The Yale Alley Cats is an undergraduate a cappella singing group at Yale University, the college's third-oldest.[1]
In the summer of 1943, four Yale undergraduate students climbed Saybrook Tower to serenade the night with Henry Carey's "Sally in Our Alley." Their singing awoke the Saybrook Head of College, who yelled at them: "Stop it! Your singing sounds like a bunch of screeching alley cats!" and sent them to bed. The performance marked the founding of the group and gave it its name.[2]
While the group’s early performances centered on jazz, their current repertoire includes pop, R&B, Motown, folk, and other genres.[3] The group has created more than 400 a cappella arrangements.[4]
Each April, The Alley Cats hosts its "Champagne Jamboree," or "Cham Jam", an on-campus performance that customarily features a non-male guest soloist from the senior class[5] and a dance number featuring a soloist from the first-year class (known as "kittens"). Audience members toss shoes on stage if they feel particularly moved by a soloist's singing; many audience members bring multiple pairs of shoes to throw.[citation needed]
The group also performs for public and private audiences throughout the United States and around the world,[2] funding their travels with concert revenue.[6] Audience members have included Martha Stewart, Jay Leno, Stella McCartney, Tom Brokaw, and President Barack Obama.[3][7] In 2017, the group performed at Facebook headquarters and Google headquarters on their tour of the California Bay Area,[6] then at the United Nations office in Geneva, Switzerland,[8] and at the United States Embassy in Paris, France.[9] In 2018, the group completed a ten-city tour of China through the invitation of Beijing Shengchou Education Technology Company,[10][9] including collaborations with the Central Conservatory of Music and other schools and hotels across the nation such as the Little Swan Choir in Xi'an. Tour destinations for the 2023-24 season included Hawaii, China, Switzerland, Qatar, and South Africa, with performances for the Chicago White Sox and at the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing.[11]
In 2021, the Cats collaborated with songwriter Diane Warren to create a music video of her lead single from the movie Four Good Days, "Somehow You Do".[12]
As with many Yale a cappella groups, first-year students audition for the Alley Cats in a multi-week process known as "Rush."[13] Current members choose several applicants to join the group for three years.[14][15]
Many Alley Cats go on to join The Yale Whiffenpoofs—a selective all-senior a cappella group[16]—and some have gone on to careers in the performing arts, including:
The Yale Alley Cats have recorded 35 albums and one EP, including several live albums.[17][18] Their 2013 album "Ghost of a Chance," on the Bridge Records, Inc. label, was submitted to the 52nd Grammy Awards for Best Pop Vocal Album.[2][19] Their 2021 album "Gemini," was nominated for Best Lower Voices Collegiate Album by the Contemporary A Capella Society (CASA).[20]