Mendelssohn Glee Club

Mendelssohn Glee Club
Origin	New York City, New York
Genres	Classical
Years active	1866–present
Website	http://www.mgcnyc.org/

The Mendelssohn Glee Club of New York City, founded in 1866, is the oldest glee club not associated with a university in the United States.^[1] An early men's glee club that traveled up and down the eastern seaboard of the United States, the Mendelssohn helped to popularize classical music before symphony orchestras were widespread.

The group had an idiosyncratic style and were known for the exclusiveness of their home performances, which were invitation-only affairs at the group's home base, Mendelssohn Hall. The Hall was designed by member Robert Henderson Robertson and constructed through a donation from Alfred Corning Clark in 1891-1892,^[2] and featured an 1100 seat auditorium, rehearsal space, apartments, and murals by the artist Robert Frederick Blum. Among the Club's tenants was the artist Winslow Homer, who once offered to sketch the club in payment for his back rent. The Club lost its lease on the hall in 1911 and was forced to seek other quarters.^[3]

Directors and members

The first significant conductor of the Mendelssohn Glee Club, Joseph Mosenthal, helped to popularize the group through his dramatic conducting style. The group was subsequently conducted by Cesare Sodero, later notable for conducting Verdi operas at the Met. Other conductors included Frank Damrosch and Edward MacDowell; it is currently conducted by Gene Wisoff.

Notable members included tenor soloist Richard Crooks, baritone soloist and composer Oley Speaks, operatic and concert basso Herbert Witherspoon, and architect Robert Henderson Robertson. Among the group's notable musical guests were Ellen Lewis Herndon Arthur, the wife of future president Chester A. Arthur, and future Metropolitan Opera stars Lica Albanese and Aprile Millo.

Influence

As an early traveling classical ensemble, the group had wide influence. A trip to Boston in 1871 resulted in the formation of the Apollo Club of Boston and influenced the formation of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Orpheus Club of Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Orchestra.^[4]

References

1. ^ "Mendelssohn Glee Club - History". http://www.mgcnyc.org/history.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-21. 
2. ^ "Mendelssohn Glee Club: Opening of New Home Built for It By Mr. Clark" (PDF). New York Times: p. 4. 1892-12-07. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9B01E1DD1638E233A25754C0A9649D94639ED7CF. 
3. ^ "Mendelssohn Club Seeks a New Home" (PDF). New York Times: p. 8. 1911-05-28. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=980DE6D71439E333A2575BC2A9639C946096D6CF. 
4. ^ New York Library for the Performing Arts. "Mendelssohn Club Papers" (PDF). http://www.nypl.org/sites/default/files/archivalcollections/pdf/musmende.pdf. Retrieved 2011-02-25.