Every Tuesday Night at 7:30…
One of our former directors, Sheila Edwards, would say in every concert “the wives of these men have known where they were every Tuesday night for the last 60 (now 90) years.”
That first Tuesday night was back in 1932 when The Chevrolet Glee Club of Detroit was founded by its first director Dave Redwood, a general foreman at the Chevrolet-Detroit Forge Plant.
Over the years, the Songsters have sung at numerous Soap Box Derbies, various World’s Fairs, Chevrolet new car introductions, many Michigan (Great Lakes) Male Chorus Association (MMCA) State Sings and Associated Male Choruses of America (AMCA) International Sings.
Interestingly, on Saturday, October 9, 1948, the first day that Channel 7, WXYZ-TV, began televising, the Chevrolet Glee Club performed the first program on that station prior to the telecasting of the World Series baseball game from Cleveland.
In the late 1970’s, during a recession, Chevrolet dropped their sponsorship. Rather than give Chevrolet free publicity, the membership voted to change our name. After an extensive search, we borrowed our name from a line in an old glee club song “The Whiffenpoof Song.”
We perform throughout the year at retirement communities, nursing homes, churches and other civic functions. Our director Peggy Bartz has retired and we are looking for a new director. We are accompanied by Matt Fillion who is in his second season with us.
Every year, the Songsters joins with other members of the Great Lakes Male Chorus Association in a “Big Sing” hosted each year by a different chorus. This concert features individual and mass numbers. Check our “Concert” page for dates.
art by Tatsuro Tokuo |
Our Directors:
Dave Redwood 1932 – 1968
Pat Devlin 1968 – 1976
Ron Prowse 1976 – 1977
Mimi Gass 1977 – 1979
Sheila Edwards 1979 – 1993
Bill Edwards 1993 – 1994
Mark Morson 1995 – 1999
Bill Edwards 2000 – 2008
Donald Milton 2008
Peggy Bartz 2008 – 2013
Eugene Branstrom 2014
Dorothy Duensing 2015 – 2016
Peggy Barry Bartz 2017 – 2021
Our Accompanists:
Mel Ziedler 1933 – 1988
Jean Eckert 1988 – 1994
Eileen Hagopian 1995 – 1996
Gwen Toney 1996 – 2000
Tom Kreger 2000 – 2002
Eric French 2002 – 2006
Dennis Penney 2006 – 2016
Hwa-Ling Russell 2016 – 2019
Matt Fillion 2020- Current