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CMAC: the University of Chicago Glee Club is a choral ensemble at the University of Chicago singing music in the tenor and bass range. Formed in 2005 as the first glee club at the university, the group consists of both undergraduate and graduate singers with a broad range of musical experience. CMAC performs regularly on campus and throughout the broader Hyde Park and Chicago community, and tours annually to cities around the country.

History
CMAC was founded as “Chicago Men’s A Cappella” by Josh Sauerman and Ben Patterson, two first years in the college on a cold winter night in 2005. Recognizing a need for an all-male glee chorus at UChicago, they approached Patterson’s vocal instructor, Bruce K. Tammen. Tammen previously served as choral director at the university and conductor of the University of Virginia Glee Club. The group grew rapidly from its small start, expanding to over twenty singers in its second year. Many traditions of the group were established during this time, including the practice of quarterly concerts and uniforms.

Since those early years, CMAC has deepened its integral relationship with the community while also expanding onto the national stage. CMAC performs regularly at local events, among them the South Side Pie Challenge and Rockefeller Chapel Choir’s annual concert of Handel’s Messiah. 2011 saw the group perform Mahler’s Eighth Symphony in Symphony Hall, the same year that saw the release of their first CD, “Chicago, Hail!” In 2013, the group premiered a setting of the Magnificat at the Benedictine Monastery of the Holy Cross. CMAC maintains a longstanding and fruitful artistic relationship with the Chicago Children’s Chorus. Meanwhile, the group has toured widely, travelling to Rochester, New York, and to Tammen’s previous post at the University of Virginia, among other locations.

CMAC has continued to evolve as time has passed. The chorus is now frequently accompanied, broadening the repertoire substantially. Together with the shift from being a male-only ensemble to simply requiring a low vocal register, this change led to the name being modified to CMAC: the University of Chicago Glee Club. The chorus is still fondly referred to within the group and community simply as CMAC. The ensemble has also established itself as an independent choral voice on campus, as it is the only traditional choir not affiliated with the University’s Department of Music.

Tammen retired as director in the Fall of 2019. He was succeeded by William Myers, who sang in the group for four years as a baritone. Myers serves concurrently as the assistant director of the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel Choir.