounds, the group carries with it the beloved traditions of the University.  The concert provides entertainment for the entire family, and will be a special, must-have addition to your graduation plans.

The evening will showcase many timeless classics and a few modern melodies that will perfectly complement an end to an unforgettable four years. The Glee Club is proud to present a variety of works ranging from classic works from the 13th century to more contemporary works from the 1970’s. Audiences will find something in our range and diverse groups of songs to make them laugh, smile, and even shed a tear. Audiences will enjoy the return of Franz Biebl’s perennial favorite Ave Maria and a wonderful assortment of University songs to properly send off the graduates. After completing our Songs of Virginia Project, many of our songs come from classic Virginia pieces. Our concert will honor and embrace the University’s rich tradition and history, so come celebrate the end of an amazing four years with us

This performance will be on Saturday, May 22nd, 2010 at 9:30 pm in Old Cabell Hall, which is located on the lawn of the central grounds of the University.  There is no charge for Degree Candidates.  General admission tickets are $15 and student tickets are $5.  They can be purchased at Mincer’s, at the Newcomb Hall Ticket Office (434-924-3376), or at the door.  For more information visit our website at www.virginiagleeclub.org.

Concert Program Includes:

The Virginia Glee Club, founded in 1871, is the oldest musical organization at the University of Virginia. The Club’s members, primarily undergraduate students, come from every school and college within the University. Members consider the group a “fraternity of talent,” committed to performing at a professional level, promoting fellowship, and preserving longstanding tradition. Throughout its history, the Virginia Glee Club has been consistently recognized as a leader among American men’s choruses, performing a variety of sacred and secular music in the classical tradition.  The group performed for former President Bill Clinton at the national celebration of Thomas Jefferson’s 250th birthday and has also been heard on broadcasts of NBC’s Today Show, National Public Radio’s Performance Today, Virginia Public Radio, and the Voice of America.  In addition to presenting on-grounds concerts, the group has toured widely, both domestically and abroad, and has collaborated with some of the finest women’s choruses in the eastern, northern, and southern United States. The Club toured France in the summer of 2000, visiting Paris, Lyon, Marseilles, Aix en Provence, Carcassonne, and Nice.  Recent collaborations have also included Mozart’s Requiem, with the Mount Holyoke Glee Club, Bach’s Magnificat, with the Wellesley College Choir and Poulenc’s Gloria, with the Chatham College Choir.  2010 has been an active year for the club. After the resounding success of the 2006 tour of the Southern United States, where the group performed for the Mississippi State Senate and was filmed singing for a BBC travel documentary, a tour of the Northeast was almost immediately organized. On this year’s tour, the club began with a collaboration with the award-winning Central Bucks High School West Men’s Ensemble in Doylestown, PA. Next, a concert devoted to the legendary Faure Requiem with undertaken by both the Virginia Glee Club and the Smith College Glee Club. After this success, a collaborative concert with the award-winning Wellesley College Chorus and the Boston Saengerfest Men's Chorus was epically completed at Wellesley College. The Glee club then traveled to New York for a solo concert, and then continued with collaborations in Washington D.C., collaborating with our brothers in song, the Washington Men’s Camerata. While in D.C., we also managed a private song for Charlottesville Congressman Tom Perriello on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s balcony. We had a great concert in Williamsburg, VA with guest soloist Jim Weaver and a serenade for now-retired Bonnie Ford our adopted grandmother from Alumni Hall.  The Glee Club then went on to collaborate with Roanoke College’s Oriana Singers in Roanoke, VA, and then trekked to Ann Arbor. At the University of Michigan, we collaborated with the Harvard and Michigan Glee Clubs and also were able to meet and sing for UVa’s future president, Teresa Sullivan. The Northeast tour was a grand success, and helped keep the Virginia Glee Club in the upper echelon of the musical organizations at the University of Virginia. 2010 also marked the creation of our new musical subset, the Gleemen, which we are excited to reintroduce tonight. With this concert, the group nears the end of its 139th year of musical excellence under the baton of conductor, Frank Albinder, who is currently completing his seventh season with the Glee Club. With so many successes in 2010, we are excited to see where the remainder of the year and 2011 will take us.