Here are some fond memories by undergraduates about their experience on the recent Glee Club tour. Share your own with us in the comments section below!
"It is unbelievable that only six weeks ago, the Glee Club was welcoming the New Year in Nuremburg. The city was alight with fireworks and we were all electrified after having given a wonderful concert in the charming town of Roßtal. This last tour with Glee Club was a very special tour for me. As a senior, I knew it would be the last time that I would be traveling abroad with the Glee Club and with some of my closest friends. I went on tour with the mindset of cherishing each moment as it came by. The fairytale, ice-crusted landscape on our drive from Nuremberg to Prague, the mulled wine that warmed my insides and made me think of Butterbeer in Harry Potter and the lit faces that greeted us at every concert are all memories that I will take with me from the Glee Club tour. The Glee Club tour was magical - singing the Bach Magnificat in Thomaskirche, filling restaurants to the brim, celebrating birthdays and making music together are all highlights that bring a smile to my face. I can still feel the tour afterglow in our rehearsals now, and I cannot wait to see where this adventure will lead us next. I am grateful for everyone and everything that made this tour possible - it sure was a good one." - Tanya Tawengwa '14, 2013 President
"Thanks for the matchless and touching Rachmaninov and "Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied" and "Magnificat" Performances! I will never forget this! Come back soon!!" - Audience Member
"Planning for tour was so much fun! Going on international tour is an incredible part of the Glee Club experience. Besides the opportunity to sing incredible music in the most fantastic venues, the Glee Club comes back as a stronger, more cohesive, more unified group. The tour to Paris my freshman year was where I connected with some of my closest friends at Princeton, and I wanted to be able to take part in creating that experience for the current Glee Club." - Katherine Wolff '15, 2013 Tour Manager
"Two days before New Years Eve, when most students enjoyed the company of their families, the singers of Princeton’s Glee Club and Chamber Choir assembled with tuxedos, dresses and musical scores at Newark Airport: Together with director Gabriel Crouch and accompanist Kerry Heynman, the 70 students were about to travel abroad to perform at three of Europe’s most historical venues. Two years after its last international tour, the choir had the chance to present its wide repertoire to audiences in Nuremberg, Prague and Leipzig. The excitement to explore cities of medieval origin and to perform in churches that have inspired the geniuses of musicians like Johann Sebastian Bach was equally large as the interest of the local audiences: The choral music, which sometimes dwelled in the sentiment of the holiday season and sometimes departed from it to explore more complicated contexts, was not only a great enough promise to fill the respective venues, but caused the Glee Club to be received everywhere with great warmth and friendliness. The international tour constituted a unique opportunity to perform with some of Europe’s most distinguished artists: In Leipzig, both the Leipziger Barockorchester and the choral ensemble Calmus co-performed with the young singers and made the performances of pieces like Bach’s Magnificat an outstanding experience. Besides high-quality music-making, exploring the sights and enjoying the exposure to a foreign culture was a principal focus of the tour: With the friendly support of tour guides, drivers and travel agents, the seven days were well-spent on getting to know more than only concert venues of the foreign cities. Nuremberg offered a historical backdrop for the choir’s New Years Eve celebrations, Prague impressed with its outstanding number of picturesque sights, and Leipzig made itself a name as a city of great musical and cultural significance. Back at Princeton, the choir is not only looking back on wonderful concerts and an extraordinary journey, but as well looking forward to building on the close friendships that were forged within only one week. That those new friendships extend beyond the student body has already shown: At Princeton, the Glee Club will soon be presenting music from Johann Sebastian Bach together with the ensemble Calmus from Leipzig." - Johannes Hallermeier '15
"Ich hab noch nie einen so perfekten, zarten und gigantischen Chor gehört! Dazu die excellente Akustik in der Thomaskirche zu Leipzig! Danke für dieses wunderbare Konzert!" - Audience Member
"My favorite part of tour was singing the Bach Magnificat in the Thomaskirche of Leipzig, which is the church that Bach would debut his music when he worked as choral-master of the church. Bach is buried inside the church, and it was a surreal experience to sing his music, in his church, directly facing his grave. I have never felt such a connection singing any other piece before; it's a feeling I am never going to forget. And as an extra bonus, we were greeted quite out of the blue by Princeton alum Roland Schönfeld '52, who was full of enthusiasm about our concert!" - Zach Levine '17, 2014 Treasurer
"Glee Club Tour 2014, to Nuremburg, Prague, and Leipzig was an absolutely unforgettable experience. As a senior in the group, having survived almost seven semesters, it was a wonderful way to get back in touch with friends and explore Europe with people who I'd otherwise rarely cross paths with. Glee Club truly has become a family over the years, and this made the trip all the more fun. Most importantly, though, the experiences of singing in a completely full church in the small town of Rosthal as well as the grand Thomaskirche in Leipzig are moments I will be able to share with fellow Glee Clubbers for the rest of my life. What an amazing opportunity to rekindle old friendships and make new ones all the while creating beautiful music under the direction of an incredible conductor in some of the most historic centers of music in the world." - Dina Murokh '14