In August of 2003, just two days before I departed for my first year at UNI, I received a phone call from Mark Janssen, a senior member of the University of Northern Iowa Varsity Men’s Glee Club. He invited me to join the Men’s Glee Club by encouraging me to attend an informational meeting the Monday evening when classes began. He mentioned that I did not have to commit at this time and that no one had to try out. It was simply a men’s choir composed of mostly non-music majors who loved to sing.
I had always enjoyed singing. In fact, I had been in a choir every year since the fourth grade and this was telling me that I could continue my passion for singing. So Monday evening came around and their were roughly 80 guys jam packed into one of the Schindler Education Center’s lecture halls. To introduce us to the organization, we watched an hour long video of the groups most recent trip to Europe. When the video was over, I was sold. This was a group I wanted to be apart of and I couldn’t wait to get involved. I joined the group without question and it would end up being one of the best things that I had ever done.
As the year went on, I grew more and more terrified of the Director, Bob Byrnes. If you want to talk about someone who was passionate about music, it was Bob. Although terrifying, I got it. I got the message of Glee Club. As Bob would say, “You have to work damn hard if you want to make something truly special. If you want to be extraordinary.” And it was the truth. So we worked “damn” hard on preparing for the upcoming trip to Europe. That’s right! As freshman, I was headed to Germany, Austria, and Italy to perform with my “Brother’s in Song.” Oh, and just to clarify, it was really wonderful to get to know Bob as the year progressed. He ended up being one of the most inspiring people I have ever met. He was just really intense in his direction! :)
Although there were so many incredible breathtaking moments in Europe (standing at the peak of mountain in the Alps, catching a sunset on the peak of Mt. Vesuvius, and many more) none of them compared to singing during High Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. In August, I had no clue what I was in for. Then after taking Humanities I, I understood where I was going. I was headed to the largest church in the world!
It was magnificent! As Bob, and many others had said, the marble floor was even more beautiful then some of the things you could see in the entire world. And then the alter…truly amazing. We sang several songs throughout the service, but then we sang Ave Maria. We filled every square inch of that place with sound! There were echoes that filled the church for several seconds after and when we sang our last note, the congregation applauded. The congregation applauded! We made a Catholic congregation , in the world’s largest church applaud (applause is not a typical practice in the Catholic Church), and it was epic. And when it was all said and done, I could not believe what we just did.
And the icing on the cake, and probably the most exquisite thing I have ever heard in person came from a little old Italian lady. This was the monumental moment. She said in Italian,
“Everyday I am a poor woman, but today I am rich for hearing you sing.”
You can’t buy moments like that. It was truly priceless.
In closing, joining the UNI Varsity Men’s Glee Club was one of the greatest things I have ever done and I miss it incredibly. I want to close this story and moment with the mission of our Glee Club, because I believe it is missions like these that sincerely change the world.
“We believe in the power of MUSIC to lift up, inspire, and help make the world a better place.” ~The UNI Varsity Men’s Glee Club
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