Rutgers University Glee Club

Founded in 1872, the Rutgers University Glee Club (RUGC) is the eighth oldest Glee Club in the United States of America, a nationally recognized men's chorus based at Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It is conducted by Dr. Patrick Gardner.

The Glee Club, based as it is equidistant to Philadelphia and New York City, has a long history of participating in the musical life of both those cities. The group tours frequently, both domestically and internationally; has been featured on a number of commercial recordings; and has commissioned notable works for men's chorus.

The Rutgers University Glee Club traces its roots back to 1872, making it among the oldest glee clubs in the country. Strongly attached to the history of Rutgers University, the Glee Club's early repertoire was dominated by songs of school spirit and the emerging collegiate sport of football, which by tradition began in New Jersey at a game between Rutgers and Princeton University.

After the tenure of beloved director Howard McKinney, for whom the Glee Club's rehearsal hall is named, F. Austin "Soup" Walter became director in 1933 and began to shape the group into a more serious musical ensemble. In addition to numerous appearances on campus and abroad, the Glee Club combined with the women of the Voorhees Choir to form and perform as "Rutgers University Choir". This mixed choir went on to perform major works with many of the era's most significant orchestral ensembles.

After the retirement of "Soup" Walter in 1983, the group went through a number of directors quickly before Patrick Gardner was appointed in 1993. Under his leadership, the Glee Club celebrated its 125th anniversary in 1997 with a performance, in combination with the Rutgers University Orchestra, of Maurice Duruflé's Messe Cum Jubilo before a nearly sold out audience at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. In 1997, the Rutgers Glee Club released their first self-produced compact disc, Let Thy Good Spirit. This recording encompasses the club's repertory from its 1996 tour of Russia and the Baltic States. 1998 saw the club record and release its second recording, The Bells Must Ring! which features songs of the university along with several mainstays of the club's repertoire.

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