A Bit Of History . . .

WESLEYAN University used tp be known all over the collegiate world as "The Singing College of New England." In those days, singing was an important part of the lives of all students, fraternities, and faculty. Students wooed the girls of Connecticut College, and sang simply for the love of song every weekend. During the 1960's, however, this tradition disappeared -- University Historian David Potts accredits the combination of the school becoming co-ed and the activism surrounding Vietnam -- and though alumni return each year to sing the songs of their youth, the students stopped participating.

CHARLIE North ('82) came to Wesleyan full of his father's and grandfather's stories about the school's music, only to encounter a depressing silence. So, armed with several copies of the Wesleyan Black Book (a compilation of Wesleyan's traditional songs) and his wits to guide him, he formed the Spirits in the spirit of Wesleyan's singing past. The group performed primarily Wesleyan songs, and a few barbershop numbers to smooth out the set.

OVER the last fifteen years, the group's repertoire has expanded greatly. We now sing a mix of popular, jazz, classical, and world music, all arranged and directed within the group. But the Wesleyan Black Book continues to be an important part of the Spirits, and we always find a way to sing at least one Wesleyan song at every concert.

February 6th, Wednesday, 2002 : Happy Birthday Bobo! Its Jared's 21st birthday, and you can bet the Spirits are celebrating with him. Wish him the best right with us here.

January 1st, Tuesday, 2002 : Happy New Year. And a happy Channukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, Ramadan, or whatever. Look for the Spirits to show up all over the place this semester -- from Middletown to New Orleans, wherever there's a need for song, we'll be there. Also, please wish our departing members well -- Ari, Deefs, and Biggie will all be gone studying abroad this semester. And lets welcome back some old guys! Look for Sam, Ned and Spacey to be wearing the Red and the Black again this semester.

October 29th, Monday, 2001 : We Are Back! Its been a long time . . . too long, but wesleyanspirits.com is finally back online! And boy has there been a lot of news to catch up on. Look for updates on our new members, new cd, new girlfriends (or lack thereof . . .) and of course upcoming appearences. And in the future, there's even more to look forward too: from streaming spirits mp3s to more and ever more pictures, great stuff is in the works! We invite you to follow Spirits news right here on wesleyanspirits.com. Stay tuned!

December 15th, Saturday, 2001 : IT'S JAM TIME. What else can you really say? Catch the Spirits Big Fall Concert at Crowell Concert Hall. The Show begins at 9 pm, with an unbeatable entry fee: free. Check out Adam's awesome poster design for this show here.

December 5th, Wednesday, 2001 : The Spirits, along with many of Wesleyan's other illustrious preforming groups, will participate in the Festival of Lights this Winter. Come celebrate with us at 11pm in the Memorial Chapel right before finals.

November 16th, Friday, 2001 : Catch us performing at Vassar! We don't know yet when, where, or where the after party will be. More details will go up as soon as we know.

November 3rd, Saturday, 2001 : The Spirits will be singing at a memorial concert for the victims of the Sept. 11th attacks, with fellow Wes a cappella group the Mazeltones. Please join us at 11.30 am at the Memorial Chapel on the Wesleyan Campus.

November 4th, Sunday, 2001 : It's Homecoming and Family Weekend time again . . . catch us at the general a cappella concert at 2.30 pm, in Crowell Concert Hall. Rumour has it that Talmot the Cat may be in attendence

Pre Fall 2001 News . . . .

June 15th, Thursday : wesleyanspirits.com is back online! After a long hiatus, largely attributable to the lack of an Internet connection, the site will once again be receiving regular updates. Look (and hope!) for full site completion by the end of the summer.

May 8th, Monday : The Spirits would like to express their condolences to the family, friends and community supported by Father Gerald Cohen, who passed away this weekend. A memorial service will be held in Wesleyan's Memorial Chapel on May 11th, Thursday, at noon.

May 7th, Sunday : JAM has happenned! What a raging success. Look for live mp3 and video clips to find their way to the web soon. The Spirits would like to thank the 200+ people who showed up to help us make such a rockin' concert, as well as the Sinners (for performing with us) and Gary Comstock (for getting us the Chapel).

There may still be some copies of our most recent recording, Espiritus, available! E-mail the Spirit right away to grab one before they're gone.

Photos from the Spirit's Fall Break Retreat are now online. Thanx, Ned's Grandparent's!

May 4th & 6th, Thursday & Saturday :

JAM!

Yup, it's time again for the Spirit's Spring Jam . The Cardinal Sinners (all-female Wes a cappella) will be opening for us when we perform at 9.30pm on the 4th @ WestCo Cafe. We'll also be performing on the 6th, again at 9.30pm, @ the Memorial Chapel, with Grimace as our guest group. Don't miss the Spirit's final concert of the semester!

Spring Break . . .New Orleans . . .the Spirit's Southern Tour . . .find out more here.

April 16th, Sunday : We're off to Amherst. We'll be performing at the Bluestocking's Spring Concert, in Buckley Recital Hall. The show starts at 8.

April 14th, Friday : Catch us performing for free during WesFest, for those impressionable pre-frosh. We'll start singing at 6:30 in Psi-U, on the Wesleyan campus.