Glee Club Concert To Celebrate 60th Anniversary

FAIRFIELD — Sixty years ago, when Fairfield University first opened its doors to students, Glee Club was the first club to be organized on campus. On Saturday, April 14, at 8 pm, Dr Carole Ann Maxwell, conductor, will lead current members joined by 85 alumni of Glee Club in a gala 60th anniversary concert that will blend sacred and secular music.

The event will feature a world premier composed for the celebration by American composer Gwyneth Walker.

The concert will be held on campus at Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts, on North Benson Road. The recorded concert will be accessible through iTunesUniversity at Fairfield University, Fairfield.edu/itunesu.

Ambassadors of Song, as the original club was called in 1947, was then an especially appropriate name because the original group truly served as ambassadors, spreading the word about the new Jesuit university that had opened and was thriving on the Fairfield campus. The group traveled throughout the Northeast and Midwest, performing on local radio stations, at parishes, and even Carnegie Hall. The verve of the early days is still on display and is apparent in the varied songs that will make up the evening’s program.

The world premiere of Dr Walker’s “Songs to the Lord of Peace” is a synchronicity of celebrations; not only is it Glee Club’s 60th anniversary, it is also Dr Walker’s 60th birthday. The Connecticut native composed this work with the words of acclaimed Catholic theologian, poet, author, social activist and pacifist Thomas Merton in mind.

Glee Club will also perform selections from the choral work of composers Antonio Vivaldi, Daniel E. Gawthrop, Daniel Pinkham, Marvin Curtis, and Claude Debussy.

Dr Maxwell has served as director of choral and liturgical music for Fairfield University since 1980.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $6 for students, and are available by visiting QuickCenter.com or by calling the box office at 203-254-4010 or 877-ARTS-396 (877-278-7396).