A Tale of Two Shows: Glee Concert #1 and Post-Concert Flamenco!
The Glee Club woke up bright (and not so early) for our third day in Sevilla. After breakfast, we crammed into the buses and headed into the city, where we disembarked and weaved through the narrow streets. After a few minutes, we came upon the day’s main attraction: the Real Alcázar de Sevilla (the Royal Alcázar of Seville). Built in the mudéjar style, the stunning 13th and 14th century palace blends elements of Islamic, Jewish, and Catholic culture, reflecting the deep and varied history of southern Spain. We passed through beautiful courtyards, rooms, and halls, all covered bottom to top with intricate mosaics, detailed tapestries, and grand windows. We were divvied up in four voice-part groups, so you could say we held sectionals during our tour of the palace (no singing, unfortunately, was done in the Alcázar — that is for later today!)
After a wonderful morning of touring the Real Alcázar and exploring the food and culture of the Casco Antiguo (“Old City”), the Glee Club drove back to the hotel for a few hours of rest, relaxation, and — most importantly — donning their concert black.
It wasn’t long before the Glee Club was back in action, gathering like a beehive (a Gleehive?) in the hotel lobby. We loaded up our two buses, pushed off, and headed back to the Plaza del Toros (the bullring) to embark on our winding trip through the streets of the city. Our black cavalcade processed through the narrow streets, winding past taperias, cafes, and intrigued onlookers. After dodging a few cars, we turned the corner and walked beneath the shadow of the massive Catedral de Sevilla, the third-largest in the world. As we arrived at the Puerta de San Miguel , the massive doors slowly opened, revealing the empty cathedral inside. We passed quickly through the doors into the massive space, marveling at the 400 foot tall vaulted ceilings and towering stone pillars. Our 150-year-old Glee Club was dwarfed by the 506-year-old building.
We quickly moved to the cathedral’s beautiful sacristy, which the staff had kindly turned into our green room. It’s not every day that you can prepare for a concert beneath a beautiful 16th century dome and surrounded by beautiful works of art, including Renaissance paintings, the 12 ft tall Custodia de Arfe (a silver processional monstrance), and massive silver candlesticks. Flinging our bags, bottles, and other items onto a circle of metal chairs, we gathered in front of the splendorous Retablo Mayor (the 66ft-tall main altarpiece, covered with thousands of pounds of gold) for our pre-concert rehearsal. For the first time, our voices bounced across the centuries-old stones. We then worked through most of our repertoire, stopping at times for the occasional shriek of a sliding chair or the annoying buzz of the quire’s lighting system (which, to Gabriel’s utter relief, was finally turned off).
Then, it was time for a quick (20 minute) dinner. In a flurry of black, the hungry swarm of glee clubbers pushed its way past the long audience cue to the street beside the cathedral, stopping at some shops right beside the cathedral. At last, with bellies full of jamon, we took our last walk to the sacristy, where we gathered our folders (and ourselves), lined up, and processed to the main altar. Then, with a few rhythmic stomps on his conducting platform, Gabriel cued us in for the first notes of the Misa Criolla. The concert had begun.
What followed was some of the most spectacular moments of singing the Glee Club has experienced. Working our way through centuries and styles of music, we finished with a rapturous encore of “You Must Have that True Religion,” which brought the crowd of locals to its feet. They were not the only crowd there to hear us sing. Across the Atlantic, fans of the Glee Club tuned into our livestream and behind us, houses in the royal chapel, King Ferdinand III of Castile sang along. And, just to the left of us, Christopher Columbus — or at least his right leg — listened from his bronze tomb. So, you could say that we sang for kings, explorers, and a few stray birds that had flown into the building. Our greatest audience, though, were the scores of locals who had come to see us sing. After a few bows, we bid them adiós and left for the cool streets of old Sevilla.
Yet, to our surprise, our night wasn’t over. Our fearless leader (and flamenco aficionado) Gabriel arranged for a private flamenco show at the Tablao Los Gallos! Group by group, we poured into the small bar, and the quiet night gave way to the emphatic strum of guitar strings, impassioned strains of the cantaores, and the mesmerizing tapping of the bailaores’ shoes on the stage. After lots of clapping, cheering and “oles,” the night was finally (and sadly) over. We ended the evening where the afternoon had begun, right in front of the Plaza de Toros, where we hopped on our buses and headed back to the hotel.
Gracias, Sevilla! Our next stop is Faro, Portugal, where we’ll be singing in the Igreja de Sao Pedro on Thursday. Stay tuned for more updates from the world famous Princeton Glee Club Blog.
Adiós España, Olá Portugal!
Zach Gardner ‘26
