David Hodge, the president of Miami University for the past 10 years, has said that in order to have the ultimate “Miami experience,” you have to go to a hockey game and a Men’s Glee Club concert. That is high praise! The first group, founded by Raymond Burke, the composer of the Alma Mater and Fight Song, and then-president of the university, Dr. Guy Potter Benton, only had eight members. The Miami University Men’s Glee Club is one of the oldest and best glee clubs in the nation.
That’s a brief, and I mean brief, history of Miami’s Glee Club,but I will talk about my experience in the glee club so far. This is my fifth semester in the club, and counting. I am pretty involved on Miami’s campus, but being a member, a brother-in-song to my fellow brothers, joining is the best decision I’ve made at Miami. When you are a new member of glee club, you are a “new guy.” When I was a new guy, I was so nervous fitting in, trying to be what I thought glee club should be. What club helped me realize was that I could be myself, and that’s exactly what club is looking for. Once I started being myself, which was right around one of glee club’s favorite yearly events, Winter Tour, I really started enjoying club.
Winter Tour, a yearly week or so of singing, travel, and brotherhood, is always remembered as some of the most enjoyable moments. Whether it's singing on stage with the Army Men’s Chorus in Virginia or a few friends and I hitting up the clubs in Atlanta, on and off the stage, Winter Tour is a time for club to really come together and build the brotherhood we always preach.
We travel and we do it quite often. Thanks to wonderful and generous support from the University and our ever-present and active alumni, Miami Men’s Glee Club has gotten to travel all over the world. We take a Winter Tour every year, but we also take a European Tour every three years. This past Winter Tour, we sang in Wales, France, Germany, Belgium, and Luxembourg. It was in Luxembourg that we toured the Luxembourg Miami campus and also won an international competition against all professional choirs.
Through these tours, we become better musicians and hone our craft working with top directors from around the world. We also become better friends and closer brothers in song. I think one of the more important aspects of these tours is that we are ambassadors for the university, spreading the Miami name to everyone who can hear us sing; we’re pretty loud, so that's basically everyone. (We got kicked out of a mall in Nashville and made it on the news.) We perform for high schools putting Miami’s name on the forefront of their minds, just in time to make a college selection. The Miami University Men’s Glee Club also performs at conferences, like the American Choral Directors Association Regional Conference two years ago in Cincinnati, where we were one of two groups to receive a standing ovation. We also perform at a conference called IMC, or Intercollegiate Men’s Choruses Seminar, which is held every other year and we have performed at the last seven conferences, including this upcoming March.
I know it may sound like I’m bragging. I am, honestly. I am so honored and proud to be a part of this amazing group. Some of the best friends I have ever had are brothers-in-song. Almost all of my best and favorite memories are in this group. I have had the privilege of traveling to nine states and six countries, which is amazing at the age of 21. I cannot imagine my Miami experience or even my life without this group.
