Monday, March 28, 2022 - 7:00pm

5655 Stadium Pkwy, Melbourne, FL 32940


The Yale Whiffenpoofs, guest artist

The world renown and critically acclaimed Yale Whiffenpoofs come to Viera to present a riveting and entertaining program.  The Whiffenpoofs love of fine singing, fun and fellowship allows them to entertain any audience anywhere with perfect harmony, infectious enthusiasm and a timeless wit.

The Yale Whiffenpoofs are America’s first and oldest a cappella group. For over 100 years, they’ve entertained audiences around the world with their unique blend of sweet harmony and tongue-in-cheek humor.  Maintaining a broad repertoire of exclusively original arrangements  – jazz standards, ballads, show tunes, pop and rock music, and humorous numbers – the Whiffenpoofs are sure to please.    Don’t miss this incredible performance.

Artist Information


The Yale Whiffenpoofs, an undergraduate a cappella singing group at Yale University, is the oldest collegiate a cappella group in the United States, which was established in 1909. The Whiffenpoofs perform near the Yale campus and tour the United States and internationally. Established in 1909 and best known for "The Whiffenpoof Song", the group is composed of senior men who compete in the spring of their junior year for 14 spots. The Whiffs' best-known alumnus may be Cole Porter, who sang in the 1913 line-up; the group often performs Porter songs in tribute.

The Whiffenpoofs have performed for generations at a number of venues, including the Lincoln Center, the White House, the Salt Lake Tabernacle, Oakland Coliseum, Carnegie Hall and the Rose Bowl. The group has appeared on such television shows as Jeopardy!, The Today Show, Saturday Night Live, 60 Minutes, Gilmore Girls, The West Wing, and Glee. In December 2010, the group appeared on NBC's a cappella competition The Sing-Off.

During the school year, the Whiffenpoofs perform on Monday nights at Mory's, known more formally as "Mory's Temple Bar," circulating from room to room.

The Whiffenpoofs travel extensively during the school year and take a three-month world tour during the summer. The group's business manager and musical director, known in Whiff tradition respectively as the "Popocatepetl" and "Pitchpipe," are chosen by members of the previous year's group. An alumni organization maintains close ties with the group.

The word whiffenpoof originated in the 1908 operetta Little Nemo by Victor Herbert, based on the comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland by Winsor McCay.

THEIR HISTORY

More than 100 years ago, on a frosty January night in New Haven, Connecticut, five of the Yale Glee Club’s best singers convened at Mory’s Temple Bar to escape the cold. Louis Linder, the tavern’s barkeep and a music aficionado, welcomed them in, beginning an institution that survives to this day.

Of those original five singers, four were members of the Glee Club’s prestigious Varsity Quartet, a group that sang together regularly at various alumni events. Unwilling to restrict themselves to performances at public functions, the group began to meet on a weekly basis at Mory’s, where they improvised harmonies to the songs they loved so well. These weekly meetings soon became a hallowed tradition amongst the singers.

As their fame on campus grew, the quintet began their search for a name. Denton ‘Goat’ Fowler, tickled by a joke featuring a mythical dragonfish named the Whiffenpoof, suggested the name to his companions, who found the name an apt reflection of the atmosphere of levity that accompanied the group’s gatherings. The word quickly caught on with the group’s admirers, and the name stuck.

In the years since, each generation of Whiffenpoofs have taken up the mantle of their forebears. For more than one century of songsters, the name, the song, and the weekly date at Mory’s have remained inviolate traditions that continue to bind us together.