“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!

This entry was posted on Monday, February 15th, 2010 at 12:13 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.