Colin Britt

Yale ensembles at Woolsey Hall on October 11, 2013

Under the masterful leadership of Dr. Jeffrey Douma, the combined forces of the Yale Camerata, Yale Glee Club, Yale Philharmonia, Yale Symphony, and organist Thomas Murray presented the premiere of my arrangement of “Bright College Years,” the Yale alma mater, in a concert honoring the inauguration of Peter Salovey, Yale’s 23rd president. The concert took place on Friday, October 11, at Woolsey Hall, and was streamed live over the internet. The concert concluded with a performance of the alma mater, complete with waving handkerchiefs on the final refrain.

The whole concert was a wonderful tribute to President Salovey and featured spectacular performances from many of Yale’s finest performers, but you can watch and listen to the alma mater beginning at 1:43:30.

It was indeed a privilege to have been commissioned to write this arrangement for such a momentous occasion, and I am deeply grateful and humbled by the opportunity. To be entrusted with the task of providing a new orchestral arrangement of such a historically and emotionally important piece of music is an honor I will never forget.