The Duke's Men of Yale

The Duke's Men of Yale

A "doox" pin
Background information
Years active 1952–present
Website http://www.thedukesmenofyale.com
Members Tenor I
Sam Lauten '19
David Washington '19
Oliver Shoulson '20

Tenor II
Avram Durling '18
Nathan Murphy '19
Daniel Rudin '19
David Townley '20

Baritone
Caleb O'Reilly '18
Frederick van Duyne '19
Jerome Walker '19

Bass
Kenyon Duncan '18
Sen Huang '19
Alex DiMeglio '20

Alex DiMeglio, musical director
Nathan Murphy and David Washington, co-business managers

The Duke's Men of Yale is the only all-gender TTBB a cappella singing group at Yale University. Founded in 1952, "Da Doox" combine Yale's traditional a cappella singing style with complex contemporary arranging, and have gained the status as both campus favorites [1] and as one of Yale's most recognized musical groups.

History

The Founding

Named after Basil Duke Henning, then "master" of Saybrook College and a former Whiffenpoof, the group formed first 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.

The Present

Today the ensemble includes between 13 and 16 underclassmen. Most members join the group as freshmen and sing through the end of their junior year, although some join as sophomores. The group's repertoire includes jazz, soul, classical, show tunes, and popular music. There have been over 400 Duke's Men since 1952, and to this day, the group sings "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" as its alumni song. They originated as an all-male group, but in 2017 decided to keep their musical style and voice parts, while allowing singers to audition regardless of their sex, gender identity or gender expression. They now classify themselves as an all-gender TTBB group.

Accolades and Media Appearances

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.) In 2005, the group took first place in the New England regional final of the ICCA.. Most recently, the group took first place in the 2009 Northeast Quarterfinal, with member Sam Tsui ('11) receiving accolades for Best Solo & Best Choreography. They performed a cover of Rihanna's "Umbrella" [2] and won again at the Northeast Semi-Final at MIT on March 21, and came in 4th place at the Finals at Alice Tully Hall on April 18, 2009.

In January 2004, the group was featured in a CBS News Sunday Morning segment about collegiate a cappella.[3]

On June 15th, 2015, three members of the group (Solon Snider, Wade Newville, and Paul Holmes) were featured on Bravo TV's scripted comedy series, "Odd Mom Out," where they sang a segment of "Give My Regards to Broadway" (arranged by Solon Snider, Pitchpipe 2014-2015). [4]

Tours

The Duke's Men perform around the world, often at well-known venues such as the Lincoln Center and the White House. The group undertakes regional or international tours in January and March of every year, and an international tour every May. Previous tours have taken the Duke's Men to Hawaii, Japan, Thailand, China, Jamaica, Turkey, Peru, England, Colombia, and dozens of other locations throughout the United States and Europe.

Notable alumni

References

  1. ↑ http://admissions.yale.edu/extracurricular-group/dukes-men-yale?format=extracurriculars. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ↑ (November 17, 2010), "Glee vs. YouTube: Who Did ‘Umbrella’ Best?", New York Magazine: Vulture, Accessed Dec 12 2010
  3. ↑ (January 11, 2004), "A Cappella Frenzy, Many University Students Across America Are Spurning Heavy Metal For Music Of Voices", CBS Sunday Morning, Accessed Dec 23 2006
  4. ↑ (June 15, 2015), "Ep. 3: Dying to Get In", Accessed June 15, 2015
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