Performing Arts

The Traveling Men, an a cappella group founded in 1952 on the model of Yale's famous Whiffenpoofs, are one of Gilman's proudest institutions. The group's repertoire includes standard barbershop-style tunes, as well as sacred choral works and popular songs.

The Traveling Men perform within and outside of the Gilman community up to 60 times each year and have appeared several times on local radio and also on television. The Traveling Men perform regularly in the Baltimore community, and they have sung at state events including the inauguration of Maryland Governor Bob Ehrlich to audiences of at M&T Bank Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens, and Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Graduates of the Traveling Men have taken the barbershop style of the group to colleges throughout the East Coast of the United States, where they have founded or joined similar groups.

The Traveling Men is a club activity and members are selected through annual auditions. Students receive no academic credit for participating, and rehearsals are held outside of the academic day. Students must be members of the Glee Club in order to participate.

The Glee Club offers boys an opportunity to sing in a large choral environment. The group's vocal repertoire gives members a chance to explore varied and diverse genres, from Franz Schubert's "Mass in G" (with choral groups from The Bryn Mawr School) to Moses Hogan's Gospel praise song "Music Down in My Soul" to Radiohead's "No Surprises." The Glee Club presents at least four public performances each year and performs in a joint holiday concert with the Bryn Mawr choirs; every other year, the concert's main repertoire is a section of Handel's "Messiah."

Glee Club is a non-auditioning choral course for which students receive a half-credit on their academic transcript.

The Middlemen is a non-auditioning combined chorus of sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students. Students perform a wide variety of music in many different styles at events including but not limited to the winter and spring concerts, School convocations, and performances for other divisions, outside schools, and the Greater Baltimore community.

The Middle T's are an auditioned subset of Middlemen singers from all three grades.

Every fifth grade boy sings in the Fifth Grade Chorus, regardless of whether he chooses to continue with general music or begin to study a band instrument.

The Treble T's is an auditioned group of fourth and fifth grade singers.

Concert Band begins in the fifth grade and continues through Middle School. In the Upper School, between 45 and 55 wind and percussion students with prior experience participate in band, a non-auditioning wind ensemble for which students receive a half-credit on their academic transcript.

Students perform as members of a highly disciplined unit conscious of rhythm, melody, form, tempo, dynamics, tone quality, intonation, and style. They develop their reading and technical skills through practice of scales and band music. The repertoire is varied, and the band performs at least four times a year.

The Middle School String Ensemble is a club performance group comprised of interested students, which performs traditional music within the string orchestral repertoire, as well as newer, more avant-garde styles that incorporate solos and improvisation. The string ensemble performs in both the winter and spring concerts.

The Middle School String ensemble meets during Study Halls.

The Upper School String Ensemble is a non-auditioning performance group for string musicians with prior experience that rehearses once a week. Recent repertoire has included unabridged versions of Vivaldi's "Four Seasons," Elgar's "Serenade for Strings," Bach's "Double Violin Concerto," and works commissioned from student composers.

The Upper School String Ensemble has also accompanied the Glee Club and the Bryn Mawr joint choirs in holiday performances of Franz Schubert's "Mass in G" and Handel's "Messiah" sections, as well as performed in the orchestra for tri-school spring musicals. Additionally, to be eligible for Maryland's All-State Junior and Senior Orchestras, students must play in the Upper School String Ensemble.

Jazz Ensemble is an Upper School performing group that explores classic and contemporary big band jazz repertoire and general musical ensemble skills. Students also learn how to create their own jazz solo voice through individual improvisation techniques.

The group meets three days a week during lunch.

The Hand Bell Choir provides a percussive outlet for boys with an interest in making music who may not play a wind or string instrument.

Gilman's New Orleans-style Pep Band brings high energy to home athletic events. Open to Middle and Upper School students, students learn to march in step, execute drum rudiments, and prepare cadences and routines.