History

The Occidental College Glee Club had its beginning in 1906 with the founding of a men’s choral group, followed in 1912 by a women’s club.

Except for a period in the latter part of the 20th century, there has been both a Men’s Glee Club and a Women’s Glee Club. Each had a succession of directors in the formative years, local men and women of distinguished musical talent. One of the first was O. F. Tallman, who conducted the Men’s Glee Club from 1911 to 1918 and gave the Women’s Glee Club its start.

In 1926, Walter E. Hartley, an experienced music scholar, became a full-time appointment in Occidental’s department of music and directed the Glee Club. Howard Swan followed as director from 1934 until retirement in 1971, a period when the Glee Club earned a national and international reputation for superb choral music. He was succeeded for a brief time by Henry Gibbons, who was followed by Thomas Somerville, a Bach scholar, under whose specialty and expertise performances of classical masterworks, especially from the Baroque, received wide acclaim. Jeffrey Bernstein, Glee Club director from 1997 to 2008, brought a keen focus on a cappella repertoire to his work with the choral program. Joined in 2008 by Director of Choral Music Desiree LaVertu, the Glee Club continues to attract national and international attention for its unified tone, intense musicianship, and varied repertoire.

From the beginning, the Glee Club has played a central role in the life of the College, giving voice to college spirit and drawing musicians of the highest caliber to Occidental. Their reputation for excellence has carried the banners of Occidental far into the musical world through national and international tours and recordings and through the generations of choral conductors who have been affiliated with Occidental.

An example of national recognition came in 1961, when by invitation the Glee Club sang under famed conductor Bruno Walter in an all-Brahms recording for Columbia Records. In 1969, the Glee Club was selected to represent the United States in the second International College and University Choral Festival sponsored by Lincoln Center in New York City. Another memorable event was its participation in Elinor Remick Warren’s Good Morning, America!, a work for chorus and orchestra commissioned by Occidental for the 1976 Bicentennial. In 2000, as part of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the death of J. S. Bach, the Glee Club collaborated with the nationally acclaimed Musica Angelica Baroque Orchestra and soloists in a performance of Bach’s St. John Passion. Since then the Glee Club has performed numerous choral-orchestral works including Faure’s Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, and Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, and has sung in Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Pasadena and Santa Monica symphony orchestras.

Past Repertoire:

Tour 2024 Repertoire: Italy

Cantate Domino – Giusepe Pitoni
Champa Battambang – Cambodian, arr. Darita Seth
Daniel, Daniel – spiritual, arr. Undine S. Moore
Dixit Dominus & Donec ponam – Antonio Vivaldi
Hosanna in Excelsis – Brent Pierce
I Love You/What a Wonderful World – arr. Craig Hella Johnson
Justorum Animae – Orlando di Lasso
Leron, Leron Sinta – traditional Filipino song, arr. Saunder Choi
Light of a Clear Blue Morning – Dolly Parton
O! What a Beautiful City – traditional spriritual, arr. Shawn Kirchner
Odecha ki anitani – Salomone Rossi
The Reapers All with Their Sharp Sickles – traditional American, arr. Seth Houston
This is the Day –
Will the Circle Be Unbroken – traditional American

Pops 2024 Concert Repertoire

Magic To Do (from Pippin) – Stephen Schwartz
Changes – David Bowie
I’m Tired – McKenzie/Levinson/Zendaya
Higher Ground – Stevie Wonder
What Was I Made For? – Billie Eilish
End of the Road – Backstreet Boys
Opening Up (from Waitress) – Sara Bareilles
Life Could Be A Dream – The Chords
You Learn – Alanis Morissette
These Days – Jackson Browne
Don’t Lose Sight – Lawrence

January Repertoire 2023

Afternoon on a Hill – Eric Barnum (b. 1979)
Cantate Domino – Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612)
Der Gang zum Liebchen , op. 31, no. 3 – Johannes Brahms (1833-1897)
Hands – Jocelyn Hagen (b. 1980)
Hold On! – traditional American, arr. Jester Hairston (1901-2000)
It’s Gonna Be Alright – Raymond Wise (b. 1969)
Laudate Jehovam omnes gentes – George Phillip Telemann (1681-1767)
Light in the Hallway – Mae/Hoying/Grassi
MLK – U2, arr. Bob Chilcott
Precious Lord – Thomas Dorsey (1899-1993), arr. Arnold Sevier
Son Mercedes – Leo Brouwer (b. 1939)
TāReKiTa – Reena Esmail (b.1983)
Total Praise – Richard Smallwood (b. 1948)
Ubi caritas (from Quatre Motets) – Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)

Pops 2023 Concert Repertoire

Abbey – Mitski
Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In (from Hair )
Dreams – The Cranberries
Godspeed – Frank Ocean
Haven’t Met You Yet – Michael Bublé
Killing Me Softly with His Song – Fox/Gimbel opb Roberta Flack
Lift Me Up – Rihanna
Love’s in Need of Love – Stevie Wonder
Lullabye (Goodnight, My Angel) – Billy Joel
Misbehavin’ – Pentatonix
Sweet Creature – Harry Styles
Things We Do for Love – 10CC

Glee Club 2021-2022 Repertoire

Alleluia – Elaine Hagenberg
Ave Maria – Jacob Arcadelt
California Dreamin’ – The Mamas and the Papas
Canción sin miedo – Vivir Quintana
Fix You – Coldplay
God Only Knows – The Beach Boys
Hold On! – trad. Spiritual, arr. Jester Hairston
I Will Follow You into the Dark – Death Cab for Cutie
If It’s Magic – Stevie Wonder
Lighthouse Keeper – Sam Smith
Musica animam tangens – Joshua Shank
Sicut Cervus – Giovanni da Palestrina
Solitude – Ellington/De Lange/Mills
Sure on This Shining Night – Morten Lauridsen
The 23^rd Psalm – Bobby McFerrin
To Sit and Dream – Rosephanye Powell
Verbum caro factum est – Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612)
Wade in the Water – trad. spiritual, arr. Moses Hogan
Waterfalls – TLC
Where’d All the Time Go? – Dr Dog
Work Song – Hozier

Fall 2019 and Tour 2020 Repertoire

Jerusalem – McGlynn
Let the River Run – Carly Simon
Exultate Justi – Hakenberger
Beati Quorum via – Stanford
The Waking – Conte
A New Psalm – Berg
Son de la Vida – Galván
Mo-Li-Hua – trad. Chinese folk song
Loch Lomond – trad. Scottish folksong
Let my Love Be Heard – Runestad
True Colors – Steinberg/Kelly
Seasons of Love (from Rent)
O! What a Beautiful City – trad. African American

Pops 2019 Concert Repertoire

Sunday (from Sunday in the Park with George)
Dancing Queen – ABBA
Bad Romance/Toxic mashup – Lady Gaga/B Spears
Over the Rainbow – Judy Garland/Kamakawiwo'ole
Make it Holy – The Staves
Angel from Montgomery – Bonnie Raitt
Queen medley
Send Me on my Way (from Ice Age)
Florence & the Machine mashup

Fall 2018 and Tour 2019 Repertoire

San’Bonani – trad Zulu greeting
Non nobis, Domine – Powell
Set me as a Seal – Clausen
Ecco Mormorar l’Onde – Monteverdi
Vita de la mia Vita – Hawley
We Have Come – Betinis
La Llorona – trad. Mexican folksong
Muusika – Uusberg
Across the Vast Eternal Sky – Gjeilo
City Called Heaven – trad. African American
Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor – Berlin
I Love You/ What a Wonderful World – arr. C.H. Johnson

Pops 2018 Concert Repertoire

Song of Purple Summer (from Spring Awakening)
River – Leon Bridges
A Quiet Place – Take Six
Just my Imagination – The Temptations
Circle Game – Joni Mitchell
End of Time – Beyonce
Don’t You Worry bout a Thing – Stevie Wonder
I Lived – One Republic
Time Warp (from Rocky Horror Show)
You Will Be Found (from Dear Evan Hansen)

Fall 2017 and Tour 2018

Dixit Dominus – Mozart
Dixit Maria – Hassler
Dies Irae – Lukáš
O Nata Lux – Lauridsen
Kyrie – Schubert
Tui Nati Vulnerati – Dvorak
Amazing Grace – trad. American
Daniel, Daniel, Servant of the Lord – trad. African American
I’ve been in the Storm so Long – trad. African American
Man in the Mirror – Michael Jackson
Will the Circle Be Unbroken – trad. American
Bridge Over Troubled Water – Simon & Garfunkel

Pops 2017 Concert Repertoire

Pure Imagination from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Scarborough Fair/Sound of Silence – Simon and Garfunkel
Mad World/Madness – Tears for Fears/Muse
Woods – Bon Iver
Hummed Low – Odessa
I Won't Give Up – Jason Mraz
Edge of Night – from The Lord of the Rings
Misty Mountains – from The Hobbit
Skyrim – Jeremy Soule
You've Got a Friend – Carole King
To Make You Feel my Love – Bob Dylan
Heroes – David Bowie
Freedom 90 – George Michael
Purple Rain – Prince
Somebody to Love – Queen

Tour 2017 Repertoire

Your Voices Tune – Handel
Jesus bleibet meine Freude – J.S. Bach
Selig sind die Toten – Schütz
Rytmus – Hrušovský
Os justi – Bruckner
Adinu – Sufi Melody
Salut Printemps – Debussy
Son de Camaguey – Cuban, arr. Hatfield
Te Quiero – Favero
The Parting Glass – Irish, arr. Sametz
Balleilakka – Rahman, arr. Sperry
Bright Morning Stars – American, arr. Kirchner

2016 Winter Concert celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Herrick Chapel organ

Christmas Hymn (While by my Sheep) – traditional
Jesus bleibet meine Freude – J. S. Bach
Sir Christèmas – William Mathias
Ding Dong! Merrily on High – traditional French, arr. David Willcocks
Ma'oz tsur (Rock of Ages) – traditional Hanukkah Hymn, arr. Samuel Adler
Shalom, Friends – Lee Kesselman
Bidi Bom – David Eddleman
Winter Wonderland
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch
White Christmas
Carol of the Bells

Historical Glee Club Photos:

2006, 2000, 1999, 1987, 1985, 1984, 1983, 1982, 1980s, 1979, 1978, 1976, 1973, 1971, 1970, 1969, 1968, 1967, 1966, 1964, 1960, 1959, 1958, 1953, 1950, 1948, 1947, 1943, 1940, 1938, 1937, 1936, 1935, 1910