The Duke's Men Of Yale
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Doox of Yale (formerly The Duke's Men of Yale) are an all-gender
undergraduate Undergraduate education is education conducted after secondary education and before postgraduate education, usually in a college or university. It typically includes all postsecondary programs up to the level of a bachelor's degree. For example, ...
a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...
group at
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
. The group was founded by first-year students in 1952, and in 2017, was the first
TTBB In choral musical notation, TTBB denotes a four-part lower-voice choir. Composed of tenors and basses, Its configuration is Tenor 1, Tenor 2 (or lead), Bass 1 (or Baritone), and Bass 2. Typically (but not always) one of the Tenor parts is the me ...
a cappella group in the 21st century at Yale to become all-gender. (The now-defunct group Augmented Seven did that right after Yale went
coed Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
in 1969.)


History

The Duke's Men formed in 1952 when Basil "Duke" Henning, a former member of the
Whiffenpoofs The Yale Whiffenpoofs is a collegiate a cappella singing group at Yale University. Established in 1909, it is the oldest such group in the United States. Best known for "The Whiffenpoof Song",The Rev. James M. Howard, Yale Class of 1909"An Authe ...
and the master of
Saybrook College Saybrook College is one of the 14 residential colleges at Yale University. Buildings and architecture The building now known as Saybrook and Branford Colleges was built as the Memorial Quadrangle on the site of what was once the old gymnasi ...
, stole an arrangement from the 'Whiffs' and presented it to four of his first-year students. In the fall of 2017, the Duke's Men became Yale's first historically all-male a cappella group in the 21st century to abolish gender restrictions. The group is widely considered to be a feeder to the Whiffenpoofs, and its announcement placed additional pressure on the world's oldest collegiate a cappella group to begin admitting non-male singers; within a year, the Whiffenpoofs followed suit and admitted the group's first female singer in its 109-year history. In 2018, the Duke's Men changed its official name to Doox of Yale, a longtime nickname that better reflected the ensemble's gender inclusivity.


Competition and media

Doox has been successful in a number of competitions, most notably the International Championship of College A Cappella. In 1996 Doox was the best male group and won first runner-up honors at the ICCA Finals at
Avery Fisher Hall David Geffen Hall is a concert hall at Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. The 2,200-seat auditorium opened in 1962, and is the home of the New York Philharmonic. The facility, designed by Max Abramovitz, was o ...
in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, along with awards for soloist Michael Sagalowicz and arrangement. The same year, the group performed for President Bill Clinton at the White House Christmas party. In 2005, the group took first place in the New England regional final of the ICCA. Most recently, the group took first place in the 2009 Northeast Quarterfinal, with member Sam Tsui ('11) receiving accolades for Best Solo & Best Choreography. and won again at the Northeast Semi-Final at MIT on March 21, and came in 4th place at the Finals at Alice Tully Hall on April 18, 2009. In January 2004, the group was featured in a
CBS News Sunday Morning ''CBS News Sunday Morning'' (frequently shortened to ''Sunday Morning'') is an American television newsmagazine that has aired on CBS since January 28, 1979. Created by Robert Northshield and E.S. "Bud" Lamoreaux III, and originally hosted by ...
segment about collegiate a cappella. In 2006, the Duke's Men recorded a jingle for the CNBC program "Fast Money." In June 2015, three members of the group (Solon Snider, Wade Newville, and Paul Holmes) were featured on Bravo TV's scripted comedy series, "
Odd Mom Out ''Odd Mom Out'' is an American sitcom that was created by and starring Jill Kargman. A 10-episode first season was ordered by the American cable television network Bravo. The series focuses on Jill Kargman playing a fictionalized version of he ...
," where they sang a segment of "Give My Regards to Broadway" (arranged by Solon Snider, Pitchpipe 2014-2015).


Touring

Multiple times each year, Doox goes on tour, traveling to cities in the United States and Europe as well as Greece, China, Puerto Rico, Peru, Ecuador, and Ireland in recent years. On tour, the group has performed at venues ranging from classrooms and retirements homes to the
Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5  ...
and packed arenas of 10,000 in Chongqing, China. Doox is also known for its traditional tour through the
Borscht Belt The Borscht Belt, or Yiddish Alps, is a region which was noted for its summer resorts that catered to Jewish vacationers, especially residents of New York City. The resorts, now mostly defunct, were located in the southern foothills of the Catski ...
chain of resorts each winter.


Notable alumni

*
Richard Brookhiser Richard Brookhiser (; born February 23, 1955) is an American journalist, biographer and historian. He is a senior editor at ''National Review''. He is most widely known for a series of biographies of America's founders, including Alexander Hamilt ...
, historian and journalist *
Django Haskins Djángo Haskins (born November 19, 1973) is a North American singer-songwriter. He is named after jazz musician Django Reinhardt. Originally from Florida, Haskins now resides in North Carolina where he is the frontman of pop-noir musical group ...
, singer-songwriter and frontman of pop-noir musical group
the Old Ceremony The Old Ceremony is a Chapel Hill, North Carolina pop-noir musical group fronted by Django Haskins. Formed in 2004, the group has released five full-length albums, ''Our One Mistake'', on sonaBLAST! Records; ''The Old Ceremony'', ''Walk On Thi ...
*
Conor Knighton Conor Knighton (born February 1, 1981) is an American actor, host, and television producer. He is a correspondent for ''CBS Sunday Morning''. In 2016, Knighton launched "On The Trail," a year-long, cross-country look at America's National Parks ...
, correspondent for
CBS Sunday Morning ''CBS News Sunday Morning'' (frequently shortened to ''Sunday Morning'') is an American television newsmagazine that has aired on CBS since January 28, 1979. Created by Robert Northshield and E.S. "Bud" Lamoreaux III, and originally hosted by Ch ...
*
Holcombe Waller Holcombe Waller is an American composer, singer and performance artist. Waller has self-released three albums of varying styles. His work first received international attention with his 2001 album ''Extravagant Gesture''. The indie album was ...
, singer-songwriter and visual/performing artist *
Sam Tsui Samuel Tsui (born May 2, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter and video producer. He rose to fame as an internet celebrity known for doing covers and musical medleys of songs by pop artists. He has since released original songs and expanded ...
, Musician * Casey Breves, member of Chanticleer * Jeremy Lloyd, part of the pop duo
Marian Hill Marian Hill is an American electronic music duo from Philadelphia consisting of record producer Jeremy Lloyd and singer Samantha Gongol. The duo released their debut EP, ''Play'', in 2014, and released their second EP, ''Sway'', in 2015. The duo ...
* Henry Gottfried, cast member of Broadway'
Cabaret
* Christian Probst, cast member of Broadway's
The Book of Mormon The Book of Mormon is a religious text of the Latter Day Saint movement, first published in 1830 by Joseph Smith as ''The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi''. The book is one of ...
* Michael Blume, singer-songwriter


Discography

Over the decades the group has recorded over 30 albums.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Doox Yale University musical groups Collegiate a cappella groups Musical groups established in 1952 1952 establishments in Connecticut