Who We Are

From its earliest days as a group of thirteen men from the Class of 1863 to its current incarnation as an eighty-voice chorus of women and men, the Yale Glee Club has represented the best in collegiate singing for nearly a century and a half. The students who sing in the Yale Glee Club might be majors in music or engineering, English or philosophy, art or mathematics. They are drawn together by a love of singing and a common understanding that raising one’s voice with others to create something beautiful is one of the noblest human pursuits.

One of the most traveled collegiate choruses in the world

One of the most traveled choruses in the world, the Yale Glee Club has performed in every major city in the United States and embarked on its first overseas tour in 1928. It has since appeared before enthusiastic audiences throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. In the summer of 2005, the Glee Club made its first trip to Australia and New Zealand. This season, the Glee Club will travel to the Pacific Northwest and South America. Historically a leading advocate of international choral exchange, the Glee Club has hosted countless guest ensembles at Yale and at New York’s Lincoln Center in conjunction with its own International Choral Festivals.

A broad spectrum of great music

The Glee Club’s repertoire embraces a broad spectrum of choral music from the 16th century to the present, including Renaissance motets, contemporary choral works, world folk music, and traditional Yale songs. Committed to the creation of new music, the Glee Club presents frequent premieres of newly commissioned works and sponsors an annual competition for young composers. The great choral masterworks are also an important part of the Glee Club’s repertoire; recent performances have included Orff Carmina Burana, Mozart Requiem, Britten War Requiem, Rossini Stabat Mater, Fauré Requiem, Haydn Missa in Tempore Belli and Creation, Brahms Nänie, Mendelssohn Elijah, Penderecki Credo, and choral symphonies of Mahler and Beethoven.  Highlights in 2009-2010 include Verdi Requiem, the East Coast premiere of Aaron Jay Kernis Symphony of Meditations, and a concert of new music with Dale Warland.

Jeffrey Douma, Director

Jeffrey Douma became Director of the Yale Glee Club, Yale’s premier undergraduate mixed chorus, in 2003, and also serves as Associate Professor at the Yale School of Music, where he teaches conducting and choral literature.

Douma has appeared as guest conductor with ensembles on six continents, including the Royal Melbourne Philharmonic Orchestra, Buenos Aires Philharmonic Orchestra, Bahian Symphony Orchestra, Daejeon Philharmonic Choir, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Windsor Symphony Orchestra, and the Johannesburg Festival Orchestra and Symphony Choir of Johannesburg. He also currently serves as Musical Director of the Yale Alumni Chorus, which he has lead on five tours, and as Choirmaster at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Hartford, CT.

Prior to his appointment at Yale he taught at Carroll College, where he was Director of Choral Activities, and also served on the conducting faculties of Smith College and St. Cloud State University. Jeffrey Douma earned a Bachelor of Music Degree from ConcordiaCollege, nationally renowned for its choral music program. He holds both the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Choral Conducting from the University of Michigan. In all its years, the Yale Glee Club has had only six previous directors:

Gustave J. Stoeckel (1861–1873)
Thomas G. Shepard (1873–1905)
G. Frank Goodale 1889 (1905–1921)
Marshall Bartholomew ’09 (1921–1953)
Fenno F. Heath, Jr. ’50 (1953–1992)
David H. Connell dma ’91 (1992–2002)

Videos

No.28 and No. 29 of Haydn’s Creation.

No. 11 of Haydn’s Creation.