Modern History
At the first rehearsal of its current director in 2003, the Glee Club numbered thirteen singers. That semester, the group performed only once; at the November Fall Choral Concert where it was “sandwiched” between the Chamber Choir, the Chorale, and two student-run a cappella groups.
Since then, the group has expanded to include over 50 singers and has performed hundreds of times, including a featured performance for the Georgia Board of Regents at President Clough’s residence, home basketball games (singing the National Anthem and half-time features), homecoming football games, the President’s Gala at Tech Square (for the presidents of every public college and university in the University System of Georgia), EarthLink Live (Greek Sing), the Student Success Center, the Georgia Tech Economic Development Institute, the Connect With Tech Admissions Office program, Spivey Hall at Clayton State University, the College of Architecture Awards Day Ceremony, featured performances at Atlanta area churches, and community outreach performances.
Additionally, the group introduced Live Music for Dead Week: performances in the dining halls (coordinated and sponsored by food services) during the last week of academic classes, and Sorority Serenade, an evening of singing for sorority houses on campus, both invited and spontaneous. The group has also provided numerous entertainment programs on the campus and in the Atlanta community, such as the Administrative Professionals Breakfast, Faculty Women’s Club luncheon, Alumni Association events, and FASET. In collaboration with the Southeast U.S. Region’s Barbershop Society the Glee Club hosted three a cappella festivals on campus.
In Spring 2005, the Glee Club held its first all-day off-campus retreat, and concluded with its first full feature concert (in recent history) by in the Student Center Theater. In April 2005 the Men’s Glee Club was also featured at the High Museum of Art’s Hill Auditorium as a part of their After Hours at the High program.
In 2006, the group sang over 60 performances for thousands of people, including performances for President Clough, Coach Chan Gailey, Mayor Shirley Franklin, Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Governor Sonny Perdue, the Georgia Tech Alumni Association Board of Directors, the Georgia Tech Advisory Board and the Georgia Tech Foundation Board of Trustees. It also performed for AirTran Airlines Atlanta managerial staff, multiple AirTran Christmas parties and, thousands of weary holiday travelers in eight performances at the world’s busiest commercial airport, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
The group also provided performances for two Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta fund-raisers, Georgia Tech’s Black History Month Celebration, and opened for Horatio Sanz of Saturday Night Live fame as well as Rockapella.
In January 2006 and 2007, the Glee Club served as the Ensemble-In-Residence at both the Fourth and Fifth Annual Hawaii International Conference of Arts & Humanities in Honolulu, for an audience that included over 3,000 academicians from over 40 countries.
In March 2008, the Glee Club performed a solo debut concert in New York’s Carnegie Hall to a capacity crowd and two standing ovations. Two months later, it embarked upon a two-week tour of England, Scotland, and Wales, garnering rave reviews for its performances.
In March, 2009, the Glee Club performed at the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of American Art and National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C. It was also the featured ensemble at an a cappella festival on the campus of The George Washington University.