The Ohio State Men’s Glee Club performs alongside the club’s alum. Credit: Courtesy of David Ricci
2024 marks a pivotal achievement for one of the university’s oldest student organizations.
The Ohio State Men’s Glee Club is celebrating its 150th year as an established on-campus group with various performances throughout the academic year, including upcoming collaborations with Bowling Green State University and the University of Michigan.
Robert Ward, MGC’s director, said the club has faced many trials and tribulations throughout its time at Ohio State.
“The glee club has endured the 1918 pandemic,” Ward said. “It endured World War I. It endured World War II. It endured the Korean War, the Vietnam War and, most recently, endured the pandemic that was COVID-19.”
Ward said he attributes this persistence to numerous qualities that have shaped the club’s sense of community over the past century.
“It’s not any one thing,” Ward said. “It’s the work ethic; it’s the artistic accomplishment; it’s the commitment to be better musicians; it’s the commitment to be better human beings; it’s the commitment to outreach and engagement. It’s the commitment to going to public schools and raising up the next generation of glee club members. It’s about engaging with alumni who come back and share their stories of what was meaningful to them in the years they were here.”
David Ricci, a fourth-year in data analytics and MGC president, said being in the club has allowed him to forge powerful bonds with others.
“It gave me a community,” Ricci said. “It gave me a home, and it allowed me to experience vastly different perspectives at our university.”
Ian Jerome Dimaano, a first-year undeclared major and club member, said the ensemble offers members a strong sense of belonging.
“The community that [Ohio State’s] Men’s Glee Club provides is heartwarming,” Dimaano said. “A statement that’s often mentioned in the group is how we are ‘brothers in song,’ which really shows how much support and care everyone has for each other.”
Ward said these “brothers in song” joined MGC through an audition process, which involved meeting with Ward and participating in a short assessment; those who passed were offered a scarlet blazer, which is the symbol of admittance to the MGC.
Ward said this year’s members already kicked off the club’s celebratory activities earlier this school year when they performed with the Ohio State Marching Band during the homecoming game against the University of Nebraska.
In addition, the club will collaborate with the New York City and Harvard University glee clubs for a performance at New York’s Lincoln Center at 8 p.m. Jan. 11.
Darien Kulchytsky, a fourth-year in chemical engineering and club member, said he is grateful for every opportunity the club has given him.
“I am most excited for the trip to New York and the ability to perform on such a world-renowned stage,” Kulchytsky said.
Ward said the celebration will continue on Ohio State’s campus Feb. 22 at Mershon Auditorium, where MGC will join the Bowling Green State University Men’s Glee Club and the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club for a Sesquicentennial Gala Concert.
“Bowling Green, [the] University of Michigan and Ohio State have had a friendly camaraderie over the past 40 years,” Ward said. “Bringing those three choirs together in one concert performance is just going to be an exciting opportunity for both the singers and the audience.”
The club will round out its yearly performances in April, as Glee Club alumni will be invited back to Ohio State’s Weigel Hall stage to perform at the final 150th anniversary concert.
Looking ahead to the next 150 years, Kulchytsky said he hopes the club will continue to have a positive impact on Ohio State.
“The future of the Men’s Glee Club lies in its future members,” Kulchytsky said. “I imagine it as a haven for musicality, new bonds and a point of pride for Ohio State, as it has been for me.”
In this future, Ricci said the club’s core values will remain a key part of its success.
“We’re all about teaching people how to become better people, how to become better musicians, how to be really great brothers to each other,” Ricci said. “To be able to do that across the country in the next 150 years, I think will be pivotal for our group’s growth.”
