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INSIDE MOREHOUSE, FEBRUARY 2011
CENTENNIAL SINGERS
Music and Brotherhood Forms 100-Year Foundation for Morehouse College Glee Club
By ADD SEYMOUR JR.
D avid Morrow ’80 stood in front of the
Morehouse College Glee Club during a recent
rehearsal and shook his head.
“No, that sounds too mechanical,” said Morrow,
who has directed the acclaimed group since 1987.
“Here’s the other thing you all are doing - you aren’t
finishing anything. Finish the word.”
With that they again launched into “Rocka My
Soul in the Bosom of Abraham,” a song that seemed to
have sounded perfect the other five times to the
untrained ear.
“It’s the standard of excellence,” Morrow said. “If
we are going to do it, it should be at the same level of
anyone’s expectation in the world. So, yes, I try to make
sure every detail is correct.”
For 100 years, that standard of excellence has
allowed the Glee Club to captivate audiences world
wide. This year, that legacy is being celebrated during
the Glee Club’s Centennial Celebration.
The week of events includes a day of symposia and
a Centennial Exhibit unveiling on Feb. 16; the
WHILE DELIVERING
BEAUTIFUL AND INSPIR
ING MUSIC HAS BEEN THE
GLEE CLUB’S SIGNATURE,
WHAT HAS MADE AN
ENDURING TRADITION IS
THE CLUB’S BOND OF
BROTHERHOOD.
Centennial Banquet at The Foundry on Feb. 18; and the
annual spring concert on Feb. 20.
“It’s a wonderful feeling,” Morrow said. “It’s almost
unbelievable to think the Glee Club has lasted 100 years
and that I would be the director when it does turn 100.”
While delivering beautiful and inspiring music has
been the Glee Club’s signature, what has made an
enduring tradition is the club’s bond of brotherhood.
David Thomas, sophomore music major from
Upper Marlboro, Md., is a two-year member. He says
when Glee Club alumni are invited to the commence
ment stage to sing “Prayer” from Lohengrin each year is
an example of that long-lasting bond.
“It’s overwhelming to see people who were intro
duced to that love for the Glee Club, the music and the
brotherhood still hold onto that love,”said Morrow, the
third of only three men to have served as director,
agrees.
“The Morehouse College Glee Club is an eminent
expression of brotherhood, a united force of dedication
and commitment, and an unselfish labor of love.,” he said.
“Since 1987, that’s what each member recites at the
end of every rehearsal. One looks at that motto and
sees that singing isn’t in the motto, though it is a part of
it too. There’s a camaraderie that’s been part of the Glee
Club for ages.” ■
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BY THE NUMBERS
The Morehouse College Glee Club
I — The Glee Club has performed for one
U.S. president, Jimmy Carter - twice: for his
inauguration in 1977 and in the East Room
of the White House with Coretta Scott King
in 1978.
3 — The Glee Club has had only three
directors - Kemper Harreld, Wendell P.
Whalum '52 and David Morrow '80 -
during itslOO-year existence.
4 — Four times a week. Morrow leads
practices in the Glee Club Rehearsal Room
in the Ray Charles Performing Arts Center.
6 — Six men have been named honorary
members of the Glee Club: Roland M. Carter,
Leonard de Paur, Robert Shaw, Hugh M.
Gloster, Benjamin E. Mays and President
Emeritus Walter E. Massey '58
10 — The Glee Club has performed in 10
foreign countries, including South Africa,
Russia and Poland.
30 — The Glee Club does 30 performances
or full concerts during the academic year,
including its annual two-week Spring Tour.
84 - The 2011 Morehouse College Glee
Club has 84 members, coming from all three
of the College's academic divisions and a
wide variety of majors.
1911 — President John Hope hired
Kemper Harreld, a successful young musi
cian, concert violinist and faculty member, to
direct the first edition of the Morehouse
College Glee Club in 1911.