About Glee

Director

Dr. Barrington Coleman Barrington Coleman, associate professor of voice and conductor of the University of Illinois Varsity Men's Glee Club, earned the baccalaureate degree from the Illinois Wesleyan University, where he served for six years as assistant professor of voice and director of the Limited Edition Jazz Choral Ensemble. A native of Chicago, Illinois, he received the M.M. degree from Northwestern University (Evanston, Illinois) and D.M.A. degree from The Juilliard School of Music (New York City). Coleman performed and recorded as a soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, the Music of the Baroque Ensemble, the La Fenice Opera (Venice, Italy), the Glynebourne Opera (Sussex, England), the London Philharmonic and Symphony Orchestras, and at the Royal Opera House of Covent Garden. A recipient of prestigious awards of distinction for performance and academic excellence, Dr. Coleman presented various lecture/recitals, workshop/festivals, and clinics throughout the nation's universities, high schools, community arts organizations, churches, and professional music associations as classical, jazz, and gospel artist. As a jazz pianist, he studied with Willie Pickens and free-lanced with prominent jazz artists throughout the Midwest. Coleman worked with such innovative young artists as bassists Christian McBride and Lonnie Plaxico and such seasoned trail blazers as saxophonist Sam Rivers and drummer Joe Morello. He is presently director, pianist, and vocalist with a Midwestern-based mainstream jazz group known as the Barrington Coleman Trio. The 2005-2006 school is year Doctor Coleman's tenth year with the club.

History

The Varsity Men's Glee Club has a long, rich history of achievement in performance and representation of the University of Illinois.

The club was formed in 1886, with the original name of The Apollo Club. While the history of campus activities at that time is not well documented, it appears that the Apollo Club was an outgrowth of the Pohiloathean Literary Society. In the late 1800's, literary societies were the main social organizations on campus, and often sponsored poetry readings and concerts.

A few years later, the group's name was changed to The Varsity Men's Glee and Mandolin Club. In 1893, the group took its first off-campus tour, a joint venture with the Guitar Club to perform in Danville. Since then, the club has performed in countless cities and towns throughout the state.

By the early 1930's, the organization had adopted its current name and was regularly touring Illinois. In 1933, the group toured the eastern United States, from Florida to Maine, and parts of Canada, finishing with a performance at the Chicago World's Fair. In the 1950's and 60's, the club established itself as one of the nation's top choruses. In 1955, the club again toured the eastern United States and appeared on Ed Sullivan's Toast of the Town.

In 1958, the organization was invited by the U.S. State Department to appear at the U.S. pavilion at the World's Fair in Brussels, Belgium. The VMGC. was the only male chorus to receive such an invitation. The club spent much of the year raising over $50,000 needed for travel expenses, and met its goal with the help of the Lions Clubs, the U. of I. Foundation, and dozens of other campus organizations, local businesses, and professional groups. During the two weeks the club spent in Europe, they participated in the Belgium International Choral Festival, and concertized in Munich, Heidelberg, and Paris.

In 1959, the club performed at a celebration honoring Lincoln's 150th birthday, and began the practice of performing in joint concert with glee clubs from other schools for Dad's Day. In the 1960's, clubs from Michigan, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Purdue, and Notre Dame performed with the Illinois group, enhancing the relations (and the rivalries) between these schools. Currently, the Women's Glee Club performs with the Men's Glee Club for their Dad's Day Concerts.

A spring concert in 1960 marked first Varsity Men's Glee Club alumni reunion, which featured approximately 100 alumni. The event was repeated in 1961 and 1962. The club continues to honor its alumni by inviting them to join in whenever the group performs its popular "Big Ten Medley" at each concert.

In 1963, the group traveled to Louisiana, where they concertized at Louisiana State and Tulane Universities.

In 1965, the club traveled once again to Europe, the third of six such tours to date. The group returned to Europe in 1969, 1973, and 1977.

During the 1960's, several smaller groups of glee club members appeared with the club. These included the "Other 3", and the "Boys Next Door". In 1969, the "Other Guys" was formed. This popular octet continues to appear frequently on campus and in concert with the club.

The club continues to be active both on and off campus. In 1984, the group was featured at the Colorado Music Educators Association, and in 1986 the group performed in joint concerts with the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club at both Michigan and Illinois.

In 1986, the club celebrated its 100th Anniversary with a Alumni Reunion concert. Nearly 200 alumni came from 23 states to perform with the group.

In 1996, the club's long time director William Olson passed away. The club honored his memory by singing at a memorial ceremony on September 29, 1996.

Spring Break of 1998 featured the Glee Club's first tour under Dr. Coleman's direction. Our tour brought us to Morris, IL; Forest Park, IL; Naperville, IL; Ann Arbor, MI; and Muncie, IN. We held a joint concert with the University of Michigan Men's Glee Club Directed by Dr. Jerry Blackstone, and we also spent some quality time with the Notre Dame Men's Glee Club. A good time was had by all, and everyone who experienced it looks forward to the next time the VMGC is able to go abroad.

Rehearsals and Time Commitments

We rehearse every Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 5:30 Đ 7 for the whole school year. We have two major concerts for the year: DadŐs Day Concert, which is on the Saturday of Dad's Day Weekend, and our Spring Concert, which in general, is a week after MomŐs Day weekend. As VMGC is part of the School of Music, club also participates in the Winter Concert, which is performed by all choral ensembles on campus. We also partake in singing at the Commencement ceremonies at the end of the Spring semester. There may be other performance opportunities through the School of Music throughout the school year. As a Registered Student Organization, we have opportunities to sing the National Anthem at different sporting events. It has been an annual event for VMGC to sing the National Anthem for the football game of DadŐs Day. There are other performances throughout the year for events occurring within the campus. We generally go on a tour within the country every year but every few years, we take a tour to Europe.

Membership

Membership in VMGC is granted only through an audition process. It is the policy of the School of Music that every member of each choir must re-audition for a choral ensemble. Therefore, the same rule applies to VMGC and former members must re-audition for the School of Music when seeking membership in club. For non-music majors, oneŐs preference to which ensemble one wishes to join is highly taken into account. Members in club generally consist of mostly non-music majors and several music majors.

Audition Process

At the beginning of each semester, there is an audition through the School of Music. A small section of a piece is posted online at the School of Music's website and one is expcted to sing the part that one is auditioning for. The rest of the audition consts of vocal range and tonal testing, as well as a simple sight-reading evaluation.

Financial Commitments

Though a part of the School of Music, VMGC is a student-run ensemble. Because of this, we are responsible for providing our own performance attires. Glee club has two performance attires, one formal and one informal. The formal attire consists of a black tail, white tux, vest, and bow tie, and black pants and shoes. Members are expected to provide their own shoes. Once measurements are made, or provided by the student himself, the attire is ordered by the club. The approximate cost for the formal attire is $200 and this is a onetime fee. New members are encouraged to bring in any other attire that they think might match the ones worn by the club to reduce any costs. Once one is certain that he will no longer be a member of VMGC, he can return the formal attire to get at return of $50. The informal attire consists of the VMGC polo, an orange under shirt, brown socks and belt, khakis, and brown shoes. Glee Club only provides the polo and the approximate cost of the polo is $20. Also, a fully refundable music deposit of $20 is required. This deposit is returned to you at the end of the semester once we check that all the music handed to you are in good condition and not lost. Lastly, although the club does contribute to paying the costs of tours from our travel funds, we do ask the members to pay for parts of the tour costs. These costs vary from how much funding is available to us and also by how big the tour is. All these fees are required from every member but, for those who are unable to meet the costs mentioned, different arrangements can be made. Membership in VMGC is never declined due to not meeting financial costs.