Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Princeton Nassoons
The Princeton Nassoons are a ten to twenty-member low-voice a cappella group at Princeton University. The group has been officially self-selecting (and self-directing) since 1941, although the original group is known to have sung together as early as 1939. The Nassoons are the oldest a cappella group at Princeton University.
The Nassoons have performed at a number of prominent venues, including the White House, the US Open, and have also appeared on The Early Show, and Good Morning America. Additionally, they have performed for various heads of state, such as Queen Noor of Jordan and the royal family of Liechtenstein. They also appeared in Admission (2013 film) starring Tina Fey and Paul Rudd.
The Nassoons consist of ten to twenty men covering all class years, from freshmen to seniors. Auditions for prospective members are held at the beginning of fall and spring semesters; however, only freshmen and sophomores can join the group. Most musical arrangements are split into five-part harmonies (First Tenor, Second Tenor, Tenor-Baritone, Baritone, Bass), and most feature at least one soloist. The group rehearses four to six nights a week in the basement of 1901 Hall (Room 100), a room that was deeded to them by the University and which they have been singing in since 1949. They perform at University functions, as well as corporate events, dinner parties, country clubs, schools, and other engagements along the eastern seaboard during the academic year. They also officially tour three times a year to both domestic and international locales.
Within the Ivy League a cappella music tradition, the Princeton Nassoons are fourth in age, following The Whiffenpoofs (est. 1909), The Spizzwinks(?) (est. 1914), and The Society of Orpheus and Bacchus (est. 1938), all of Yale University. It is the oldest such group at Princeton and an early performer in an Arch sing setting.
The Nassoons are members of Acaprez, an organization of eight Princeton University a cappella groups who organize "arch sings" and abide by regulations regarding the audition process and song ownership. The other member groups are the Tigertones, the Footnotes, the Tigerlilies, the Tigressions, the Wildcats, the Katzenjammers, and Roaring Twenty (co-ed).
The late 1930s marked the start of the Nassoons, and the 1940s saw the group's death and rebirth due to World War II. The original eight members came out of the Glee Club to introduce small-group a cappella singing to the Princeton campus. Their founding act initiated what has become, almost seventy years later, a bona fide singing group community and subculture which involves over a hundred undergraduates and innumerable fans.
The Nassoons' popularity was swift in coming. The turning point for the yet-unnamed group came in autumn 1941. During the annual Princeton-Yale Glee Club concert on the weekend of the schools' annual football game, the eight men sang a short set in the middle of the program to a lukewarm reception. In a move of desperation, they decided to unveil an arrangement that the Glee Club director had explicitly asked them not to perform, fearing its bawdy five-part harmonies and scandalous lyrics would offend the sensibilities of the stodgy New Haven audience. But as the final chord rang out, the crowd broke into thunderous applause, and the group sang it again as an encore. That song, Perfidia, remains the alumni song of the Nassoons, and it ends their performances to this day.
A year after their debut at Yale, the Nassoons were singing in the presence of Ella Fitzgerald, and had performed in prominent venues like New York's posh Rainbow Room. By the decade's close, the group had lent their voices to the music of such 1940s luminaries as Lester Lanin and Gertrude Lawrence. In early years, the Daily Princetonian spent much ink chronicling the group, announcing new members, new officers, and the dates of the group's performances at upcoming social engagements. Though the Nassoons were still affiliated with the Glee Club and performed when it sang on campus, the group was not held back from performing on their own. Monday through Friday they practiced at one o'clock in Murray-Dodge Hall, getting ready for the growing list of shows that year. By August 1942, they had sung all over the East Coast and the South, at beach clubs, hotels, prep schools, other colleges, and even army camps, not to mention the girls' schools, where they were always warmly received.
Hub AI
Princeton Nassoons AI simulator
(@Princeton Nassoons_simulator)
Princeton Nassoons
The Princeton Nassoons are a ten to twenty-member low-voice a cappella group at Princeton University. The group has been officially self-selecting (and self-directing) since 1941, although the original group is known to have sung together as early as 1939. The Nassoons are the oldest a cappella group at Princeton University.
The Nassoons have performed at a number of prominent venues, including the White House, the US Open, and have also appeared on The Early Show, and Good Morning America. Additionally, they have performed for various heads of state, such as Queen Noor of Jordan and the royal family of Liechtenstein. They also appeared in Admission (2013 film) starring Tina Fey and Paul Rudd.
The Nassoons consist of ten to twenty men covering all class years, from freshmen to seniors. Auditions for prospective members are held at the beginning of fall and spring semesters; however, only freshmen and sophomores can join the group. Most musical arrangements are split into five-part harmonies (First Tenor, Second Tenor, Tenor-Baritone, Baritone, Bass), and most feature at least one soloist. The group rehearses four to six nights a week in the basement of 1901 Hall (Room 100), a room that was deeded to them by the University and which they have been singing in since 1949. They perform at University functions, as well as corporate events, dinner parties, country clubs, schools, and other engagements along the eastern seaboard during the academic year. They also officially tour three times a year to both domestic and international locales.
Within the Ivy League a cappella music tradition, the Princeton Nassoons are fourth in age, following The Whiffenpoofs (est. 1909), The Spizzwinks(?) (est. 1914), and The Society of Orpheus and Bacchus (est. 1938), all of Yale University. It is the oldest such group at Princeton and an early performer in an Arch sing setting.
The Nassoons are members of Acaprez, an organization of eight Princeton University a cappella groups who organize "arch sings" and abide by regulations regarding the audition process and song ownership. The other member groups are the Tigertones, the Footnotes, the Tigerlilies, the Tigressions, the Wildcats, the Katzenjammers, and Roaring Twenty (co-ed).
The late 1930s marked the start of the Nassoons, and the 1940s saw the group's death and rebirth due to World War II. The original eight members came out of the Glee Club to introduce small-group a cappella singing to the Princeton campus. Their founding act initiated what has become, almost seventy years later, a bona fide singing group community and subculture which involves over a hundred undergraduates and innumerable fans.
The Nassoons' popularity was swift in coming. The turning point for the yet-unnamed group came in autumn 1941. During the annual Princeton-Yale Glee Club concert on the weekend of the schools' annual football game, the eight men sang a short set in the middle of the program to a lukewarm reception. In a move of desperation, they decided to unveil an arrangement that the Glee Club director had explicitly asked them not to perform, fearing its bawdy five-part harmonies and scandalous lyrics would offend the sensibilities of the stodgy New Haven audience. But as the final chord rang out, the crowd broke into thunderous applause, and the group sang it again as an encore. That song, Perfidia, remains the alumni song of the Nassoons, and it ends their performances to this day.
A year after their debut at Yale, the Nassoons were singing in the presence of Ella Fitzgerald, and had performed in prominent venues like New York's posh Rainbow Room. By the decade's close, the group had lent their voices to the music of such 1940s luminaries as Lester Lanin and Gertrude Lawrence. In early years, the Daily Princetonian spent much ink chronicling the group, announcing new members, new officers, and the dates of the group's performances at upcoming social engagements. Though the Nassoons were still affiliated with the Glee Club and performed when it sang on campus, the group was not held back from performing on their own. Monday through Friday they practiced at one o'clock in Murray-Dodge Hall, getting ready for the growing list of shows that year. By August 1942, they had sung all over the East Coast and the South, at beach clubs, hotels, prep schools, other colleges, and even army camps, not to mention the girls' schools, where they were always warmly received.