Summer 2023, Pacific Northwest Tour
WGC is excited to announce this year’s upcoming tour to the Pacific Northwest! We will be visiting Portland, OR and Seattle, WA, with a quick trip to Tacoma, WA in between. Activities include a performance at Old Church Concert Hall, a trip to the Seattle Asian Art Museum, and a tour of Paramount Theater, to get to know all the different aspects of the region. If you’d like to contribute to singers’ travel costs for this trip, click the link below!
Summer 2022, Nashville Tour
After two years of abiding by travel limitations and staying safe, WGC went to Nashville, Tennessee! Trips to the Grand Ole Opry, Dollywood, and other historical sights gave our singers a taste of The Music City and all it has to offer.
Summer 2019, The Golden Tour
We traveled to Northern California to perform with different professional and semi-professional choirs. Major tour stops included San Francisco, Berkeley, and Sacramento. Plenty of sight-seeing was done too; Lunch at Fisherman’s Wharf, photos at the Golden Gate Bridge, touring UC Berkeley’s campus, and exploring the California state capital building were just some of the highlights of the trip! Our performances included an intimate concert with the WomenSing Choir in Lafayette, singing blues with alumni in San Francisco, and sharing the stage with the wonderful Sacramento Women’s Chorus (pictured). It was great to get to spend quality time with one another, all while soaking up some west coast sunshine.
Summer 2018, Sorellanza
During our 2018 tour to Italy, we traveled to many different cities, including Venice, Florence, and Rome. While in Venice, we went on a walking tour of the city, including the San Marco Basilica. Our performance with Italian Choir San Michel Arcangelo and San Lorenzo was part of the International Music Meeting in Padua area. We then headed to Florence where we did a lunchtime performance at Saint Mark’s. We enjoyed a walking tour of the city and especially loved visiting the Florence Leather Market and a local perfume shop. With quick stops in Lucca and Pisa, we were on our way to Rome with our performance at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. After exploring the sites, our final performance was at the Sicily-Roma American Cemetery. Highlights of our tour included singing each night at dinner and spreading our passions to new regions.
Summer 2017, The All-American Tour
In 2017, the Women’s Glee Club embarked for the northeast region of the United States. We visited New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C.. During our time in NYC, we walked around the city, ate at Guy Fieri’s restaurant, visited Central Park, toured Radio City Musical Hall, and saw Aladdin on Broadway. Our performance in this city was held in the Madison Avenue Atrium. Next, we headed to Philadelphia. We toured all of the historic buildings in the city, ate at the Reading Terminal Market, and had a performance at the Independence National Park. Finally, we traveled to Washington D.C.. We had a nighttime tour of the monuments, visited the Smithsonian Museums, toured the Capitol building and Arlington Cemetery, and went on a wonderful dinner cruise. We also held performances at the WWII Memorial and a veterans retirement home. It was a wonderful tour filled with lots of fun events and special singing opportunities to honor our country.
Summer 2016, Where Dreams Go Blue
We had so much fun during our Walt Disney World Tour! We were able to sing with a local choir at a nearby high school, as well as perform at Disney Springs. Since Disney holds a special place in all of our hearts, we also loved the free time we had at the parks and the rides and events we were able to go to as a group. Our favorite piece was a Disney Princess Medley (since Dr. Skadsem likes to refer to us all as princesses).
Past Tours
Brazil, Summer 2015: WGC visited Rio de Janeiro in May.
ACDA, Winter 2014: The Glee Club had a great time performing at the 2014 American Choral Directors Association Central Division Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio in February.
Canada, Summer 2013
South Africa Tour, Summer 2012: As one of 5 choirs participating in the Ihlombe! Choral Festival from Classical Movements, the Women’s Glee Club traveled through South Africa performing in 4 concerts from Johannesburg to Cape Town. We saw beautiful African landscape and experienced incredible culture. We saw things we expected and things we didn’t expect. We made friends in choirs from New Zealand, Australia, Belgium, and California. It was a great opportunity to travel internationally to one location and have the chance to not only experience African culture, but also learn a little bit about the cultures of the other choirs singing with us. We kept a blog during this trip, which you can access here.
Southern Tour Spring 2010: The Women’s Glee Club toured through four Southern cities this year—Lexington, Birmingham, Atlanta, and Nashville. We sang with the Phoenix Choir in Atlanta and the Birmingham Children’s Choir (which was started by our conductor, Dr. Skadsem) in Birmingham. The concert in Lexington was hosted by the UofM Bluegrass Alumni Group, and in Atlanta, by the UofM Alumni Alumni Group. For sight-seeing, we wondered through the Vulcan Museum and the Civil Rights Museum in Birmingham, the Coca Cola Museum and the Stone Mountain Park in Atlanta, and miscellaneous locations. A picture gallery is available here.
Austria, Summer 2009: During the summer of 2009, the Women’s Glee Club had a wonderful opportunity to sing in Vienna, Austria by participating in the International Haydn Festival. When not rehearsing, members of the Glee Club got the chance to do some sight-seeing and enjoy local cuisine both in Vienna and on excursions to surrounding areas such as Schönbrunn Castle, Eisenstadt, and Rust. As a part of the Haydn celebration, they visited the town of Eisenstadt, where Haydn first found patronage at the Esterhazy Castle, and also got to sing in his chapel. The trip was highlighted with performances in some of the best music venues in the world. The Women’s Glee Club attended performances in the Musikverein, was featured in a chamber performance in the Palais Ferstel, and performed Mozart’s Requiem with performers from around the United States in the world-renowned Konzerthaus
Traverse City, Spring 2009: In May of 2009, the Women’s Glee Club went on a weekend tour to Traverse City. They were invited to sing for alumni in the area at the Lars Hockstad Auditorium. After a day of brunch at a local restaurant and sight-seeing in the city, the Glee Club performed selections from their fall and winter repertoire. They then enjoyed hors d’oeuvres and dessert at a reception hosted by the Alumni Association and got the opportunity to experience overnight home-stays with some of the alumni.
Eastern Tour, Spring 2007: In May of 2007 the Women’s Glee Club began their spring tour in Cleveland, Ohio. The WGC then traveled to Penn State in Happy Valley, Pennsylvania. Events in Penn State included a joint concert with the Penn State Men’s Glee Club and director and UM alum, Christopher Kiver. After Happy Valley the WGC traveled to Philadelphia where UM alums hosted our third concert and final concert. The WGC then spent a night in New York City. Closing tour events included attending Broadway shows Lion King and Rent as well as breakfast at Tavern on Green.
California Tour, Spring 2006: The Women’s Glee Club traveled to the West Coast for its first tour in six years. Conductor Gabriela Hristova and the WGC began the tour in Los Angeles, California. After a successful concert hosted by the UM Alumni Club, the WGC traveled to Orange County for a picnic with the UM Alumni Club and Michigan Spirit songs. The West Coast tour came to a successful close with a concert in San Diego. Outside of performances and rehearsals, the WGC enjoyed talking with UM alums as well as visits to Sunset Blvd. and the San Diego zoo.
International Tour, May 5-18, 2000: The Women’s Glee Club experienced their first international tour when they traveled to Europe during the Spring of 2000. The Concert Tour included visits to England, France, and the Netherlands. While in England, they performed in some of London’s neighborhood churches and also visited some of England’s famous landmarks, including the Tower of London, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace. Upon arriving in France, WGC explored Paris and the surrounding areas with visits to the Notre Dame Cathedral, Chatres, the Louvre, and the Eiffel Tower. The final destination of the Women’s Glee Club was the Netherlands, where they joined the Michigan State University Men’s Glee Club in several evening concerts.
Mini-Tour to Chicago, March 18-21, 1999: The Women’s Glee Club was invited to perform in Shelby High School’s Brand New Auditorium in Shelby, Michigan on March 18. The next day, the WGC traveled to Chicago where they performed an hour-long workshop with a local high school. After a day of sight-seeing and shoping, the WGC traveled to Wheaton, Illinois to perform with the fabulous Wheaton College Women’s Chorale.
Toledo Tour, April 20, 1997: The Women’s Glee Club was invited to perform along with the Ohio State Women’s Glee Club and the Miami Women’s Choir in Toledo in April 1997. The WGC performed selections from their Spring Concert.
Spring Tour, 1996: The 1996 Spring Tour included stops at the following locations:
May 7 – Pittsburgh, PA at Chatham College
May 8-9 – Washington, D.C.
May 10 – Baltimore, MD at Towson State Univeristy
May 11 – Philadelphia, PA at Villa Nova
May 12 – Allentown, PA with the Community Music School choruses
Spring Tour, 1995: The WGC travelled to Cincinnati, OH and Chicago, IL and performed in various locations in the two cities.
The University of Michigan Women's Glee Club 