PRINCETON CHOIRS 2023-2024
Welcome
Welcome to the wonderful world of choral singing at Princeton!
On this page you’ll find lots of information about our choirs here at Princeton, together with news of what to look forward to in our choral program this year.
The choral scene at Princeton:
We have three major choral ensembles to offer you – the Glee Club, the Playhouse Choir and the Chamber Choir, which between them bring together the best and most passionate singers on campus. All of these groups are ‘qualifying’ departmental ensembles for subsidized (or free) voice lessons. Many students are happy and fulfilled singing in just one ensemble, but plenty choose to completely fill their schedules with singing on campus. In addition to all the choirs in the Music Department, we encourage you to explore Chapel Choir, Jazz Vocal Ensemble, Early Music Princeton, student and faculty-led opera, our many musical theater productions, a cappella groups and other student-run ensembles. You’ll meet students whose singing adventures span 4 or 5 of those groups over the course of their time at Princeton!
Upcoming 150th Anniversary of the Princeton University Glee Club:
The Glee Club, soon to celebrate its 150th birthday, is just one part of Princeton’s growing choral program. Read on to find out more about the other three music department choirs— the Playhouse Choir, the Chamber Choir, and the Vocal Consort program.
Many students are happy and fulfilled singing in just one ensemble, but plenty choose to completely fill their schedules with singing on campus. In addition to all the choirs in the Music Department, we encourage you to explore Chapel Choir, Jazz Vocal Ensemble, Early Music Princeton, student and faculty-led opera, our many musical theater productions, a cappella groups and other student-run ensembles. You’ll meet students whose singing ventures span 4 or 5 of those groups over the course of their time at Princeton! Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Our Choirs, up close
Contacts:
Glee Club and Chamber Choir: Gabriel Crouch gcrouch@princeton.edu
Playhouse Choir: Solon Snider Sway solon.snider@princeton.edu
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GLEE CLUB:
The Glee Club rehearses three times each week beginning Monday September 12th, 2022. All rehearsals take place weekly in the McAlpin Hall in the Woolworth Music Center, at the following times:
Monday, Wednesday: 4:30 to 6:30 pm; Friday: 4:30 to 6:00 pm
The Glee Club is the oldest and largest choir at Princeton University, and has for generations served as the ‘hub’ for singers at Princeton – in which like-minded students come together to explore musical passions and make lifelong friendships. The choir tours internationally on alternate years (at no cost to the students!), and has recently added Argentina and South Africa to the list of stamps in the Glee Club passport. There are five major performances each year, and numerous special appearances at functions and gatherings around campus. The choir's most celebrated performing tradition dates from 1913 – the annual concerts presented jointly with the Glee Clubs of Harvard and Yale Universities on the eve of the respective football games. A more recent tradition has seen the establishment of annual performances of choral masterworks with professional soloists and orchestra. In the last few years these have included Mendelssohn's Elijah, Bach's St. Matthew and St John Passions and Mass in B minor, Mozart's Requiem and Verdi’s Requiem. The choir's repertoire is extremely diverse, and has seen the group collaborate with artists from Emma Kirkby to Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and from Roomful of Teeth to Tenebrae. In the coming year, they will perform with the pan-African vocal group Mushandirapamwe Singers, directed by former Glee Club President Tanyaradzwa Tawengwa ’14. The spectrum of Glee Club members is every bit as broad: undergraduates and graduate students, scientists and poets, philosophers and economists - all walks of academic life are represented, all knit together by their belief in the nobility and joy of singing together.
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PLAYHOUSE CHOIR:
The Playhouse Choir rehearses twice weekly beginning Tuesday September 13th, 2022. All rehearsals take place in McAlpin Hall in the Woolworth Music Center, at the following times:
Tuesday, Thursday: 4:30 to 6:30pm
The Princeton Playhouse Choir (founded in 2021) is a new ensemble housed jointly with the Lewis Center’s Programs in Theater and Music Theater and the Music Department, focusing on repertoire beginning in a broad range of theatrical traditions and expanding into a realm of experimental and innovative music-making. The core of the group’s repertoire is music connected to theater and reimagined for creative ensemble configurations through new arrangements and interdisciplinary collaborations. Playhouse incorporates large and small ensemble singing, a cappella and accompanied singing, vocal solos, dance, spoken word, new music commissions, and collaborative projects with artists across departments to facilitate a vibrant and inclusive rehearsal environment.
Auditions are held at the beginning of each year, as part of the wider choral audition schedule. Members are eligible for subsidized voice lessons in the Music Department!
More info can be found here: https://arts.princeton.edu/academics/theater/princeton-playhouse-choir/
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CHAMBER CHOIR:
The Chamber Choir rehearses twice weekly beginning Monday September 19th, 2022. All rehearsals take place in McAlpin Hall in the Woolworth Music Center, at the following times:
Monday, Wednesday: 7:30 to 9pm
Conducted by Gabriel Crouch, the Chamber Choir is a select group of 30-35 mixed voices that sings a range of challenging music from the Renaissance period through the twenty-first century. Most of the choir’s membership also sings in the Glee Club. This ensemble performs in concert with the Glee Club as well as on a separate concert series, and is frequently invited to perform off campus. Because of the advanced repertoire and light rehearsal schedule, Chamber Choir members possess a high level of musicianship. Recent repertoire has included Bach's complete motets, Poulenc’s Figure Humaine, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle and Mary Lou Williams’ St Martin de Porres with jazz great Cyrus Chestnut.
Auditions are held at the beginning of each year, as part of the wider choral audition schedule. As with the Glee Club, members of the Chamber Choir are eligible for subsidized voice lessons.
Note: First-year and sophomore students who are admitted to the Chamber Choir must also sing in the Glee Club.
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THE VOCAL CONSORT PROGRAM:
Princeton University's Vocal Consort Certificate Program, newly instigated in 2016, allows singers with an interest in one-to-part singing, of unaccompanied vocal music from any era or genre, to pursue their passion together in a supervised setting. Under the general direction of Gabriel Crouch and Jacqueline Horner-Kwiatek, the students in the program curate their own recitals and rehearse with each other in a variety of configurations, depending on the needs of the repertoire. The Consort’s first concert program included music by Ligeti, Tye, and Padilla, as well as improvisational singing and a set of traditional Bulgarian folk songs.
The Vocal Consort Certificate Program is part of the Program in Performance, which students audition for as rising juniors. Read more about PIP and the Certificate Program here.
Auditions
Choral auditions for all three groups (Glee Club, Chamber Choir, and Playhouse Choir) will be held September 6th-9th, 2022 in McAlpin Rehearsal Hall, Woolworth Music Center. Visit the audition page to view in depth information about the audition process.
choral program open house
Come and meet our current members, directors, and each other at the Choral program open house on Wednesday September 7th at 4:30pm, in McAlpin Hall in the Woolworth Music Center.
Get more involved!
Please contact Solon Snider Sway (solon.snider@princeton.edu) if you’re interested in joining our list of student leaders for the Trenton Youth Singers, and please consult Gabriel Crouch (gcrouch@princeton.edu) if you think you might be interested in the Certificate Program in Vocal Consort Singing or the Certificate Program in Vocal Performance.
We will also be offering a weekly Beginning Voice class, incorporating both vocal and ear training, for singers who may not be ready for choral membership and would like to work on their skills within a structured program.