The Duke's Men of Yale

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications.
Primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of the article are generally not sufficient for a Wikipedia article. Please include more appropriate citations from reliable sources, or discuss the issue on the talk page.
This article has been tagged since April 2007.

A "doox" pin

The Duke's Men of Yale are an all-male a cappella singing group at Yale University. Named after Basil Duke Henning -- the master of Saybrook College, a past Whiffenpoof, and member of Wolf's Head -- the group (sometimes known as "Da Doox") was founded in 1952, initially as an octet of underclassmen in Saybrook. Parker Towle '55, and Paul Thompson '55 were the main organizers, and they recruited Walt Farrier '54 as the group's first musical director. Farrier arranged most of the group's early songs. Today the ensemble includes between fifteen and twenty underclassmen. Most members join the group as freshmen and sing through the end of their junior year, although some rushees join as sophomores. The group's repertoire includes jazz, soul, classical, show tunes, and popular music. There have been over 350 Duke's Men since 1952, several of whom have gone on to have successful musical careers after graduating from Yale.

The Duke's Men have been successful in a number of competitions, most notably the International Championship of College A Cappella. In 1996 the Duke's Men were the best male group and won first runner-up honors at the ICCA Finals at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City, along with awards for soloist Michael Sagalowicz (solo: "I'll Back You Up") and arrangement ("Where Is Love," arranged by Alex Funk.)[1] In 2005, the group took first place in the New England regional final of the ICCA.[2][3]

The Duke's Men recently recorded a jingle for a CNBC television commercial that promoted the program Fast Money (CNBC).^[1] The Duke's Men, along with other Yale students, appeared in the commercial, which aired during December 2006.^[2] In January 2004, the group was featured in a CBS News Sunday Morning segment about collegiate a cappella.^[3]

The Duke's Men perform around the world, including well-known venues such as the Lincoln Center and the White House.[4] The group undertakes regional tours in January and March of every year, and an international tour every May. Previous destinations have included Hawaii, Europe, Japan and Thailand.[5]

The group sings "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)," its alumni song, at the end of most of its concerts.

[edit] Notable alumni

Chuck Coleman, jazz-pop singer-songwriter.
Django Haskins, singer-songwriter and frontman of pop-noir musical group the Old Ceremony.
Conor Knighton, host of Google Current.
Devon Michaels, recurring character on Gilmore Girls.
Holcombe Waller, pop singer-songwriter.
Paul Matsumoto, opera singer
Richard Brookhiser, Historian and journalist