Alina Robin ‘19

The choirs have a tradition of wearing boutonnieres during our fall and spring concerts. Members who are graduating wear white flowers, and those who are not wear red. I had become very accustomed to strolling into the green room before each concert and grabbing my red flower, but not this time. I almost forgot, multiple times, that I would need to fish out a white flower instead. The time had finally come: my senior year, and my final run of concerts.

First up was my final Homecoming concert. This year, however, was a very different experience from previous ones. In the past, Homecoming has been a Glee Club concert. The Chorus has been featured in one piece for each Homecoming concert since I arrived at Cornell, singing up from the balcony of Bailey Hall. This year, the concert became a joint event, with the Chorus performing a full set on stage during the first half of the concert. This was a special year for this to happen because the Glee Club is celebrating its 150th birthday, and it was an honor to get to celebrate with them. It was also exciting to begin the celebrations in anticipation of the Chorus’ centennial in two years.

It’s difficult to truly wrap your head around how long these organizations have existed — both are older than some of Cornell’s colleges. All I know is that over the years, the Chorus and the Glee Club have only grown closer — even just in the time that I’ve been here — and I am incredibly proud of both organizations’ longevity.

One of the songs in the Chorus’ permanent repertoire is “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.” We often talk about this idea of an unbroken circle, where we are singing with people who have sung with other people who have sung with other people, and so on back to the beginning, forming an unbroken circle of singers. It’s an exciting time to be here, celebrating this circle of Glee Clubbers as a student now and preparing to celebrate the Chorus as an alum in two years.