The UNI Varsity Men's Glee Club toured Poland and the Czech Republic from May 12 through May 21, 2008. This was the group's first tour of Poland.
The men arrived at the Frederic Chopin International Airport in Warsaw, Poland on Tuesday, May 13, 2008. After a tour of the city, including the "Old Town", the Glee Club headed for their hotel, The Portos.
The Glee Club performed before a wonderful audience in the Polish city of Łodź (pronounced "wootch") on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008. It was standing-room only at the Lodzki Dom Kultury, where the men shared the concert stage with Juvenales Cantores Lodzienses, a local young women's choir. After the Glee Club opened the performance, the thirty young women sang mostly acapella works by Polish composers.

Following the women's performance there was a brief question and answer session with the audience. One question began, "You've been to many wonderful places all around Europe; what has brought you here to Poland and central Europe?" Dr. Barrett replied "For many years the political situation in your country limited our knowledge of this particular culture and the music of your people. In the last few years, these boundaries have been removed and we are drawn to this type of music that your young women sang. Those are pieces that choral directors in the United States would be really interested in performing."

Another audience member asked how many Glee Club members were of Polish descent. Andrew Gelbowitz and Cory Sevald responded. Andrew stepped up to the microphone and said "Dziekuje" (Thank You), much to the delight of the audience. Not to be outdone, Cory uttered the Polish greeting "Dzien Dobry" (Hello/Good Day).

Camerata, the Glee Club's small group, opened the second half of the performance with some acapella selections including "Danny Boy", then the rest of the Glee Club joined them to finish their second set. Before the Glee Club's last number, the directors of both choirs were called to the stage and given a gift of flowers. Dr. Barrett also received a beautiful framed print of the city.

Following the concert, the men of the Glee Club and the members of the women's choir attended a short reception hosted by the Dom Kultury. A young male Polish student who spoke with Glee Club member Johnny Jacobsen said, "Maybe in 100 years I will be as good as you!" One member of the women's choir said, "It was such a relief to hear men's voices, we didn't want you to stop singing!"

Another concert patron named Marek later said in an email, "The sound that you've created is virtually unbelievable for us. It's not only extremely powerful, but it can easily become gorgeously soft and silky (shivers down the spine followed by a tear in the eye) Not to mention the harmony, that your voices create..."

One alumnus stated that this was one of the best, most appreciative audiences he had ever witnessed in Europe.


Glee Club stops traffic in Prague
The UNI Varsity Men's Glee Club traveled 11 hours by bus to Prague, capital of the Czech Republic, on Thursday, May 15, 2008. The group left Warsaw at 8:30 am and arrived around 7:00 pm.

On Friday, May 16, the group was treated to a 3 hour guided sightseeing tour of the city, including an impromptu concert in the Wallenstein Palace gardens. The Glee Club gave an informal concert under the arches of the Sala Terrena, to the delight of the other visitors.

On Saturday, May 18, the Glee Club gave another successful performance, this time in the beautiful baroque Chapel of Mirrors, near Prague's old town square.

To gather an audience, the men set out to the old town square and sang "Brothers, Sing On", near the astronomical clock tower. A large crowd gathered to hear the men sing, while snapping pictures and recording videos. As the Glee Club made their way to the performance hall, they continued to sing, and the people followed. Meanwhile, on a street not far from the Chapel of Mirrors, the eleven member small group, Camarata, was singing "Danny Boy" to the delight of the onlookers. The rest of the Glee Club joined them, and traffic was brought to a halt as the troops rallied in singing one final verse of "Brothers, Sing On".

The 3:30 concert was almost full, due to this self-promotional feat. Graduating senior Patrick Reidy said, "It was amazing to go out and bring in an audience, within a half hour of a performance. One of the most touching moments was seeing a woman in tears after we sang Ave Maria."

This was the first concert the Glee Club had performed in Prague in 8 years.
The group performed at St Nikolas Church in 2000, only a few blocks away from the Chapel of Mirrors.

Several members of the Glee Club attended the opera "Aida" in the evening, while others enjoyed the Prague night life.

A PRAGUE SUBWAY ADVENTURE - There's trouble on the Red Line!
Six men of the Glee Club get more than they bargained for on the subway in Prague. And a rebellious T.J. Warren has no ticket! A memorable Glee Club European experience of epic proportions! Recorded Saturday, May 17, 2008.

>>> A Prague Subway Adventure.MP3 (22:03)


Spirits soar as Glee Club performs at St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague
The Glee Club performed for the high mass at St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, on Sunday, May 18, 2008. St. Vitus is the biggest and the most important church in the Czech Republic. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Prague and the place where saints, kings, princes and emperors of Bohemia are buried.

It was a grey and rainy morning, but the Glee Club's spirits were high as they arrived by bus for the 11:00 am event. The group climbed a stone spiral staircase to reach the choir loft, 60 feet below the massive sanctuary. As parishners and visiting alumni listened from below, the men started the mass by singing "My Lord, what a Mornin'", followed by "Lux Aurumque".

St. Vitus' kappellmeister told the men that their singing was, "Very beautiful, very beautiful", and after hearing the Glee Club's first two pieces, asked that the group sing for the offertory, and after the service. The kappellmeister played the massive pipe organ directly behind the assembled Glee Club. The small group, Camarata, also performed.

After the mass ended, the Glee Club performed several more works, including "Ave Maria", "Salvation is Created", and the spiritual "Soon Ah Will be Done", before a sizable audience.
The Glee Club took some time to talk to visitors and the kappellmeister, who told the group via interpreter, "We are very pleased to have this fine University choir from Iowa sing for our mass. I was especially impressed the [group] performed such music from memory. We hope that the young men enjoy the rest of their stay in Prague!"

"I could not be more proud of the UNI Varsity Men's Glee Club, than I am of you boys today," alumnus Paul Marlow told the group. "Your singing was exemplary, and you represented your country, and your university very well."


The Underground Concert near Krakow
Monday, May 19 found the Glee Club in the Polish city of Krakow, 291 miles from Prague. The Glee Club spent the morning on a tour of the city, stopping in a chapel for some impromptu singing. In the afternoon, the group boarded the bus to tour the Royal Wieliczka Salt Mine, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The group made it's way down to St. Kinga's Chapel, a very large and opulent underground temple. It was laid out in 1896, in the space created after the excavation of a huge green salt block.

The unique acoustics of the place made performing music here an exceptional experience. The resonance was extraordinary, and this underground concert was one of the most unique performances ever for the Glee Club.

>>> Listen to The Underground Concert here. (MP3)

This recording was made with the assistance of Alumni Kevin Graves and Steve Heinle.

Mining in Wieliczka started early in the 13th century, and it was a working mine for over 700 years, until 1996. The mine consists of nine levels, and to get down to the 150-meter level of the mine, Glee Club members walked down a wooden stairway of some 400 steps.

After the 3 kilometer tour of the mine's corridors, its chapels, statues and lake, the Glee Club men rode an elevator back up to the surface. The elevator holds 36 people (9 per car) and took only 30 seconds to reach the surface.


A solemn tour of Auschwitz includes a memorial song
Tuesday, May 20, the Glee Club toured the Nazi concentration camp KL Auschwitz, situated near Oswiecim, Poland. Many men of the Glee Club were visibly moved as Marta, one of the group's tour guides, described the atrocities inflicted at the place that has become the symbol of the Holocaust.

The museum tour included rooms filled with personal items belonging to victims, including luggage, shoes, eyeglasses and children's clothing. One large room contained nothing but human hair, many still in braids, that was shorn from the victims, and used by the Nazis to weave cloth. Even the most stoic Glee Club men were shaken by what they saw.

Members of the Glee Club had debated for months whether or not it would be appropriate to sing in a place that had seen such cruelty and human misery. Maciej, the Glee Club's Polish tour guide, assured the men that it was indeed appropriate to sing at the camp, at one place between Cell Blocks 10 and 11 known as "The Death Wall", where thousands of executions had been carried out.

It was at this place that the Glee Club sang the Hebrew song "Ba Sha Na", as a memorial to the victims of the death camp. "I could barely get out the words", one Glee Club member later said.

The English translation of "Ba Sha Na" is: "Next year, when peace will come we shall return to the simple pleasures of life so long denied us. You will see, you will see. O how good it will be, next year!"

The tour of Auschwitz was an experience that none of the men will ever forget.


Final concert and farewell dinner
The Glee Club traveled back to the city of Warsaw, for a final concert and farewell dinner.
The group's final concert of the tour was at the beautiful Marria Zaccarii Church, where the UNI Varsity Men's Glee Club gave a full concert with the local Men's Choir LIRA. The Glee Club's tour guide, Maciej, is a member of the LIRA men's choir, and performed with the Warsaw group. Afterwards, the Glee Club enjoyed a sumptuous gala farewell dinner, which included entertainment by traditional Polish folk singers.

Recent graduate Joe Divoky said it best. "I cannot think of a better last memory of my time in the Glee Club than having the incredible opportunity to spend 10 days exploring Europe with all of you. I have seen this group mature into an incredible group of gentlemen that put forth nothing but excellence, and I know that you all will only continue to get better. I can honestly say that the Glee Club has gotten me through some very difficult times in my life, but when these situations arise there were a plethora of my Brothers there to help me through it."

"I hope that all of you now have a true understanding about what the Glee Club is truly all about. While we are about producing great music, we are also one big Brotherhood of men rich in excellence, tradition, and camaraderie. It really has not hit me yet that my time performing with the Glee Club has reached its end... I will be there come December to watch my first Variety Show as an Alumnus, and I will try to make it to as many alumni-sponsored events as I can, dependent upon my job location. Like I said at our farewell dinner, to take a line from TJ Warren, "I came on this trip with 65 friends, and went away with 65 Amazing Brothers. So thank you again for allowing me to have this experience with each and every one of you, and I look forward to seeing you all perform in the fall."

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