Tomorrow, beautiful melodies will be spilling out of Rackham Auditorium, filling the air with concordant harmonies. You won’t, however, hear any female voices adding to the music because this concert is for men vocalists only. This Saturday, the auditorium will play host to the Men’s Glee Club for their spring concert.
According to club member Ian Campbell, the group “tries to cover the whole spectrum” when it comes to the music selection. Folk songs, spirituals, classical works, Westerns and love songs are among the types of music that will be performed. Some of the pieces will be a capella, while others will be performed with a piano accompanist.
The composers of the pieces on the program vary just as much as the songs themselves, going from a work by Handel to one by Aaron Mcdermid, the group’s assistant conductor. Mcdermid’s piece will be making its debut during this concert, as this will be its first time being performed. It is a love song based on a poem by the American poet James Weldon Johnson.
The group is composed of about 85 members that range from first years to graduate students from practically every college at the University. All members of the club are selected through auditions. They perform two concerts on campus, as well as several others in other cities, throughout the school year, and they always go on tour.
This year, they head to the southwest, where they will kick off the tour by performing at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, and then continue to Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and Las Vegas. Under the new leadership of Mcdermid and conductor Stephen Lusmann, the group has continued in its tradition of greatness.
Lusmann is quite renowned himself. He is a professional baritone who has performed opera at such venues as Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center. He has also done a great deal of work in Germany.
After months of hard work, this weekend’s performance promises to be a masterpiece of fun times and good music. In the words of Campbell, “The audience can expect to hear great music performed to the highest standards, but they can also expect a lot of energy.”