Friday, March 14, 2014

The Naval Academy Men's Glee Club....MAN, oh MAN

I had the privilege of hearing the Naval Academy Men's Glee Club this morning.   It was unbelievably terrific, professional, entertaining, patriotic, spirit-filled.....I can't say enough about the 60 young men we heard sing today.  (I just found this YouTube of them...hang thru the rather serious beginning, they get VERY hip, very fun, and VERY patriotic...I promise, you'll be impressed;  some of the same guys were at our concert today):

The concert start out very somberly with The Marine Corps Hymn, which got one old guy near the front to stand the whole time.  Brought tears to my eyes when they finished and he pumped his arm in the air before he sat down.  They went from music that included very bluesy gospel, a hymn about Christian salvation which was sung in Russian (probably so it's not to blatantly Christian? :-)) and was gorgeous, they then went into a fabulous and very hip rendition of Bulletproof that our students went wild for, did Billy Joe's And So It Goes prettier than I've ever heard it, Ring of Fire in an upbeat way, the Navy Hymn, etc.    Then they did an adorable "10 reasons to join the Navy," with really clever little actions by the guys that made everybody laugh.  ...But their final and NUMBER 1 REASON was "you get to support and defend your country."   WOW.

They went on to songs like Put Your Head on my Shoulder, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, There is Nothin' Like a Dame...all done with such personality and flair and amazing talent.   They performed just short of an hour.

They presented the school Head Master with "...and we want to thank you for having us here and want to present this framed picture........OF US."  which made everybody laugh...so cute.

They ended up with what the Director said is their favorite, America the Beautiful. 

Afterwards, they stood around and talked to the kids and us, as pleasant, smart, engaging and (I must add) adorable as they could be :-)   

We should be proud that there are at least sixty young men who were so clean cut, so talented and, upon talking to them about the Navy and the Marines, were INCREDIBLY SMART!

Just thought I'd brag on American
kids here for once...........they deserve it.

Z

12 comments:

Bob said...

What a great opportunity, Z. You are so famous that you get to go to all the concerts and events. Maybe you should be President!

When I was in high school, my family strongly encouraged me to take chorus. I thought it was a sissy thing to do, and boy oh boy, was I mistaken. You see, the chorus was about 75% great looking girls, and the chorus got to go on trips, and stay in hotels. What a missed opportunity.

Both our kids had music scholarships, and I immensely enjoyed their, and other, performances. I especially love Beethoven's 9th. It is just awe inspiring.

Have a great weekend.

Lisa said...

Wow how awesome Z. Music is so wonderful. I was in chorus and played violin. I really enjoyed it especially chorus.
I like to see the West Point Christmas show on TV every year.

Constitutional Insurgent said...

I'm not a choir guy, but our Service Academy groups are pretty talented.

Z said...

Bob, I'm not famous in ANY WAY! They happened to appear at the high school I'm associated with :)
But I'll take PRESIDENT if I can get good people like you behind me and WITH me:)
You should have heard the guys talking afterwards about the opportunities the navy's giving them, etc. SO clean cut, attractive, charming...I was thrilled.

Lisa...I wish you could have been there! I love the violin, by the way. I used to accompany a very good violinist when she played a piano/violin duet called the ACCOLAY CONCERTO. Do you happen to know it? It's not that well known but it's beautiful. LOTS of double fingering, etc.
Ya, this glee club is ASTONISHING. maybe I can find a youtube that represents them well enough and post it.

CI....I'm not a choir person, either, usually...this group was serious and beautiful on the straight stuff and SO engaging and funny and demonstrative on the 'up' songs.......one of the best I have EVER seen.

Constitutional Insurgent said...

"....one of the best I have EVER seen."

Apologies if you actually posted this some time ago on your site, and I just don't remember.....but did you see the Air Force Band and Choir do the 'flashmob' routine at the Air and Space Museum? Blew me away.

WomanHonorThyself said...

too cool Z! happy St Pats my friend!...green kisses n huggios!! xoxoxox

Ed Bonderenka said...

@CI: This?
Awesome!
Z: Isn't it awesome when you get to see something like that? Wonderful!

Anonymous said...

Z,
Very well done and so enjoyable. Take care.

Constitutional Insurgent said...

Ed - Yep...thats the one.

Z said...

thanks for coming by, Law and Order.

Lisa said...

Z thanks for the video. How talented those guys are.
I haven't played violin since I was in HS . I wished I hadn't stopped. No I am not familiar with Accolay Concerto. I remember playing Tango Tracadaro when I was in district orchestra. It was fun to play because there was a couple of parts of the song where you pic and not use the bow.

Baysider said...
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