User:Goldiefish94/The CU Buffoons

The CU Buffons The University of Colorado's oldest all male a capella group. In June of 1954, Dr. Oakleigh "Oak" Thorne, who had then been the musical director (or "Pitchpipe") of the Yale Whiffenpoofs, moved to Boulder to work on his Ph.D. in Biology at CU. The "Whiffs," founded in 1909, are the oldest college a cappella singing group in the USA. Oak found out that the Yale Whiffenpoofs of 1961 were coming to Denver to sing for the Colorado Yale Association. The next night after their Denver concert, he brought them up to Boulder to sing in Macky Auditorium. When he introduced them, he suggested that someone should start an a cappella group at CU. A year later, the Yale Whiffenpoofs of 1962, a totally new group (because the "Whiffs" are college seniors elected new each year) came to Colorado, and again Oak brought them to Boulder. This time he challenged the audience to start such a group here. After the concert Don Grusin and Roger Nelson, who were about to become seniors at CU, came up to Oak and asked him if he could help them start a group, and asked if he had some vocal arrangements they could sing. Oak was delighted to help. They even made him sing with them for the first year, even though he already had his Ph.D. and was 10 years older than they were! In September 1962 they had formed an octet and thought of the name "BUFFoons," spelling the first part with capital letters to emphasize the CU buffalo connection. By the end of the academic year, in the Spring of 1963, they made a recording in what is now the Grusin Music Hall in the CU College of Music, and released a 10-inch LP album entitled "Songs of the CU BUFFoons." The album cover was photographed outside Mary Rippon Theatre and showed a lovely blonde young lady in a black evening dress sitting alone in the foreground, listening to the BUFFoons on stage who were dressed in their cammelhair tan blazers. They sold many copies of this album by singing at various CU sororities and dorms. Needless to say, the album is now a collector's item. That Spring, they elected new members to replace the graduating seniors and brought the group up to 13 in number. Ever since then, this has been the average size of the CU BUFFoons, which are now in their 50th year on campus! The Buffoons remain the premier college a cappella group in the state of Colorado. Boasting a diverse repertoire that features songs from the 1950's all the way to contemporary hits, the Buffoons perform over 50 times a year for a wide range of audiences.

Current Member Bios:

Joe Riedel - Business Manager/Senior Second Tenor

Joe is a senior this year at CU, and couldn't be more excited to kick off this year of Buffoons. He stays true to his roots in Atlanta, Georgia where he graduated from high school. Joe is majoring in Political Science and Ethnic Studies, and has loved every minute of it. He is an avid ultimate frisbee player and specializes in rare stamp collecting.

Kyle Donovan - Music Director/Senior Tenor

Kyle Donovan has officially replaced Joe Howard as the shortest member of the Buffoons. He comes from Rochester, NY, where he graduated from Brighton High School in 2009. He enjoys mountains, guitars, iced tea, frisbees, rock climbing, and a cappella music. He's psyched to sing Tenor 1 for the Buffoons. He has finally settled on Political Science as a major and his favorite phrases include "Ya man", "happened", and "snaps".

Marcus Mares - Senior Baritone

Marcus Mares is a dynamic individual at CU, straight out of Denver. His interests include athletics, movies, and of course, music. His ideal career is to deliver pizzas for Stevie Wonder, while in his spare time, writing Hallmark cards in Chinese. His turnoffs include Hawaiian fishermen and girls with feet bigger than his own (which are enormous by the way).

Ben Pollack - Junior Baritone

Ben traveled to CU all the way from Poway, California (a San Diego suburb) to study Instrumental Music Education. He hopes to become a high school band or choir director some time in the distant, but not too distant future. In his free time (what little there is left after marching band) Ben enjoys playing his euphonium, eating, sleeping, making fun of bad movies, watching the San Diego Padres/Chargers play(sucks), being a pitch pipe, a Capella music, playing Frisbee, and hanging out with friends. He is looking forward to an awesome third year of great music with the Buffoons.

Evan Lian - Junior Tenor

Evan is stoked to be a junior in the Buffoons this year. He has a blast singing too high with his fellow tenors. He is studying Molecular Biology, and plans to stay in school for seventeen more years, so he can attend medical school and accumulate massive debt. Outside of school, Evan enjoys skiing, friends, music, and scaling tall buildings.

Jake Parleman - Junior Second Tenor

Upon first landing in the new world Jacob Parleman, born Jakob Parleman, found himself a hobby, crafting pianos. After many years in piano crafting school he decided that he didn't want to be piano maker any longer. So he decided he would go to college in a land that he heard lay just east of the great Rocky mountain range. Boulder, Colorado was this magical place. When going to the school for the first semester as an academic scholar Jacob decided to study what he knew best; music. He found himself humbly accepted into the Buffoons as a freshman, and now resides in Cabo, in perpetual spring break.

David Bashford - Junior Baritone

It’s been rumored that David Bashford’s blue eyes and dirty blonde hair materialized directly from sapphire and gold, but who knows what legends and fables have developed through the gossip of lesser men. Those who truly know David know that he has no intention of preying on vulnerable women with his good looks, but that the things he holds closest to his heart are chocolate milk, ping pong, and watching himself dance and lip sync in the mirror. When David isn’t singing obnoxiously or giving smoldering looks to passersby, he can be found playing quarterback for the CU football team. David aspires to one day grow a legitimate moustache like his dad.

Peter Hassinger - Sophomore Bass

Peter hails from the hills in Evergreen, Colorado. He enjoys being outside, discovering new music, biking, skiing, and spinning fire poi. When he is not singing with the Buffoons, he lives in the engineering center managing the buffoons website and working on environmental engineering projects. He hopes to some day travel around the world helping develop clean water drinking solutions for those in need.

Tyler Brodbeck- Sophomore Baritone

Tyler Brodbeck is a sophomore here at CU. He hails from the New England area of Madison, Connecticut where he graduated Daniel Hand High School in 2011. Tyler is an Anthropology major, and believe it or not it had nothing to do with Indiana Jones. He is also in Army ROTC where he plans to serve as an officer for the greatest nation of all, 'Merica. Tyler enjoys good food, movie nights, sleeping past 5am (it's a rare occasion), and straight chillin'.

Kevin Bell - Sophomore Bass

Kevin adds to the epic bass section bringing the singers to three. While Atlanta will always be around as Kevin's hometown, Boulder has become Kevin's new home. In his free time, Kevin enjoys listening to music, pondering the existential features of life, and embarking on Boulder adventures.

Tim Dolquist - Freshman Baritone

Tim is a Freshman at CU and couldn't be happier to be singing with the Buffoons. He spends his free time deeply thinking about life, playing ukulele, and generally ignoring important things he has to do that day. In his hometown of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, Tim was known as "The Spoon" because of his unique ability to eat an obnoxious amount of cereal. Upon Tim's discovery of the chocolate soy milk machines that reside in many dining halls around CU, the cereal dispensers now tremble with fear in his presence.

Spencer "Lil Puddin" Hood - Freshman Second Tenor

Spence came to CU after staring in the premier cast for live Teletubbies, that was shortly cancelled after the first pilot episode. His charming smile has brought him far at Boulder and he volunteers extensively at the Boulder Bus Stop. His hobbies include spelunking, cartography, rare stamp collecting, and cooking Lithuanian entrees.

Ian Collett - Freshman Bass

Ian arrived in Boulder after years of studying Mesopotamian nuts in the Middle East. He has become a camel farmer since moving back to the United States and makes frequent trips east for training in cinematic films. His hobbies include collecting 18th century coins, touring the worlds amusement parks, and hunting for bargains at department stores.