JOIN US!  audition now for our spring 2012 season

Rehearsals take place Monday evenings on the Upper West Side beginning February 6. For more information or to schedule an audition appointment, contact the conductor Gene Wisoff at 212-362-8550 or email him here.

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

Men Who Sing: The 56-minute documentary showcases MGC's rich history since its founding in 1866 and recent resurgence. 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.   .

2011 Winter Holiday Concert
(first performance of 146th season)

Tuesday evening, December 13
Stephen Wise Free Synagogue, 30 West 68th Street

Guest Artist: Meredith Lustig, soprano
 

Program highlights

The MGC program of fifteen pieces -- from both American and European composers -- offered as always variety in both musical genre and mood. 

Five of the works were being sung by the Club for the first time: “In Taberna Quando Sumus,” “As Time Goes By,” “Dirait-on,” “Lydia the Tattooed Lady,” and “How Should a King Come?” 

“In Taberna Quando Sumus” is part of Carl Orff's best-known work, Carmina Burana, an aggressively rhythmic piece drawn from secular poetry in a 13th-century manuscript found in a Benedictine monastery. Carmina Burana is notable for being at once medieval in content and modern in Orff's singular treatment.  

Also heard was "As Time Goes By." Composed by Herman Hupfield in 1931 for the Broadway musical Everybody's Welcome, it's of course known to most people for its ambient importance in the 1939 movie Casablanca and sung in that film by Dooley Wilson. The song later became a Rudy Vallee hit in 1942.

The sweet and lilting "Dirait-on" is an original choral work by the contemporary American composer Morten Lauridsen. The lyrics of Lauridsen's setting are part of Les Chansons des Roses, by the Bohemian-Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke (who wrote hundreds of poems in French). 

In the realm of musical humor, MGC did its version of “Lydia the Tattooed Lady,” written in 1939 by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg for the Marx Brothers film At the Circus.  Using ingenious rhymes in itemizing specific tattoos on parts of Lydia, it soon became a signature tune for Groucho Marx, who in 1950 famously sang it (and stopped trading for several minutes) at the New York Stock Exchange. 

The winter concert also included, among other songs, "The Galway Piper," "Italian Street Song" (from Naughty Marietta), and the barbershop number "Coney Island Baby."  

Part of some closing holiday fare were two original choral works. The song “How Should a King Come?” (music by Jimmy Owens, lyrics by Carol Owens) was arranged by Mendelssohn conductor Gene Wisoff for men’s chorus and piano. The words about Joseph and Mary’s humble arrival in Bethlehem have a charming, childlike simplicity. Anne Albritton’s contemplative, then rousing and joyous "Music of Hanukkah" was also performed.

Guest artist soprano Meredith Lustig's program  included works by Giacomo Puccini (“O Mio Babbino Caro” from Gianni Schicchi), Richard Strauss (Mädchenblumen, a four-song cycle), and Victor Herbert (“Art Is Calling”). Other composers in Ms. Lustig’s program were Alfred Bachelet and Jules Massanet.

Past performances

For details about other performances, click here.

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.       

 

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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