This year, the Singing Cadets will take the stage for their 108th season.
Auditions are being held all week for the all-male performance organization. David Kipp, the director of choral activities, said the group welcomes all auditions. The students who join the Singing Cadets are easy and enjoyable to work with, Kipp said, because they all have experience singing.
“One of the neat things about working with the cadets is we don’t have to teach them,” he said. “We work with the greatest group of guys I can imagine.”
The Singing Cadets perform at many campus events and are frequently requested for concerts by the president’s office and the Association of Former Students.
Each year, they perform around 70 to 80 concerts around the state and the country.
Every three years the Singing Cadets go on an international tour. Last year, they traveled to China. Kipp said the group represents the core values of A&M and he enjoys seeing the values promoted not only in the United States, but across the world.
“If we can do that in the United States and all the way to China, what a great opportunity,” Kipp said.
Senior sports management major, Rob White, said he’s enjoyed being in the Singing Cadets. One of his favorite moments, he said, was performing for and meeting George W. Bush in 2011 when the former president visited campus.
“I got to have a one-on-one conversation with him,” White said. “I also got to sing at Gov. Rick Perry’s inauguration.
John Rogers, junior chemical engineer student and Singing Cadets business manager, said his brother convinced him to audition and helped him through the audition.
“My brother was a former student,” Rogers said. “It was a great group and I heard a lot of stories, so I auditioned.”
Every Friday afternoon at 5 p.m. preceding home football games, the Singing Cadets will hold a concert in the MSC Flag room, with the first performance this Friday.