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The Yale What?

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You heard right. The Yale Whiffenpoofs This is no ordinary event, folks. Don’t miss it!

If you’re like a lot of people, your first reaction to hearing that the Yale Whiffenpoofs are coming to Goa might not exactly fall into the category of extreme exuberance. Whiffen What? But one of the joys of being a human being living on this planet is that there are times when we can savour something new. And while the Yale Whiffenpoofs are hardly new – they are in fact the world’s oldest collegiate a cappella group – their appearance in Goa is completely novel.

state where music of pretty much every genre has been able to thrive, from Supersonic to Sunburn to jazz to blues, that says something. A cappella? Now there’s something we haven’t been exposed to much in the sunny state.

It probably shouldn’t surprise us that this unique concert is being arranged and hosted by the folks at North 16, the delightful new resort in Calangute that has already made quite the splash on the hospitality, culinary and musical scene in Goa. And if you’re going to hear a cappella – group singing unaccompanied by instrumental sound – it would be hard to find a better group to hear it from than the Yale Whiffenpoofs, one of the best of its kind in the world.

They’ll be performing at North 16 on July 18, at 7 pm. This is one concert not to be missed!

The group is one of the most celebrated traditions at one of the most celebrated universities on earth. Founded in 1909, the “Whiffs” began as a senior quartet that met for weekly concerts at Mory’s Temple Bar, the famous Yale tavern. Each year, 14 senior Yale men are selected to be part of the Whiffenpoofs, named after a mythical dragonfish that symbolizes the atmosphere of levity accompanying their performances. An important part of the Whiffenpoof tradition is the Whiffenpoof Song, which can be traced to 1907 when two of the group’s founding members created a humorous adaptation of the Rudyard Kipling poem, “Gentleman Rankers.” Upon the conclusion of the song’s premiere at Mory’s Temple Bar, the singers declared it their anthem, “to be sung at every meeting, reverently standing.” In the hundred years since, each class of Whiffenpoofs has sung The Whiffenpoof Song at the end of every concert as a celebration of brotherhood and tradition. The song has been recorded by Rudy Vallée, Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley, Louis Armstrong, and countless others.

Today the song, the songsters, the name and the weekly gathering at Mory’s have become inviolate traditions, binding together the group, its countless admirers and carrying forth the legacy of their forbears.

For all the tradition and pomp, however, what matters most is the bottom line. And the bottom line is this: The Yale Whiffenpoofs are good. Damn good. Their music spans the spectrum from traditional to contemporary, featuring many original compositions and a good number of unexpected twists. Their repertoire includes songs like Aj, Lucka Lucka (trad. Bohemian marching song), All in Love Is Fair (Wonder, arr. Wexler ’11), Ave Maria (Biebl), Bright College Years (trad. Yale), The Boxer (Simon, arr. Mulligan ’11), in addition to music by Bob Dylan, Fleetwood Mac, Michael Buble, among others, with a hefty dose of hymns, ballads and traditional Irish songs thrown in.

Tickets for the concert are available at North 16 Goa Resort, Calangute. For Booking – www.north16goa.com
Call – +91 8554984817/54

Also check them out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/north16goa .