Texas A&M Singing Cadets
Encyclopedia
The Texas A&M Singing Cadets are a male choral group at Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...

. Nicknamed "The Voice of Aggieland", the Singing Cadets have been touring for 107 seasons, with their roots in a glee club
Glee club
A glee club is a musical group or choir group, historically of male voices but also of female or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs—glees—by trios or quartets. In the late 19th Century it was very popular in most schools and was made a tradition...

 founded on the A&M campus in 1893. The Singing Cadets are one of the oldest collegiate singing organizations in the world. They have toured both in America and abroad and have earned recognition by doing so, including invitations to sing for American presidents. Contrary to their name, the Singing Cadets are currently not all members of the Corps of Cadets
Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets
The Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets is a student military organization at Texas A&M University...

 and have not been since 1965, when the university as a whole ceased mandating Corps membership. Between 1996 and 2006, the Singing Cadets traveled over 35,000 miles and performed more than 450 concerts worldwide.

History

The first record of a singing organization at Texas A&M (then known as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas) was in 1893. The nine member glee club was composed of both students and faculty. The group grew to around twenty members through the turn of the century. Their first recorded field trip in 1905, was to Houston, Texas, where they participated in a four hundred member chorus. Other tours in this period included a trip to Fort Worth in 1907, where they met noted violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

ist Fritz Kreisler
Fritz Kreisler
Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler was an Austrian-born violinist and composer. One of the most famous violin masters of his or any other day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing. Like many great violinists of his generation, he produced a characteristic sound which was immediately...

. One year later, the director of the group, Professor T.P. Junkin, left the A&M Glee Club.

The next paradigm shift came in 1910 when it was reorganized by F.D. Steger, and subsequently performed for a number of audiences throughout Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. After several restructuring efforts and directors, the organization laid down an official constitution during the 1937-1938 school year. The Cadets entered the national spotlight when they performed at the 1939 Sugar Bowl
Sugar Bowl
The Sugar Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Sugar Bowl has been played annually since January 1, 1935, and celebrated its 75th anniversary on January 2, 2009...

 game. After A&M professor J. J. Woolket became director in 1940, the chorus was renamed the "Singing Cadets" following a naming contest. The Singing Cadets first full-time director, Richard Jenkins, raised the organization's profile though a series of tours throughout the American South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...

. Under his aegis in 1942, the group provided choral music for the propaganda film We've Never Been Licked
We've Never Been Licked
We've Never Been Licked is a World War II propaganda film produced by Walter Wanger and released by United Artists. Parts of the movie were shot on location at the Texas A&M University campus...

.
The Singing Cadets next long term director, William Turner, held the post for fifteen years. By the early 1950s membership had stabilized at around sixty members. They performed primarily in Texas, and made a trip to Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

 in 1952. The group garnered prestige and attention by singing in front of the Texas Legislature
Texas Legislature
The Legislature of the state of Texas is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The Legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin...

 several times.

In 1960, the Singing Cadets next director, Robert L. Boone, expanded the group's national recognition. The group performed its first telecast in 1963 during the nationally televised Miss Teenage America
Miss Teenage America
The Miss Teenage America Pageant was started in 1961 as a pageant for High School girls. Sponsored by Dr Pepper, the pageant was held in Dallas, Texas for most of its run. Unlike today's Miss Teen USA and Miss America's Outstanding Teen, this pageant featured girls representing cities and not...

 pageant. For the next 8 years, the group served as contestant escorts, performers, and background for the show. In 1971, the group was invited onto the Ed Sullivan Show by Sergio Franchi
Sergio Franchi
Sergio Franchi was an Italian tenor.Franchi was born in Cremona, Italy. His father wanted him to become an electrical engineer, so he studied both music and engineering simultaneously. The family moved to South Africa in 1952, where Sergio worked part-time as a draftsman, while continuing to study...

, though did not make it onto television because an earlier show ran over the allotted time. They did, however, release a 45 rpm single "No Man Is An Island" accompanying Franchi in the same year. Later that year, the Singing Cadets were invited to the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...

 by Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...

 John Tower
John Tower
John Goodwin Tower was the first Republican United States senator from Texas since Reconstruction. He served from 1961 until his retirement in January 1985, after which time he was the chairman of the Reagan-appointed Tower Commission that investigated the Iran-Contra Affair. He was George H. W...

 to sing for numerous dignitaries, including President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

.

The Singing Cadets took their first trip overseas in 1974 to Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

 as part of a goodwill tour sponsored by the State Department, performing several shows over a 3 week period. The Cadets accompanied the Aggie Band onto Kyle Field
Kyle Field
Kyle Field is the football stadium located on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. It has been the home to the Texas A&M Aggie football team in rudimentary form since 1904, and as a complete stadium since 1927. It is known as The Home of the 12th Man...

 during the halftime of football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 games during special occasions of the university, such as the centennial celebration of Texas A&M University (1976), and in 1980 to dedicate the expansion of the football stadium.

Under Boone's direction, the Singing Cadets won several international singing competitions. They won the silver medal in an International Choral Festival in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

 in 1979. In 1983 they received the silver medal in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

. In 1993, they returned to Hawaii, taking the gold medal. Other major tours during the 1980s included several occasions marking the Texas sesquicentennial anniversary in 1986, and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an tours in 1987 and 1989. In 2004, the Singing Cadets journeyed to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, and sang the Australian national anthem (Advance Australia Fair
Advance Australia Fair
"Advance Australia Fair" is the official national anthem of Australia. Created by the Scottish-born composer, Peter Dodds McCormick, the song was first performed in 1878, but did not gain its status as the official anthem until 1984. Until then, the song was sung in Australia as a patriotic song...

) on the first concert of that tour. In May 2006 the Cadets performed at the White House at the invitation of President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

 for an event to honor America's returning athletes from the 2006 Winter Olympics
2006 Winter Olympics
The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...

. Also in 2006, the cadets performed at the Miss Texas
Miss Texas
The Miss Texas competition was founded in 1936 as a scholarship contest for young women. The winner represents Texas in the Miss America pageant; three winners have gone on to be crowned Miss America ....

 Pageant. In its 2006-2007 season, the Cadets performed over sixty concerts in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, plus a tour to South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

 during the summer, where they traveled to Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...

 and Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. The singing cadets toured South Africa in 2010.

Music

The Singing Cadets have sung a wide variety of music in their history. Their repertoire has included Christian hymn
Hymn
A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of praise, adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification...

s and gospel music, as well as Texas A&M school songs such as the Aggie War Hymn
Aggie War Hymn
The Aggie War Hymn is the official fight song of Texas A&M University.-History:It was written by J.V. "Pinky" Wilson, one of many Aggies who fought in World War I...

. Musical selections varied through the decades, although Southern songs
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....

 and songs from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s remain perennial favorites.

Currently, eight recordings produced by the Singing Cadets are available for purchase. In chronological order, the titles are: God Bless the USA, Live from South America, Tradition; Duty, Honor, Country: A Tribute to President Bush, Remembrance, Centennial, Let Freedom Ring, and Kennedy Center.

Organization

Members of the Corps of Cadets
Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets
The Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets is a student military organization at Texas A&M University...

 make up a small minority of the Singing Cadets; the group dropped Corps Membership as a requirement in 1963. The Singing Cadets holds auditions twice each school year, with membership open to any male Texas A&M student. The choir is one of three within Texas A&M. The others are the all-female Women's Chorus, and co-ed choir the Century Singers
Texas A&M University Century Singers
The Texas A&M University Century Singers are Texas A&M University's 80 to 90 member mixed choral group. The current director is Dr. Jess Wade III.-History:...

. All three practice in the Memorial Student Center (MSC).

The group is typically backed by a pianist and conducted by a director, and regularly are accompanied by instruments, including electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...

, drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

 and bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

. The Singing Cadets use costumes and pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...

 to accompany their music, incorporating a number of forms of entertainment into their concerts. A barbershop quartet side group called The Aggienizors performs at some shows, as entertainment between the main musical numbers.

Presently, the Singing Cadets perform primarily in state, along with a sprinkling of national and international tours. The Cadets perform 50-60 concerts a year.

Directors

  • Professor A. M. Soule
  • Professor Tyrrel
  • Professor T. P. Junkin
  • F. D. Steger
  • D. Ford
  • K. H. Beach
  • E. W. Glenn
  • Professor J. J. Woolket
  • Richard W. Jenkins
  • Ewell Porter
  • William M. Turner
  • Robert L. Boone
  • David Kipp
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