A note from our conductor, Jonathan Hirsh:
“Hello!!! Thanks for checking out the Smith College Glee Club Webpage. The Glee Club is a great way to have fun, meet new people, cultivate lifelong friendships, and sing music from all over the world and from all styles and periods of history. The Glee Club is a big commitment, but well worth the time and effort. Just ask any of the students.

We are proud of the diversity of the Smith choral program. There are few places where one can perform traditional world music, the grand masterworks of classical composers, and the upbeat sounds of popular music. I urge first years to audition for the College Chorus, regardless of prior experience. Those of you who are upperclassmen, transfer students, or Ada Comstock Scholars with some collegiate choral experience should audition for the Glee Club. Auditions are painless!

Smith College is a great place to work because the caliber of the students and faculty is extraordinary. For the same reason, I believe that you will find Smith to be a great place to go to college. If you have any questions about music at Smith, please e-mail me at jhirsh@smith.edu.”

(Jonathan is originally from Brooklyn, New York and went to Midwood High School. He graduated from Amherst College in 1986 and received his Masters and Doctorate in Conducting from the University of Michigan. He has taught at the Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., Amherst College, the University of Michigan, the University of California at Santa Cruz, and Tufts University. At Smith, he also conducts the Orchestra and The Chamber Singers. We are very lucky to have him!)

About our accompanist, Jerry Noble:

Clifton J. Noble, Jr. was born in 1961, and began to play the piano and guitar under his father's guidance at age 5. Original compositions followed shortly, and the urge to write music has never left Noble. He holds degrees from Amherst College (1983) and Smith College (1988).

Noble is currently the Staff Accompanist in the Smith College Music Department. He plays for singers and instrumentalists in lessons and recitals, and accompanies the Smith Glee Club and Chamber Singers. Smith choral forces have presented his compositions and arrangements throughout the United States and Europe.

His choral works have been performed by the Mt. Holyoke and Radcliffe Choral Societies, the Williams College Chorus, the Needham Children's Chorus, the Assabet Valley Mastersingers, and by ensembles at the Universities of Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana. Many are published by Warner Chappell Music and by Treble Clef Music.

His instrumental works have been performed by the Boston Chamber Music Society, the Longmeadow Chamber Music Society, the Holyoke Civic Symphony Orchestra, the Western MA Young People's Symphony, the Florentine Trio, and flutist Carol Wincenc. Noble writes classical music reviews and features for the Springfield (MA) Union News and Sunday Republican newspapers. He was the music director at Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Church and taught general music to grades K-6 at Holy Trinity School, both in Greenfield, MA. An enthusiastic jazz pianist, Noble has collaborated on two compact discs, "Good Talks" and "Still Talkin'" with clarinetist Bob Sparkman, and recently participated in the recording of "Vermont Songbook" as part of a jazz quartet with Sparkman, drummer Richard Mayer, and bassist Genevieve Rose.