| Cayuga's Waiters | |
|---|---|
| Background information | |
| Origin | Ithaca, NY USA |
| Genres | Collegiate a cappella |
| Instruments | Singing |
| Years active | 1949–present |
| Website | www.cayugaswaiters.com |
| Members | |
| Jon Pearson, Austin Moag, Michael Millas, Tom Charbonnier, Adam Belfer, Alex Pappas, Jeff Spence, Greg Atamian, Alex Cooper, Josh Hagins, Sunny Tarpada, Dan Webster, Duncan Fraser, Ben Chung, Connor McGuinness | |
Cayuga's Waiters is the oldest a cappella group at Cornell University. Formed in 1949 as a subset of the Cornell University Glee Club, the group disassociated from the Glee Club in 1956.[1] The name, "Cayuga's Waiters," is a play on the words "Cayuga's waters," which are featured prominently in the university's alma mater ("Far Above Cayuga's Waters").
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The Waiters formed as a subset of the Cornell University Glee Club in 1949 and debuted at the Glee Club's 1950 Junior Week concert.[2]:239 Although dressed in standard Glee Club attire (a tuxedo), they distinguished themselves from other Glee Club members by draping towels over their arms—a visual pun on their ensemble's name. Their repertoire included such popular songs as "Mood Indigo", "Mandy", "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye", and "Lord, If I Get My Ticket".[2]:239 By 1951, the group had become much in demand on campus for singing engagements, and they were also enthusiastically received by audiences when on tour with the Glee Club.[2]:239
The early 1950s were a busy and tumultuous period, as the young group had inadvertently stumbled into an entirely new industry. As Michael Slon wrote in his history of the Glee Club:
Prior to the Waiters the regimen of small group singing, traveling, and recording, completely familiar today, did not exist at Cornell. Not realizing they were pioneers, the new triple quartet set out by accepting local engagements on top of their Glee Club duties and soon found their popularity and activity were snowballing.[2]:240
In 1953, the Waiters conducted their first independent tour—to Bermuda's Harbor Castle Hotel—over the winter holidays, and in the same year, they recorded and cut their first record. In 1956, the Waiters decided they could no longer split their efforts between choral and small group singing and dissociated from the Glee Club. Despite the shock of disassociation, both organizations went on to enjoy enormous success throughout the remainder of the 20th century.
The Waiters have two main concerts during the academic year, one in the fall and one in late spring. These shows are performed in either Statler Auditorium or Bailey Hall. The spring show is typically called "Spring Fever."
The group also travels around the world during school breaks, and has toured in places such as California, Florida, Puerto Rico, The Canary Islands, Mexico, and Whistler, British Columbia. Recent performances include the national anthem at Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, L.A. Kings, and Miami Heat games, as well as a live performance of Cornell's Alma Mater on CBS's Early Show.