Choruses: a light, lively side of Yale's musical tradition

So you sing, huh? That's great—you won't be alone at Yale. For many musical Elis, however, the intense, fraternity-like singing group scene is not quite up their alley. There are a few musical gems out there that don't run all over campus screaming their lungs out and dousing each other on Tap Night.

Now 136 years old, the tradition-rich Yale Glee Club (YGC) is the oldest and largest singing organization at Yale. The YGC's repertoire has grown significantly over the years and now includes spiritual, Renaissance, and folk pieces. The group also sings traditional Old Blue songs, such as "Bright College Years" and "'Neath the Elms."

During football season, the YGC meets up with glee clubs from Princeton and Harvard in concerts that often become prankfests. Two or three major orchestral works are on the menu each spring, which in recent years has included Orff's Carmina Burana and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. The YGC tours nationally every year, and takes a trip overseas every three years. Last summer, the group spent four weeks touring northern and eastern Europe. Since the YGC is only open to entering sophomores, the Yale Freshman Chorus serves as its training ground.

Since 1953 the Yale Russian Chorus (YRC), a smaller musical ensemble, has been performing liturgical and folk music since 1953—music largely suppressed by the Bolshevik regime. The Russian Chorus has sung for world leaders like Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, and Bill Clinton, LAW '73, and traveled to the former Soviet Union 16 times. In the last few years, the YRC has put out a CD on a commercial label and has performed twice at Carnegie Hall. The YRC also performs a major orchestral piece with other groups at least once a year, such as Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky and Rachmaninov's Vespers.

With an odd but somehow compelling idea, some Yale women got together in 1969 to form the Yale Slavic Chorus. Today, it is composed of women who sing music from all Slavic nations, including Poland, Bulgaria, Croatia, Russia, and the Ukraine. The Slavic chorus sponsors yearly choral festivals and fundraisers with singing Valentines.

Though its name sounds precariously similar to those of other a cappella groups such as Redhot and Blue and Out of the Blue, Tangled Up in Blue uses not only voices but also flutes, guitars, harmonicas, bongo drums, and any other instruments students want to play. The group members prefer a folk sound, playing music in the style of Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Arlo Guthrie.

Keep these groups in mind as you stroll across Old Campus at the Frosh Bazaar. They're worth a look for the less hardcore and/or more eclectic musicians.

Lika Miyake contributed to this article.

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