Hampden-Sydney Home PageHampden-Sydney Student Life
Monday, December 01, 2008
CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS

The H-SC Tiger Men's Chorus

The Men’s Chorus is one of the oldest official student organizations on campus. Its roots can be traced back to the 1820s. Membership is open to any student interested in choral singing; a brief audition with the director is required to place singers in the correct voice part. Members of the chorus earn one hour of academic credit for each semester in which they are enrolled. A small select group, the Notables, is drawn from the membership by audition.

The group presents several concerts during the school year, including a Parents Weekend Concert and a Festival of Lessons and Carols in early December. There is a long tradition of joining forces with an area women’s chorus for formal concerts of major works with orchestra. Most recently, portions of handel’s Messiah were performed with the choir of Mary Baldwin College, and Mozart’s Solemn Vespers was presented with the Randolph Macon Women’s College Chorale.

One of the most visible groups on campus, the Men’s Chorus also represents the College off campus at schools, churches, alumni meetings, and other admissions and development events throughout the eastern U.S. Touring has become an integral part of the Men’s Chorus program. In recent years, the group has traveled to New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Texas. In 2002, the Chorus made its first overseas appearances, singing in many of the important medieval cathedrals of northern France. In 2004 the group toured England, singing in London, at Ely Cathedral, and as the guests of the Viscount and Viscountess de L’Isle at Penshurst Place, the ancestral home of Algernon Sydney. In 2006 the Chorus toured Italy, singing at the Vatican, in Assisi, and in two historic churches in Rome.

Director ........................................... Frank Archer ‘73
Accompanist ...................................... Dr. James Kidd