The audience went wild with applause.

On Feb. 15, the Cornell Glee Club was invited to perform for the first time at the American Choral Directors Association's annual convention before an audience of 1,000 directors from the eastern United States at Christ Church Cathedral in Hartford, Conn. Cornell's was the last of 12 groups to perform a 30-minute program.

And their diverse program brought forth an audience reaction rarely seen or heard at the convention. Recalled bass Jacob Shapiro '10: "We made them cry, laugh and smile. They sat on the edges of the chairs because they couldn't even tell if we were real or not. We were able to express the music in such a way that the audience could relate to it just as personally as we could. We cried, laughed, smiled, danced and felt together on that day, in that room. That sense of unity, of minds and hearts coming together to experience a beautiful moment in time, is how I would define spirituality. It was a spiritual performance."

According to conductor Scott Tucker, the Priscilla Browning Director of Choral Music, the final two pieces, Lee Hoiby's "Last Letter Home" and Franz Biebl's "Ave Maria" made the most impact. "Last Letter Home," which was commissioned by the Glee Club, sets to music the text of a letter by American serviceman in Iraq, Jesse Givens, to be read to his wife and children in the event of his death. Givens was killed when his tank went into a river.

"It includes a line to his very young son, Dakota, that reads: 'You are more son than I could ever ask for. I hope some day you'll have a son like mine.' It goes on to say how sorry he is that he won't be there for him. It's a very earnest presentation of this letter," Tucker said.

Tucker continued: "It engendered a big, big, big response from the audience. We went straight from that into the Biebl 'Ave Maria' -- a piece we sing a lot -- and it's a very expansive, long, beautiful piece which in itself always elicits a response from an audience. But done back-to-back with the Hoiby 'Last Letter Home,' it was quite an event."

The Cornell singers also presented Thomas Tallis' "If Ye Love Me," "Seinn O!," "Ndandi Hleli" (traditional South African) and "Oh Why Left I My Home." All but the South African song were sung a cappella.

Tucker, who leads the Chorus and Glee Club on a concert tour of China March 13-25, said a number of technical aspects must come together to achieve a great choral performance -- intonation, balance, timbre, rhythm, articulation, musical expressiveness, text and music, and programming -- all of which were aligned that afternoon in Hartford. One director in the audience later e-mailed him: "As my heart was pounding within, I was filled with the profound sadness of the Hoiby, by the magnitude of your clever programming, and by your very religious rendition of the Biebl."

Said Glee Club assistant conductor John Rowehl, "When the guys saw how that audience reacted -- up on their feet instantly, applauding wildly until every last singer was offstage -- I think they understood, maybe for the first time, what an amazing thing it is they can do."