Fran Tirado is a writer and speaker. You might know him as the deputy editor of Out, the co-creator of Food 4 Thot, and formerly the executive editor of Hello Mr. He is also generally very loud on social media.

The Men’s Glee Club of New York

The Men’s Glee Club of New York (MGCNY) was established by 11 Japanese businessmen in New York in 1991. Due to a decline in membership, the group suspended its activities from 2000 for ten years but led by president Masato Fujihara

and music director Ryuji “Rue” Yamauchi, the group resumed activities in 2010 and has been active ever since. Our diverse repertoire includes classical music, gospel, folk songs of Japan, Beatles, J-pop, and original compositions for

men’s voices, referred to often as kumikyoku by Japanese choristers.

MGCNY is reputably the only active male-only choir in New York that primarily sings in Japanese. Unlike SATB choir made up of mixed female/males voices, MGCNY employs all-male formation of TTBB, which is 2 tenor parts (high

voices) and 2 bass parts (baritone which is medium low, and bass which is the lowest). The advantage of all-male voices is that the voices blend extremely well; the pitches are closer to each other. Following the Japanese collegiate men’s choir

traditions, MGCNY often employs the nanko-gai-hassei technique, or “soft-pallet voice,” which involves shaping the throat into yawning position to remove edginess from the tone to create a blurry, darker timbre. The result is an extremely uniform tone and great appeal, which captured the hearts of many collegiate male singers in the 50’s – 80’s during which Japan saw the golden era of male glee clubs all over Japanese college campuses.

Another distinct feature of the glee club tradition is that many songs are sang A Capella (without accompaniment). As is with our former years, MGCNY will sing all songs a cappella, except those in the J-Pop stage which will feature the

guest instrumentalists.

Still, as an amateur group, MGCNY’s primary focus has been to share the joy of music with its New York audience, as well as serve as an vehicle for understanding between Japan and United States. The group participates in many choral festivals and is frequently found on Carnegie Hall stage. In recent years, MGCNY has been invited by The New York Mets to sing the American National Anthem (2013 & 2014), and by The New York Yankees (2014-2016).