A 102-Year-Old Tradition: "A Cappella" on İstiklal Avenue

Representing the unaccompanied, polyphonic music that has become a tradition identified with the history of Yale University in the United States, The Yale Whiffenpoofsare preparing to offer Istanbul residents a unique musical feast on Tuesday, 12 July, from 18:00 to 19:00, with the contribution of Bahçeşehir University.

Founded in 1909 as the world's oldest collegiate a cappella group, The Yale Whiffenpoofs will bring the finest selections from their repertoire of hundreds of songs, from the Beatles to Frank Sinatra and from Stevie Wonder to Lady Gaga, to İstiklal Avenue this time, meeting Istanbul music lovers aboard the nostalgic Beyoğlu tram.

The group, bringing its concerts in Türkiye to the public this year with the contribution of Bahçeşehir University, also has one request from the audience at the historic venue: "Let everyone sing along with our songs enthusiastically."

About The Yale Whiffenpoofs:

Yale University, one of the world's leading and most distinguished educational institutions with a history of 310 years, has countless traditions that are still continued just as they were on the day they began, regardless of the passage of time. Undoubtedly, the most important of these traditions is the tradition of unaccompanied, polyphonic music: "a cappella.". The best-known representative of the a cappella tradition is, again without a doubt, the world's oldest collegiate a cappella group, founded in 1909: The Yale Whiffenpoofs. Being a Whiffenpoof means being one of the best 14 performers selected from among the senior members of dozens of a cappella groups that are very difficult to join.

On the evening of Tuesday, 12 July, at the event organized with the contribution of Bahçeşehir University, the members of the Whiffenpoofs intend both to add a different color to İstiklal Avenue and to introduce Istanbul residents to a cappella music.

Although a cappella music is known in our country as "choral music" or "church music," these are only the starting points of a cappella. A cappella, which was originally in the form of Islamic "naat" or "nashid" music, has evolved over time and, as a result of the interest it attracted in popular music, has become "vocal-only music." Thanks also to the interest of many famous artists such as Wyclef Jean, modern a cappella has become a form of music celebrating the wide range of sound and harmony of the human voice for more people.

The members of the Whiffenpoofs, whose greatest common ground amid their demanding academic lives is singing the songs they love together, give concerts in countless countries on six continents during their three-month summer break every year. The group, which has performed in our country before, also has quite an interesting history: in 1909, five students from the university choir who entered a bar to shelter from the bitter cold of Connecticut laid the foundation of this century-old tradition by imitating the sounds of their absent instruments in the songs they sang while waiting for the blizzard outside to pass. Singing ever since, the Whiffenpoofs have remained true to their traditions even as years and members have changed, giving more than 200 concerts every year. These tours include countless concerts in many countries around the world, from Japan to Brazil, and for many world leaders, from Reagan to the Dalai Lama.

Trying to benefit as much as possible from the culture and music of the countries they visit, the Whiffenpoofs also aim to help society through the revenue from their concerts; each year the group contributes to a non-governmental organization or a development project.