Rutgers Glee Club Takes Scarlet Pride on the Road in Upcoming European Tour

The members of Rutgers Glee Club, dressed in their signature gray blazers and red-and-black striped ties, are standing at attention in McKinney Hall on the College Avenue campus for a photo shoot before class. Brandon Williams, their professor and conductor, is arranging them as carefully as he would arrange music.

"Victor, would you switch with Nate?"

Williams scrutinizes the ensemble. He points to one student. "Your button is lopsided." And to another. "Help him with his collar here." And to the group as a whole. "No smiles now, more stoic." The students, a jovial bunch, take it down a notch and face the camera, looking like the dignified, respectful artists that they are. Perfect. The camera clicks. Done.

Before the students are even back in their seats, Williams begins vocal exercises. As he leads them through a warm-up of sustained vowels, the singers develop a rich, resonant sound, their voices blending so seamlessly that Williams interjects, "Great job!"

Since the founding of Rutgers Glee Club in 1872, generations have gone through similar rehearsals in a quest for musical excellence reflected in the ensemble's motto, "Ever-changing, yet eternally the same." Williams, associate professor and director of choral activities at Mason Gross School of the Arts, became director of Rutgers Glee Club in 2023, after the retirement of Patrick Gardner, who led the group for 30 years.

This year he is helping the Glee Club prepare for one of its most cherished traditions: a concert tour abroad, which takes place every four years. This time, the singers will tour Portugal and Spain for 12 days in May. "They're not going there just to eat and sit on the beach," Williams said. "They are there to perform in some really prestigious and historic venues." The trip is subsidized by Glee Club alumni, reducing the cost for current members. "Some of the most devoted and loyal alumni that we have at Rutgers are Glee Club alumni," Williams said. "They care deeply about the choir."

Williams, who reveres both tradition and innovation, takes his responsibility leading the Glee Club seriously, and his students know that. "Dr. Williams holds us to a high standard," said John Rutsky, a senior who joined the Glee Club's baritone section as a freshman. "He's easy to talk to, but he runs a tight ship."

Membership in Rutgers Glee Club and Kirkpatrick Choir, which Williams also leads, requires an audition as well as enrollment in class. "Check your body position," Williams advises, as the Glee Club embarks on a first reading of Mozart's "Little Masonic Cantata" from 1791. The students sit up straighter.