Whiffs in Benefit Concert
The Yale Whiffenpoofs of 2008 will be performing on Nantucket to benefit restoration of the historic Unitarian Meeting House on Sunday, August 24 at 4 p.m. at the Unitarian Meeting House at 11 Orange Street. Admission is $20 for adults with students admitted free. Tickets will be sold at the door on the day of the concert.
Founded in 1909, the Whiffenpoofs began as a senior quintet that met for concerts at Mory’s Temple Bar, the renowned Yale tavern in Connecticut that dates back to 1849. Each year fourteen senior men are selected to be in the Whiffenpoofs, which considers itself the world’s oldest and most famous a cappella group. Celebrated alumni of the group include Cole Porter and Senator Prescott Bush, father of former President George H.W. Bush and grandfather of President George W. Bush.
According to a letter by Rev. James M. Howard that is published on the Whiffenpoof website, the name of the group was chosen by Denton “Goat” Fowler, one of the original members, from a scene in the then-current Broadway musical comedy “Little Nemo”: “Whether the word meant fish, flesh or fowl was irrelevant to our purpose when we chose it as our name. ‘Whiffenpoof’ fitted in with our mood of free and exuberant fancy and it was adopted with enthusiasm.”
Today, the group has become one of Yale’s most celebrated and hallowed traditions, carrying on almost a century of musical excellence and professional showmanship at Yale, across America, and around the world. In recent years, they have performed for Presidents Reagan, Bush, and Clinton, Mother Theresa, and the Dalai Lama; in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Rose Bowl; and for events such as the World Series, Saturday Night Live, NBC’s Today Show and The West Wing. The group has recorded half a dozen CDs, including A Very Whiffenpoof Christmas, Dragonfish, Whiffs in Space!, and We Meet Again Tonight.
The Whiffenpoofs’ repertoire includes jazz standards, classic ballads and traditional Yale songs, as well as recent popular hits. Arrangements range from “The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room,” “I’ll Be Seeing You,” and “Bye, Bye Blackbird” to the group’s signature ballad “The Whiffenpoof Song,” which gained nationwide recognition when singer Rudy Vallee (member of Whiffenpoofs of 1927) recorded a solo version in the 1930s. (Bing Crosby and Elvis Presley followed suit with their own recordings of the song.)
The Whiffenpoofs donate part of their proceeds each year to the Whiffenpoof Children's Literacy Initiative, which aims to create literacy centers in 12 countries, including the US.
They travel extensively during the school year and take a three-month world tour during the summer. Their performance schedule includes more than 200 concerts annually. At one time most members were full-time students, but today many members take all or part of the year off and are effectively full-time professional Whiffenpoofs.
This week’s concert on Nantucket will benefit the South Church Preservation Fund, whose goal is to restore and preserve the Unitarian Universalist Church at 11 Orange Street. This historic structure houses the Town Clock, trompe l’oeil painting, the historic Portuguese bell which rings the hours,and it hosts many church and community groups, events, and functions. The estimated cost of the project, including a permanent building maintenance fund, is over three million dollars.
The current Whiffenpoof chorus is comprised of singers representing hometowns from Fresno, CA to Marblehead, MA. They are David Alexander (Marblehead, MA), Doug Hummel-Price (Waynesboro, PA), Haitham Jendoubi (Jamaica, NY), Adam Johnston (Maplewood, NJ), Peter Kjeldgaard (Bethesda, MD), Adrian LeCesne (Oak Park, IL) and Robert Liford (Hinkle, KY).
The group also includes Alan Morales (North Plainfield, NJ), Michael Murray (Whitefish Bay, WI), Frank Newman (Salem, CT), Lucas O’Connor (Rochester, NY), Aaron Otani (Fresno, CA), Jacob Siegel (Woodbury, NY) and Dan Toubolets (Bronx, NY).
