By Nathan Duke
The Bayside Glee Club will kick off its 65th season this weekend at Flushing’s Church on the Hill with its annual holiday concert, which will feature holiday songs, Broadway tunes, operetta music and pop songs performed by the group’s 23 members.
The all−male club, formed in 1944, will perform at 3 p.m. Sunday in the Church on the Hill, at 167−07 35th Ave. in Flushing. The group asks attendees to donate $10 for admission to the 90−minute winter concert, which will be followed by cake and coffee.
Bass singer Henry McDonagh of Richmond Hill said glee club members hail from a number of Queens neighborhoods, including Bayside and Flushing as well as Manhattan and Long Island.
“It’s just a couple of guys who like to sing,” said McDonagh.
McDonagh’s son, Henry McDonagh III, 30, acts as conductor for the club. He also is the conductor of the chorus and orchestra at Walter H. Crowley Intermediate School in Elmhurst.
Bayside Glee Club President Charles Haggerty said the group includes members ranging in age from 30 to 80.
This weekend’s performance will include seasonal songs “Autumn Leaves” and “Winter Wonderland,” George Frideric Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus,” Sigmund Romberg’s “Stouthearted Men” from “The New Moon,” Franz Lehar’s “Vilia” from “The Merry Widow,” Broadway tunes from “Guys and Dolls” and pop tunes, including Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock & Roll,” Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” The Righteous Brothers’ “Unchained Melody” and the Mamas & the Papas’ “California Dreamin’.”
“We’ve been doing this for 65 years,” Haggerty said. “We do this for no other purpose than the joy of doing it. We’re not a chorus and are not affiliated with any church.”
The club, which has been rehearsing every Tuesday night for the past 15 weeks, will host its second large performance of the season in May, McDonagh said. But the group, which performed last weekend at the Ozanam Hall Nursing Home in Bayside, will also sing at the SNAP Senior Center in Queens Village Friday.
McDonagh said he expects this Sunday’s winter concert to draw a crowd of at least 100 borough residents.
The group was originally formed as the Sacred Heart Glee Club and performed for neighborhood hospitals, nursing homes and churches. The club currently boasts a repertoire of 1,000 songs. McDonagh said the group is currently looking for new members.
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e−mail at nduke@timesledger.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 156.
