Thank You...

...to our many friends and supporters for helping to make our 144th annual spring concert a resounding success.  If you would like to perform with us at our annual gala holiday concert in December, please contact conductor Gene Wisoff (GeneWisoff@aol.com or 212-362-8550). If you would like to attend our December 2010  holiday concert (free to invited guests), please email assistant secretary Marty Edelman (mpe1217@rcn.com). Click here to read about our spring 2010 concert.

Men Who Sing  Documentary Featuring MGC Makes Its Debut  click on image to view trailer

Men Who Sing: A 56-minute documentary showcasing MGC's rich history since its founding in 1866 and recent resurgence has recently been   released. The film follows the Club from rehearsals through performances over two years, providing glimpses of the singers and conductor at work and at play, and features interviews with both members and others connected to the chorus. Click here to learn more about the DVD and to place an order. It's hoped that the documentary will inspire other men who love to sing to come forth and let their voices be heard. If you would like to audition for the Club, please contact conductor Gene Wisoff at GeneWisoff@aol.com or phone 212-362-8550.

The Mendelssohn Glee Club of New York City was founded in 1866. Named for composer Felix Mendelssohn, the Club has offered for the enjoyment of our members and friends at least two concerts in every year of our existence. The nonprofit organization is the oldest men’s chorus in the country and the second oldest independent musical organization (after the New York Philharmonic).

Repertoire

We are always adding to our eclectic library of over 1,600 male choral pieces. Our repertoire includes art songs, ballads, spirituals, hymns, seasonal works, operatic choruses, lieder, barbershop songs, and selections from musical theater. Recent performances.

Historic highlights

The glee club received accolades from Sir Arthur Sullivan and Arturo Toscanini and sang at the dedication of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1888.  Its conductors have included Joseph Mosenthal, Edward MacDowell, Frank Damrosch, Cesare Sodero, Emerson Buckley, and John Royer Bogue. Guest soloists have included Victor Herbert, Helen Traubel, Aprile Millo, and Emily Pulley.  Detailed history. 

MGC on NPR

Listen to Lars Hoel's feature about MGC on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition Sunday (December 23, 2007). Click here.

The Club gives two major performances a year, in the spring and winter. For details about past performances, click here.  .

Spring 2010 Concert

Our 144th annual spring concert was held Tuesday evening, May 11, at  the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Manhattan Temple, on the Upper West Side.

Program highlights

The MGC program was one of its more contrast-rich in years -- sixteen pieces, from solid Broadway classics to traditional songs of the mountains and of the road, from heartfelt ballads of both the Old World and the New to zesty tunes with playful lyrics, from a bit of Brahms to the wit of Gershwin.

The Club led off with the fiery, rhythmic "Danza!," composer Linda Spevacek's thrumming homage to the fever of Spanish dance; and Barry Manilow's plaintive, musically building exhortation "One Voice." The program included subsequently the traditional strains of the Carolina tippler's mountain song "Black-eyed Susie" and the amusing black humor of Cecil Forsythe's "Old King Cole."

In the realm of the romantic, MGC sang a Brahms love song, "Der Gang Zum Liebchen," as well as the Irish-style love ballad "Till the Stars Fall From the Sky" -- and, in a more lively, brash vein, "Toot, Toot, Tootsie!"

From Gershwin, there was that most rousing of marches, "Strike Up the Band," along with two other timeless tunes from the Great White Way -- one, focused beyond the blue horizon but not far from the Yellow Brick Road, by Arlen and Harburg ("Over the Rainbow"); and the other, the reigning anthem of the Big Apple, by Kander and Ebb ("New York, New York").

For their finale the Club was joined by bass soloist Matthew Anchel in a rendition of Oley Speaks's Kipling-inspired "On the Road to Mandalay. (A prolific songwriter and composer, Mr. Speaks was a member of MGC more than seventy years ago.)

Guest artist bass Matthew Anchel performed Schubert's "An die Music," "Sorge infausta una procella" from Handel's Orlando, arias from Gounod and Verdi, and "I Am What I Am" from Herman's La Cage aux Folles. He was joined by his father, MGC bass David Anchel, in the duet "L'alto retaggio non ho bramato" from Verdi's Luisa Miller.

Guest composer Jon Pohlmann ("Psalm 130," performed at this concert) has been a member (second tenor) of the Club since 1999. His wide range of musical achievements include two off-off-Broadway musicals, a theme written for an Ella Fitzgerald tribute at Lincoln Center, and all the songs performed by his blues-rock band The Hoi Polloi.
 

About Felix Mendelssohn

The year 2009 marked Felix Mendelssohn's 200th birthday. He was born on February 3, 1809, in Hamburg, Germany. His best-known works include A Midsummer Night's Dream (with the famous "Wedding March"); his four symphonies (especially the "Italian" and the "Scottish"); a violin concerto; piano pieces entitled Songs Without Words; and the oratorio Elias (a large-scale work for chorus, orchestra, and soloists).

Mendelssohn inspired the creation of many choral clubs -- amateur and professional -- including the Mendelssohn Glee Club of New York City, founded in 1866.

The Mendelssohn name was adopted in recognition of the composer's important role, historically, in choral music. Not the least of his contributions to European and world culture was his crusade to bring attention to the choral works, genius, and deserved preeminence of Johann Sebastian Bach.
        
Past performances

For details about other performances, click here.
 

We hope that our audiences have enjoyed our performances as much as we have enjoyed singing. Please keep in mind that the ability of the Club to continue depends on financial support from friends like you. Donations.

Benefit recitals and special performances

The Club serves the community by performing at local hospitals and senior centers and singing at special events. 

Click here to read about benefit recitals.

We welcome the opportunity to share our joy of singing. If you would be interested in having the Club perform for your organization, please contact us.

To make an appointment for an audition, please contact the conductor at 212-362-8550 or send email to GeneWisoff@aol.com. 

For general questions about the Club or for additional information, please contact the President, John Memmolo: jamskier@aol.com.  

The Mendelssohn Glee Club would like to thank radio station WQXR for its generous support.

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