For bulletin #1, click here.

Original email text:

GENTLEMEN: Thank you for registering to attend the 150th anniversary celebration in Ann Arbor April 8-10.  You will be glad you did!  Over 700 alumni and guests have said they will attend, and more than 430 alumni plan to perform in Saturday afternoon’s 150th Alumni Glee Club concert!

The event will be an absolute epic … sure to be rewarding, memorable, and rich in Tradition, Camaraderie, and Musical Excellence!

Between now and reunion weekend, you can expect to receive a series of bulletins weekly intended to brief you on key aspects of the 150th.

LAST CHANCE TO REGISTER FOR

UMMGC’S 150^th ANNIVERSARY REUNION

Registration CLOSES on Monday, 1 March!!!

(Registration closed.  We look forward to seeing all interested “last minute” people at the concerts!)

GENTLEMEN: The time for procrastinating has come to an end!

Don’t miss out on the chance to join over 400 other Glee Club Alumni, and a total guest count of over 600 in this once in a lifetime event…the 150^th Anniversary Celebration of the Michigan Men’s Glee Club.

What more do you need to know to make the decision to come?

• You’ll have the opportunity to sing once again in Hill Auditorium with your Brothers in Song.

• You’ll attend a gala banquet and program, featuring fellow alumnus and Sesame Street star Bob McGrath ’54, our Master of Ceremonies, and former Wolverine Head Football Coach Lloyd Carr, our featured speaker.

• You’ll get the chance to hear the current Club in what is guaranteed to be an inspiring performance.

• And you’ll give yourself many moments to reestablish old friendships and build new ones in the process.

March 1 is just a week away! Time is running out — (registration closed)

If you need help registering online, contact the Glee Club office by calling (734) 764-1448.

The music we will sing is posted on the Club’s website www.ummgc.org. You can go directly to the 150^th music page (http://ummgc.org/alumni/practice/) to access the sheet music for the songs that your group will sing and listen to the recordings if you need even more incentive. Hearing those selections, particularly the Michigan songs, will certainly stir those old feelings and should provide that extra incentive. For access, enter the username: tc&me and password: laudes.

Don’t be a stranger! Join us once more in Tradition, Camaraderie, and Musical Excellence on the historic stage of Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor!

Register now, BEFORE the 1 March deadline!

Photo credit: Jonathan San

The Men’s Glee Club was honored to open the 2010 Mock Rock with the National Anthem and a rousing version of Varsity and the Victors. Mock Rock, which is put on every year by the student-athletes of the University of Michigan, is a fundraising event for C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. The evening consisted of a variety and talent show showcasing the diverse talents of varsity and club-level athletic teams at the University.

For the third straight year, the UMMGC was invited to participate in the event, and this year we were honored to share the stage with judges Charles Woodson and Carol Hutchins, MC Michael Kosta, the Michigan Marching Band, and an impressive  array of athletic teams. As always, the UMMGC is honored and proud to participate in this event and to support the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital.

“Brothers in Song, Sing On!”

As of this writing, 377 alums are returning for the amazing Michigan Men’s Glee Club’s 150^th reunion April 8-10.  And while we are looking forward to sharing the weekend with fellow alumnus and Sesame Street’s Bob McGrath ’54, our Master of Ceremonies, and former Wolverine Head Football Coach Lloyd Carr, our featured speaker, for many of us the weekend’s highlight will be the historic 150^th Alumni Glee Club concert in Hill Auditorium on Saturday, April 10 at 3 pm.

Last month you were sent the repertoire.  Added to the program since then is the singing of the traditional opening song, Laudes, under the direction of current director Dr. Paul Rardin.

The practice aids are now ready.  Here’s how to access the music and audio files:

• Go to http://ummgc.org/alumni/practice/
• Type in Username: “tc&me” (without quotes)
• Type in Password: “Laudes” (without quotes)

(Hint: neither of them is case sensitive)

If you need help accessing these materials online, contact Marcus Lewis, one of our student team members, at marcmarc@umich.edu for assistance.

If you can’t get the materials from the website, contact Reed Blaylock, another of our student team members at scipio@umich.edu.  He’ll send you hard copies of the materials. When you contact Reed, include your address and years in the Club to make it easier for him. If you are unable to contact him by email, write to him c/o UMMGC at P.O. Box 4037, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. Call Reed at (269) 352-7051 if you have questions.

****SPECIAL NOTE: Alumni singing in the alumni concert will be expected to have their four concert pieces and the seven Michigan songs MEMORIZED****

Each group will have two, two hour practice sessions during the reunion to perfect their concert pieces.  Also, all the alums will participate in a two hour session on the Biebl Ave Maria and the Michigan songs.  To live up to the Club’s tradition of musical excellence, those on-campus rehearsals should be used to polish and get the music concert ready, not to learn the music.

Performance Attire: Those singing should come ready to present a professional image when on stage. We don’t want anyone in their old white tie and tails, but please bring dress slacks and a dark coat along with a white shirt and (preferably, a Glee Club) tie for the concert.  If you don’t have one, ties will be available for purchase at the check-in.

If you haven’t yet registered but want to sing, you must register no later than Monday. March 1^st. To register, just go to the UMMGC web site at www.ummgc.org and click on the link, “150^th Reunion Registration.”  If you need help registering online, contact the Glee Club office by calling (734) 764-1448.  We’ve given you some soft deadlines up to now, but we have to be pretty firm about this one.  By March 1^st, the reunion will be only five weeks off…make the commitment, NOW, especially if you want to sing!

What are you waiting for? Deciding whether or not to come to the reunion has to be one of the easiest decisions you’ll ever make.  If you have no other obligation that weekend and it fits within your budget, you need to be “In old Ann Arbor town” to join the “men of great renown,” your Brothers in Song.

We look forward to filling our tankards together once again!

As of today 358 alumni, or about 22% of the total 1,650 alumni base, will be in attendance for the 150th Anniversary Celebration, April 8th-10th, 2010.  There is still limited space available for alumni to attend Friday’s 150th Banquet & Gala, including the Club’s first-ever Silent Auction of memorabilia, collectibles, and unique experiences; and banquet program guest speaker Coach Lloyd Carr, Michigan’s former head football coach.  The reunion will be emceed by UMMGC alumnus Bob McGrath ‘54 (“Bob” on Sesame Street) and attendees are sure to enjoy plenty of opportunities to sing, including the inaugural 150th Alumni Glee Club concert at 3 p.m. Saturday and a set of 4 preceding rehearsals; plus Cottage Inn’s spirit-builder event on Thursday evening.  The Men’s Glee Club will surely be sensational when they take the Hill Auditorium stage 8 p.m. Saturday night for the 150th Annual Spring Concert.  Be sure not to miss this spectacular sesquicentennial opportunity for many hours of reconnecting with old and new friends in tradition, camaraderie, and musical excellence!

Last fall, the PR team worked with Carl Smith, our esteemed faculty advisor, and the Big Ten Network to secure a 15 minute segment devoted to the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club’s 150th Anniversary. The segment will air on the Big Ten Network’s “Out of the Blue” series, with scheduled air-times of:

• Friday February 5 – 3:30 PM
• Saturday February 6 – 3:30 AM
• Friday February 12 – 3:00 PM
• Saturday February 13 – 3:00 AM
• Friday February 19 – 3:30 PM
• Saturday February 20 – 3:30 AM

We are excited to share our proud tradition and musical excellence with the nation, and hope that you too will be proud as you watch and listen to the organization we all love.   Look for “Out of the Blue 203″ for schedule changes on the Big Ten Network.

Out of the Blue Series

Former Michigan Head Football Coach Lloyd Carr will be honorary guest speaker at the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club’s 150th anniversary celebration in Ann Arbor April 9. Coach Carr will speak as part of the reunion program following the celebration’s Friday evening banquet, which will be held in the League. The post-banquet program will take place in Rackham Auditorium immediately after the banquet ends.

Coach Carr, who has spent the majority of his 64 years motivating young men to perform on the gridiron, will address an audience of nearly 400 Men’s Glee Club alumni and their guests. The program audience will include another 100+ student members of the Club plus the Club’s current and former directors who have given much of their lifetimes motivating young men to perform on stage as part of a collegiate choral ensemble. Clearly, the evening will emphasize men of Michigan in performance settings.

Born July 30, 1945 in Tennessee, Carr served as Michigan’s head football coach from May 1995 until January 2008 during which time he and his teams assembled a record of 122 and 40. Under his leadership, the Wolverines won or shared five Big Ten titles, and the 1997 team was declared the Associated Press national champion.

At age 10, Carr and his family moved to Riverview, Michigan where he later quarterbacked his high school football team to a 1962 state championship. He went on to play college ball at University of Missouri and later at Northern Michigan University while earning his M.A. in education administration. He also received an honorary PhD from the University of Michigan shortly after retiring.

Carr’s collegiate coaching career started in 1976 with two seasons as an assistant coach at Eastern Michigan University followed by two seasons as an assistant coach at Illinois. In 1980, he moved on to Michigan were he served as an assistant for nine years under Bo Schembechler and later under Gary Moeller from 1990-94. Carr was defensive secondary coach for his first seven seasons and defensive coordinator from 1987-1994. He also held the title of assistant head coach from 1990-1994.

Coach Carr became Michigan’s interim head coach in May, 1995 and was named full-time head coach in November, 1995 after posting an 8-2 record through his first ten games. In 1997, Carr’s team defeated Ohio State 20-14, making him the third Michigan coach to defeat the Buckeyes in each of his first three games, following Fielding Yost and Fritz Crisler.

During the 2003 season, Carr joined Yost, Bennie Oosterbaan, and Schembechler as the only coaches in school history to serve for more than 100 career games. The Wolverines also won consecutive Big Ten championships in 2003 and 2004, earning the school’s 18th and 19th appearances in the Rose Bowl game. In 2005, Carr recorded his 100th career victory, against Iowa. He ranks third in school history in career victories with 122, behind only Yost (165) and Schembechler (194).

On the eve of his final game against defending national champion Florida, Coach Carr was awarded the Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year Award. On January 1, 2008, then-unranked Michigan beat ninth-ranked Florida 41-35 in the 2008 Capital One Bowl giving Coach Carr a win in his final game as Michigan’s head coach.

In addition to his work on the football field, Coach Carr has been active in support of women’s athletics, endowing a women’s sports scholarship that is presented annually to a female student-athlete at UM. He has served as chairperson for the WJF/Special Olympics Golf Outing, and he and his wife were co-chairs of the 2002 Washtenaw County United Way Campaign. Carr serves on the NCAA Rules Committee and is a member of the American Board of Trustees.

Since 2004, an annual summer “Carr’s Wash for Kids” has been held with the proceeds benefiting C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. Coach Carr has been highly visible raising money for the new Mott hospital building, discussing it often on Michigan Replay and sporting a bracelet showing his support for the hospital.

Carr and his wife, Laurie, who live in the Ann Arbor area, are the parents of six children, four boys and two girls.

A Triple-Celebration Concert March 13
By Paul Rardin

What began as a big celebration of the two oldest collegiate men’s choruses in the country – Harvard (151 years) and UM (150 years) – just got a little bigger.

The Virginia Glee Club – University of Virginia’s oldest student organization, yet a relative youngster at only 139 years old – recently accepted UM’s offer to join the two choruses for this special concert. The three ensembles will perform Saturday, March 13, 8:00pm at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, 530 Elizabeth Street, Ann Arbor (directions).

VGC conductor Frank Albinder, former conductor of the renowned men’s ensemble Chanticleer, inquired about this possibility after learning that UM provost Teresa Sullivan had accepted UVA’s offer to become their 8^th president beginning August 1, 2010. Provost Sullivan will attend the concert and have the opportunity to meet her “new” glee club before she leaves Ann Arbor for Charlottesville.

This celebration coincides with Harvard’s recognition of the 32^nd and final year of Jameson Marveson’s remarkable tenure as HGC conductor, as well as UM’s sesquicentennial celebration.

The UVA gents will pull a rolling all-nighter to make this performance happen, leaving by bus immediately after their Friday, March 12 performance in Roanoke, VA to drive overnight to Ann Arbor. This performance will conclude their week-long tour of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, Washington, D.C., Virginia, and now Michigan.

We send snaps both to ensembles for including us in their tours and we can’t wait for this exciting event.

On Saturday, January 9th, approximately 290 high school guys from all over the state of Michigan descended upon the University of Michigan.  That’s right; Male Vocal Arts Day 2010 went off without a hitch once again this year! The day began with a 9:30am rehearsal with the 300 students and Dr. Rardin. After a lunch break where the students were able to explore Ann Arbor and get a taste (literally) of the campus, the program continued with a combined rehearsal with the high school students and the entire Glee Club. Finally, at 4:00pm, all of the Vocal Arts Day participants as well as the members of both the Men’s and Women’s Glee Clubs joined together to perform a concert in Hill Auditorium. The directors as well as the students from the 40 schools that participated were impressed with the program once again, and many of them described the event as one of the highlights of their year, and we would all agree with that sentiment as well.

The Club is proud to announce that Bob McGrath ‘54, perhaps best known publicly as “Bob” of Sesame Street fame, will serve as emcee for the Club’s 150th anniversary reunion in April.

While at Michigan, Bob was a music major and four-year member of the Men’s Glee Club under Dr. Philip A. Duey and also studied voice with Dr. Duey. A first tenor of exceptional range and quality, Bob sang in the predecessor group to the Friars, the Novelaires, was one of the first freshmen ever to become a featured Glee Club soloist, and was Club President his senior year.

Since graduating with a bachelor in music degree from Michigan, Bob received his master’s from Manhattan School of Music. He has returned to the Club on a number of occasions to perform as guest soloist, delivering always memorable renditions of “Oh, Danny Boy” and “The Rainbow Connection” to name a few. His most recent guest soloist appearance with the Glee Club was in May, 2009 in New York City during the Club’s eastern spring tour.

After leaving Michigan and the Men’s Glee Club, Bob assembled an accomplished and remarkable biography. Here are some highlights.

He is now celebrating his 40th season as one of the original hosts on Sesame Street having bridged two generations of viewers young and old. In addition to his role as music teacher on Sesame Street, Bob is a successful author, recording artist, and concert performer. His newest book, “Oops! Excuse Me Please! And Other Mannerly Tales” has received tremendous acclaim. An earlier release, “Uh Oh! Gotta Go!” is still one of the nation’s best-selling potty-training books and has been featured on “Regis & Kathy Lee”, “Pat Bullard”, and “Rosie O’Donnell.”

He is the recipient of numerous awards for his work furthering early childhood music. NAMM, the International Music Products Association, presented Bob with its “Music for Life” award at the 2008 Summer NAMM show in Nashville. He was recently named a Lowell Mason Fellow in recognition of a significant and lasting contribution to music education by MENC, and the National Music Council has awarded him the American Eagle Award. In 2002, he was inducted into the Silver Circle of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. His previous eight recordings, all on his label, “Bob’s Kids Music”, have sold over half a million units and received Parent Choice, American Library Association, and the Children’s Music Web Awards. His most recent release is titled “Christmas Sing Along”, a CD for the whole family.

In addition to working with both small bands and over one hundred symphony orchestras, in his shows, Bob–”the Pied Piper of Sesame Street”–always features local children singing and dancing to music from Sesame Street, Broadway, classical repertoire, and his latest recordings. He has been chairperson of national UNICEF Day and hosted World Children’s Day at the United Nations. Bob is frequently invited as a keynote speaker, performer, and workshop presenter for the National Association of Education Young Children conferences where he presents his educational materials to aid in keeping music alive in the early grades.

A lyric tenor, he began his professional career singing and recording with the Robert Shaw Chorale and Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians and has worked with such noted musicians and conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Pablo Casals, and Igor Stravinsky. He spent five years as featured tenor soloist on Mitch Miller’s popular NBC television series, “Sing Along With Mitch”. As a result of a Mitch Miller tour, Bob was invited back to Japan nine times, and became a major star there with teenage fans. In visiting Japan on its world tour in 1967, the Men’s Glee Club performed with Bob on a local Japanese television show.

For more than 15 years, Bob has acted as host and consultant to the International Children’s Festival at Wolftrap in Virginia, and he was recently recognized by the U.S. House of Representatives for his contributions to that festival. Recently honored as a lifetime member of Variety, The Children’s Charity, Bob has hosted that organization’s telethons in Vancouver for the past 35 years and its New York telethon for 13 of them.

Bob was born and raised on an Illinois farm. He and his wife, Ann, just celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary and live in Teaneck, NJ. They are the parents of five children and grandparents to eight grandchildren. You can visit Bob’s website,www.bobmcgrath.com