Do You Love
 to Sing?
Join Us!
New members are welcome. Come see us at work and play.
Ability to read music not required. Rehearsals are on Tuesday evenings, beginning September 7.

You're Invited
The public is cordially invited to attend our  2010 winter holiday concert on December 12. Details TBA.

Conductor
Henry McDonagh III
Accompanist
Joseph Liccardo

	On this page:
	About the Bayside Glee Club
	Membership
	About the Conductor and Accompanist
	Rehearsals
	Performances
	Contact Us
	Other pages at this site:
	Home
	About the Conductors Club
	Concert Calendar
	Links to member groups and other choral organizations
	Catskill Glee Club
	Hendrick Hudson Male Chorus
	Mendelssohn Club of Kingston
	Yankee Male Chorus

Since its inception as a male chorus in 1944, the Bayside Glee Club has been making a unique contribution to Bayside and the larger community. Each year the club presents two formal concerts and from time to time performs for the benefit of area churches, nursing homes, hospitals, and various organizations.

Although the club is centered in the Flushing/Bayside area, singers and audiences come from all parts of Queens, Long Island, and the Metropolitan area.

With over 1,200 selections in its growing library, the club (currently with 24 singing members) works hard to bring its audiences fresh, challenging, and varied programs.

66th Annual Spring Concert Highlights
 
The world we live in today may be "smaller," but most musical works and songs written to evoke special or far-away places or times, memorable events, or different or remote cultures continue to cast their spell. The theme of our 66th spring concert was "A Musical Trip Around the World," and in form  ranged from the military march to the slave spiritual, from the lullaby to the Broadway song.  

The club's musical itinerary included an Irish port ("Galway Bay"), northern Asia ("Russian Lullaby"), ancient Palestine ("Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho"), and Spain ("Man of La Mancha").

There were two African stopovers," the Afrikaaner Boer War song "Marching to Pretoria" and "The Lion Sleeps Tonight." The latter, originally entitled "Mbube," is an example of the "iscathamiya a cappella" style of that continent, but in America it also became a catchy pop song of the 1960s as performed by The Tokens. Japan was musically represented as well, and concert attendees also heard BGC's renditions of "Flying Free" and "Goin' Home."

 2009-10 Benefit Performances

On Mother’s Day, May 9, 2010, the club will give an encore performance for the Bayside Historical Society at Fort Totten. 

On May 2 the club sang at the long-term care and rehabilitation center of North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset. 

On March 18, in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, a BGC contingent performed in a largely Irish vein for the Bayside Historical Society in Fort Totten.

The club performed at the AARP Flushing chapter at Church on the Hill March 9.

On December 4, 2009, the men appeared at the SNAP Senior Center in Queens Village; and on Sunday, November 29, at Ozanam Hall Nursing Home in Bayside.

On September 30, BGC performed at the Queens-wide Health Coalition meeting near Borough Hall. In a double celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, the club performed both at Ft. Totten, on March 11, at the meeting of the Bayside Historical Society; and, on March 18, in Flushing, for the Golden Age Club of St. Mary’s Nativity Church. On May 8 BGC gave an encore lunch-time performance at SNAP Senior Center in Queens Village.

The club's roster of 23 active members, together with its associate (nonsinging) members, includes men of all ages and reflects the wonderful ethnic diversity of our community. 

We extend a sincere and cordial welcome to any man over 18 who would like to sing and enjoy an evening of fun and fellowship once a week. No previous experience is required and ability to read music is not necessary. Continuing education is a priority and in the interest of ever improving our performances, we provide choral and musical training. Transportation to rehearsals may be available if needed. The club publishes a quarterly newsletter to keep members updated about activities and goings on.

Yearly dues are $50, payable $25 each winter and spring.

Social activities
The club holds occasional gatherings throughout the year, including an Associates Night, usually in the spring, and an annual picnic during the summer. Members, family, friends, associates, and prospective members are welcome. After each concert there is a reception at which refreshments are served; there is also a raffle drawing.  

Henry McDonagh III earned his master's degree in music education as well as a B.A. in music from the Aaron Copeland School of Music at Queens College. 

He teaches general music and conducts the chorus and orchestra at Walter H. Crowley Intermediate School in Elmhurst, Queens. From 1999 to 2003 he was director of youth music for St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church in Queens.

Henry has performed throughout New York City and Montreal for over 10 years.

His eclectic performance background includes a stint as lead guitarist for Uncle Walt and the Jewels Big Band and bassist/vocalist for CLOSENUF, whose all-original rock-and-roll CD was placed on the ballot for a Grammy nomination in 2006 (Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist). He has also sung with the Queens College Choral Society and has extensive performance and production experience as a freelance musician in musical theater and with various bands.

Born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island, Joseph Liccardo holds a bachelor of music degree from the Eastman School of Music, where -- even before graduating in 2006 -- he excelled both as a chamber performer and as a soloist. In his first undergraduate year, he performed Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini with the Eastman Philharmonia, and as a senior he won first prize (and a Steinway grand piano) in the young artist division of the Music Teachers National Association Piano Competition. While a student he also won the John Celentano Award for excellence in chamber music, took first prize in the Jessie Kneisel Lieder competition for piano accompaniment, and performed frequently with his piano trio on campus and in the community. A year after receiving his degree he began a collaboration with the renowned Chinese pipa player Zhang Hongyan. (The pipa is a short-necked fretted lute.) The duo have performed at Carnegie Hall and at Boston's Jordan Hall and appeared in concerts in numerous cities in China. Mr. Liccardo, who maintains a private studio, currently performs as a freelance musician and teaches piano privately at both the Lawrence Eisman Center for Preparatory Studies in Music at Queens College (where he studied for 12 years with Dr. Donald Pirone prior to college) and the St. Andrew Avellino School in Flushing. He is pursuing a master's degree in piano performance at the Juilliard School (beginning September 2010), having been the recipient of the Joseph Fidelman and the P & A Shaffer scholarships.

Email:  JFJ001@aol.com or chagg@verizon.net
Telephone: Henry McDonagh, 718-835-6166

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