The Yale Alley Cats

The Yale Alley Cats
Yale Alley Cats of 2013-2014
Background information
Origin	New Haven, Connecticut
Genres	A cappella, jazz, mowtown, pop
Years active	1943 – present
Website	YaleAlleyCats.com
Members	Tenor I Zack Elkind '17 Laurence Bashford '18 Jared Michaud '19 Tenor II Xinyuan Chen '17 Griffin Black '18 Eli Daiute '18 Jacob Clemente '19 Baritone Thomas Forster '17 Aujer Ding '18 Erifer Fernandez '18 Mohit Sani '19 Bass Nicholas Biniaz-Harris '18 Aidan Brooks '19 Sachin Peddada '19 Dustin Zhao '19 Nicholas Biniaz-Harris, Musical Director Erifer Fernandez, Business Manager

The Yale Alley Cats are an all male, undergraduate a cappella singing group at Yale University. The Alley Cats were founded in 1943, making them the third oldest underclassman a cappella group at Yale.^[1] The group’s early repertoire was based in jazz, and its current arrangements cover Motown, pop music, folk music, and various other music genres. Each year, the Cats go on three tours, many of them international, performing for public and private audiences.^[2]

Music

All of the group's music are arrangements written by current and past members.^[3] Their performances have entertained audiences world-wide, including Martha Stewart and President Barack Obama.^[3][4] The Alley Cats' first album on the Bridge Records, Inc. label ^[2] also made it onto the 52nd Grammy Awards entry list for Best Pop Vocal Album.^[5]

Recent tours^[6]

Every year, the group travels to numerous destinations during their winter, spring, and summer breaks. Recent tours include:

Date	Destination
Winter 2016	Texas Houston Dallas
Summer 2015	Sweden Stockholm Norway Bergen Scotland Elgin Glasgow Ireland Galway Dublin England London Estonia Tallinn Tartu
Spring 2015	Florida Naples Album Retreat Goshen, Connecticut
Winter 2015	Virginia Lexington Charlottesville Richmond Roanoke Lynchburg
Summer 2014	Sweden Stockholm Belgium Brussels Switzerland Basel Germany Wartin Berlin England London Turkey Istanbul
Spring 2014	California Los Angeles Palos Verdes China Beijing
Winter 2014	Louisiana New Orleans Georgia Atlanta Florida Jacksonville Palm Beach Orlando Sarasota Naples
Summer 2013	Washington Bellingham Sammamish Seattle South Korea Seoul
Spring 2013	Switzerland Basel Bern Leysin Lugano Montreaux Ollon Belgium Brussels Germany Berlin Düsseldorf Stuttgart
Winter 2013	Texas Dallas Austin San Antonio
Summer 2012	Germany Berlin Wartin Stuttgart Nuremberg Belgium Brussels France Paris Le Mans Czech Republic Prague Finland Lappeenranta Helsinki Estonia Tallinn Vihula Narva Parnu Latvia Riga Lithuania Vilnius Kaunas Poland Warsaw Poznan
Spring 2012	Hawaii St. Louis, Missouri
Winter 2012	Washington, D.C.
Summer 2011	The Pacific Seattle, Washington Victoria, Canada Hawaii Guam Tokyo, Japan Fukuoka, Japan Seoul, South Korea
Spring 2011	Europe Switzerland Milan, Italy
Winter 2011	Vail, Colorado
Summer 2010	Scandinavia and Northern Europe Stockholm, Uppsala, & Gothenburg; Sweden Bergen & Stavanger, Norway Copenhagen, Denmark Amsterdam & The Hague, The Netherlands Paris, France The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Saarlouis, Hamburg, Berlin, Casekow, & Dresden; Germany Wrocłav, Poland
Spring 2010	Japan Tokyo Himeji Hiroshima Osaka Kobe
Winter 2010	Seattle, Washington Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

Notable alumni

Many Alley Cats go on to join The Yale Whiffenpoofs, a selective, all-senior, all-male a cappella group,^[7] and some have gone on to careers in the performance industry, including:

• Andy Sandberg '06, Producer, director, and actor, best known as the producer of the Broadway (2009) and West End (2010) revivals of the musical Hair.^[8]
• Dave Lieberman '03, Host of Food Network's "Good Deal with Dave Lieberman".^[9]

• Joe Farrell '97, Host of Trading Spaces: Family.^[10]

• Josh Singer '94, Co-writer of the Academy Award-winning screenplay, Spotlight ^[11]

• George R. Steel '94, General Manager and Artistic Director of the New York City Opera. Former General Director of the Dallas Opera.^[12][13]
• Allen Murabayashi '94, Founding employee and Senior Vice President of Engineering at HotJobs.com (now Yahoo! HotJobs).^[14][15]
• Manoel Felciano '92, Tony Award-nominated Actor of Sweeney Todd (Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical, 2006).^[16][17]
• David J. Tang '89, Artistic and acting Executive Director of Firebird Arts Alliance.^[18]
• John Gibert, Ph.D., '82, Professor of Classics, University of Colorado, Boulder
• Jeffrey Klitz '81, Conductor, Musician, Arranger for Broadway and other theatrical endeavors.^[19][20]

Founding

In the summer of 1943, four Yale undergraduate students climbed Saybrook Tower to serenade the night with Henry Carey's "Sally in Our Alley". Their singing awoke the College Master who quickly yelled at them to "stop it! Your singing sounds like a bunch of screeching alley cats!" The Master then quieted the young gentlemen and sent them to bed, but the performance marked the group's founding and taking the name, "The Yale Alley Cats." ^[2]

Rush

Each year, freshmen audition in a multi-week process known as "Rush." ^[21] In the tradition of many Yale a cappella groups, the current Alley Cats “tap” freshmen to sing with the group for three years.^[22][23]

Discography^[24][25]

• The Gamble (2015)
• The Very Best of the Yale Alley Cats (2014)
• Noir (2013)
• Maneki Neko (2010)
• Ghost of a Chance (2009)
• Classic (2006)
• Ninth Live (2004)
• Day & Night (2003)
• Est. 1943 (2001)
• Cats Around the World (2000)
• Scratch (1999)
• Live in Europe (1998)
• Hot Tin Roof (1997)
• Swinging Cat (1995)
• Lingers on My Mind (1993)
• Mood Calico (1991)
• Top Hat & Tails (1989)
• Faux Paws (1987)
• The Cat's Out (1983)
• Night and Day (1981)
• Down for Double (1979)
• Magic To Do (1977)
• Out Cattin' (1975)
• 25th Anniversary (1973)
• Our House (1971)
• Tales of the Alley Cats (1969)
• You Go to My Head (1967)
• The Yale Alley Cats: Volume IV (1965)
• Just For My Love (1964)
• Bewitching (1963)
• The Yale Alley Cats (1958)

References

1. The Yale Alley Cats
2. The Yale Alley Cats release their first studio album under the Bridge Records label.
3. The Yale Alley Cats history
4. The Yale Alley Cats on "Martha Stewart's Home for the Holidays."
5. 52nd Grammy Awards entry list, Field 1, Category 11: Best Pop Vocal Album. Note: The original list at Grammy.com has been removed. A true and accurate copy is found at the current-referenced URL.
6. Yale Alley Cats Tours
7. "An Irrepressible Urge to Join - Musical Groups", The Yale Alumni Magazine, January 2003.
8. Andy Sandberg. BroadwayWorld.com, accessed May 9, 2011
9. Dave Lieberman at The Food Network
10. Joe Farrell on IMDB
11. Erbland, Kate (November 4, 2015). ""How 'Spotlight' Screenwriter Josh Singer Recovered From 'The Fifth Estate' With Another Journalism Film"". indiewire.com. Retrieved November 7, 2015.
12. George R. Steel at NYC Opera
13. George R. Steel at Dallas Opera
14. "Interview with Allen Murabayashi, Founder of Photoshelter.com", About the Image, 21 December 2005
15. Photographer Portfolio: "Allen Murabayashi | Eddie Adams Workshop"
16. Manoel Felciano on IMDB
17. Manoel Felciano on IBDB
18. David J. Tang at the Firebird Arts Alliance
19. Jeffrey Klitz on IBDB
20. Jeffrey Klitz on Playbill.com's Who's Who
21. Yale Singing Group Council: "What is "rush?""
22. Yale Daily News: "A cappella taps newest members", The Yale Daily News, New Haven, 24 September 2009.
23. "Yale's A Cappella Rush", National Public Radio, 26 September 2002.
24. "Current Albums". The Yale Alley Cats. Retrieved 2016-02-29.
25. "Back Catalog". The Yale Alley Cats. Retrieved 2016-02-29.

External links

• The Yale Alley Cats Website
• The Yale Alley Cats Facebook Page
• The Yale Alley Cats YouTube Channel
• The Yale Alley Cats Twitter Feed