UNI Varsity Glee Club
A New Member's Handbook
Welcome to the Glee Club
You are taking your place in a brotherhood that has been built rehearsal by rehearsal and generation by generation. The Glee Club is a place to sing loudly, to form friendships that outlast college, and to become part of a tradition much larger than any one semester's roster.
What Brotherhood Means Here
Brotherhood is not a slogan and it does not require everyone to have the same personality, background, beliefs, or interests. It is the daily practice of treating the Clubbers around you as people who matter.
Learn names
Do not settle for knowing only the names of the people who sit beside you. Learn names across sections and across class years. Say hello. Make room. A group this large becomes a brotherhood only when its members refuse to let one another remain anonymous.
Own your mistakes
You will make mistakes here. Everyone does. The mature response is to understand what happened, admit it plainly, make it right when necessary, and move forward. This looks like raising your hand to acknowledge an error when we sing or admitting when you dropped the ball and forgot about an important rehearsal.
Rehearsal Life
Glee Club rehearsal can move quickly from hard, concentrated work to laughter and back again. Part of becoming a Glee Clubber is learning to read that change. There are moments when the room is relaxed and moments when every singer needs to lock in.
Where do I sit?
The choir is divided into four sections: Tenor 1, Tenor 2, Bass 1, and Bass 2. Sit with your assigned section and in the seating arrangement established for the rehearsal or performance. Your place in the room helps everyone hear, balance, and work efficiently. Eventually you’ll receive standing/sitting arrangements.
Bring the tools
Bring your music and a pencil to every rehearsal. Mark what is asked. Only stupid Glee Clubbers don’t mark their music.
Put the phone away
Yeah, ok. You know what’s up. If you need it for emergency purposes, give Dr. Wiles a heads up.
Take care of the shared space
Good hygiene is an act of respect. We stand close together, breathe deeply, travel together, and spend long hours in the same rooms. Arrive clean, use deodorant, wear clean clothing, and don’t be gross.
Communication
Questions about Glee Club life can go to Council members. Questions about music, expectations, conflicts, or circumstances that require a private conversation can go directly to Dr. Wiles. Asking early is nearly always better than waiting until a small uncertainty becomes a large problem. Of course, contrary to public opinion, stupid questions do exist and the Glee Club may do you the good favor of informing you if you are someone who repeatedly asks stupid questions.
Brothers, Sing On!
"Brothers, Sing On!"—usually called BSO—is the Glee Club's anthem. For decades, Glee Clubbers have sung it in rehearsal rooms, concert halls, restaurants, and extraordinary places around the world, from the top of Mount Vesuvius to the Parthenon.
BSO belongs to current members and alumni alike. When alumni are present, they may join the Club to sing it. At Seminar, glasses are raised at the end.
The Three Distinctives
Three experiences shape the rhythm of Glee Club life: Seminar at the OP, Tour, and the Christmas Show.
Seminar and the OP
Seminar is the informal gathering that follows Wednesday rehearsal at The Other Place on University Drive—usually shortened simply to "the OP." Clubbers eat, talk, sing old songs, learn new ones, and spend time together away from the rehearsal room.
Seminar is not mandatory, and no one is required to buy food or a drink. The Glee Club Council will buy pizza for everyone a few times a semester. Those who are legally permitted may drink beer; those who are not should not. No one should ever drive after drinking.
Although attendance is optional, Seminar is one of the most important ways the Club becomes a brotherhood. New members are strongly encouraged to come. You do not have to be outgoing, know every song, or stay all night. Show up. Sit with people. Listen. Sing when you can. Belonging grows through repeated presence. No car? No problem; we carpool.
Tour
The Glee Club ordinarily travels internationally every other year. The next international Tour is expected in spring 2028. Tour is optional, but it is one of the clearest expressions of what the Club can become: Clubbers working, traveling, performing, and representing UNI together far from home.
The Christmas Show
The Christmas Show is a major production in the Great Hall of the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center. Now in its 49th year, it includes everything from the sublime to the ridiculous: serious singing, comedy, spectacle, a one-ton set, and Santa Claus. To date, no one has sold out more performances in the GBPAC than the Glee Club.
Show Week
Show Week is the week after Thanksgiving, and it must be treated as a serious calendar commitment. Work ahead in your classes when possible. Arrange work shifts, appointments, and social plans before the week arrives. You will be tired; planning is how you keep that tiredness from becoming a crisis.
Monday: Regular rehearsal.
Tuesday: Set build. Expect a full day of work, but you shouldn’t skip classes.
Wednesday: Extended technical and musical rehearsal in the Great Hall.
Thursday: Extended rehearsal and final preparation.
Friday: Performances begin.
Saturday: Final performances followed by teardown. The work is finished only when the space is cleared.
Sell the Show
Invite your friends, family, professors, coworkers, and the people you love. Everything about the Show is better when the room is full—and it is better still when people who matter to you are there to see what you have helped create.
You’ll be given a code that you should share when selling tickets (ex: A03). Your patrons can insert your code online when buying tickets and the ticket office will track your sales. A portion of your ticket sales will go to send you on tour. Every year the Glee Club uses thousands of these dollars to send Glee Clubbers on International Tour.
The Attitude
At some point, the practical instructions must give way to something harder to describe. You are here to be a dingdang Glee Clubber.
That means bowing your back when the work becomes heavy. It means arriving ready to contribute. It means knowing that the Glee Club is excellent—and being willing to say so—because you understand the work, history, discipline, absurdity, and love behind that excellence.
Especially in the Christmas Show, your purpose is not merely to execute the notes correctly. You are there to give the audience the gift of joy. Commit. Brag a little. Sing fully. Let the ridiculous be ridiculous and the sublime be sublime.
What You Carry Forward
No single member owns the Glee Club. Each generation receives it for a little while, changes it by the way it lives together, and hands it on. Learn the music. Learn the names. Go to Seminar. Help build the set. Sell the tickets. Ask the question. Own the mistake. Raise the glass.
BROTHERS, SING ON!