Brooklyn Boro

Hot, smart & celebrated world-wide, singers begin 2018 tours in Brooklyn

Harvard Krokodiloes perform to benefit 3 Brooklyn charities

January 2, 2018 By Brooklyn Eagle Discovery Events
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The Harvard Krokodiloes, one of the most popular and celebrated a cappella groups in the world, lead off their 2018 U.S. tour with three Brooklyn concerts benefitting local charities. In the summer they will embark on their world tour. Each year they perform more than 200 concerts, and have, since their founding, visited more than 100 countries around the world.

The first concert in Brooklyn is Friday, Jan. 5 at the Heights Casino to benefit the Brooklyn Heights Association. Saturday night they perform at Brooklyn Brewery to benefit the North Brooklyn Angels Mobile Soup Kitchen. Sunday midday they sing at River Cafe luncheon to benefit the Dodge Y, founded in 1854 as the Brooklyn Central Y, one of the oldest in the U.S.

The Kroks will begin their Brooklyn tour on Friday evening with a warm-up concert in the wonderful acoustics of the Heights Casino Doubles Squash Court (each year they praise the extraordinary sound of that space). Patrons will enjoy drinks and hors d’ouevres during the warm up concert. At 7:15 the Kroks will adjourn to the Governors Room for a formal concert, to be followed by more food and mingling with patrons in the beautiful bar area overlooking the tennis courts. Patron tickets are $100 per person. A Friends of Kroks ticket ($200) gets all of the above, plus stay and enjoy a full seated dinner mingling with all of the Krokodiloes in the Heights Casino formal dining room. Proceeds to benefit Brooklyn Heights Association.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-harvard-krokodiloes-brooklyn-benefit-concert-tickets-41292476910

The benefit concert at the Brooklyn Brewery on Saturday, January 6th will begin at 9pm to benefit North Brooklyn Angels mobile soup kitchen. The evening will include pizza and all the beer you can drink. In these bitter, brutal, cold days of January, the gift of a hot meal makes a big difference. “Come and support ‘neighbors serving neighbors’ and hear one of the best a cappella groups on the planet,” said Felice Kirby. “The $40 ticket price will serve ten meals to your neighbors in need.”

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/this-weekend-concert-to-benefit-north-brooklyn-angels-at-brooklyn-brewery-tickets-41711819174

The Harvard Krokodiloes will round out their Brooklyn tour at the River Café for a concert and brunch on Sunday, January 7th. The concert will benefit the prestigious and historic Dodge Y, originally founded as the Brooklyn Central YMCA in 1853. Patrons will hear a concert on the enclosed River Café terrace and then mingle with the Kroks in an inimitable River Café Brunch. “This is a great chance to get the best of everything: one of the best a cappella music groups in the world, one of the best restaurants in the world, all to benefit one of the best Y’s in the world,” said Alexa Eccles, chairman of the Dodge Y Board.

Originally founded in 1853 as one of the oldest Y’s in the US, the Dodge Y enjoys one of the richest histories in New York. By the turn of the century, the Y dedicated a new building “the largest YMCA in the world” on Hanson Place. Early funders included John D. Rockefeller and the Pratt family. As vital as its early years were, the central branch suffered loss of support through the Depression and the post war flight from Brooklyn of many families. Kept alive by a dedicated few, the central branch operated from a storefront in Brooklyn Heights at the turn of the New Century. In 2005, however, the branch was reborn in its current home on Atlantic Avenue and thrives today thanks in part to a significant grant from the Dodge family foundation.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-harvard-krokodiloes-benefit-concert-at-the-river-cafe-tickets-41426879913

The Harvard Kroks were founded in 1946 as an offshoot of the famous Hasty Pudding Club (founded in 1770). For the past 71 years, the Kroks have performed in more than 100 countries around the world, and each year they give more than 200 concerts. The Kroks are the oldest a cappella group at Harvard University, and in March 2016 celebrated 70 years of harmony. Since the group’s inception, the Harvard Krokodiloes have been performing popular music of the Great American Songbook, as well as more traditional aires, in front of audiences across the country and around the world.

The Kroks have performed on National Public Radio, “Good Morning America”, “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson,” and on television internationally. They have also entertained luminaries such as Ella Fitzgerald, Yo-Yo Ma, Princess Grace and Princess Caroline of Monaco, King Bhumibol of Thailand, Elizabeth Taylor, Julia Roberts, and Leonard Bernstein. 

Krok Talk

  • The Hasty Pudding Club, of which the Harvard Krokodiloes are members, boasts a distinguished membership, including five U.S. Presidents (John and John Quincy Adams, Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy), William Randolph Hearst, Jack Lemmon, and many other luminaries in entertainment, academia, politics, business, and public service.

  • For the past 71 years, the Harvard Krokodiloes have performed in over 100 countries around the world, and each year perform in over 200 concerts.

  • The Harvard Krododiloes’ World Tours were kick-started by Leonard Bernstein after he wrote a song for the Kroks, titled Screwed On Wrong, and wrote a letter of recommendation stating “the Harvard Krokodiloes have the gift of warming one’s soul and enriching one’s day. I cannot praise too highly their musicality, versatility, sense of style, and dedication to excellence.”

  • A highlight of the Kroks 2017 twelve-week world tour was hiking in Bhutan to Tiger’s Nest Monastery, which is precariously perched high on a cliff, and surveying the incredible view below.

  • The Kroks sang at the inauguration of President Clinton as the 42nd President of the United States.

  • The Kroks performed for the late King Bhumibol of Thailand, a song the King himself had written called Blue Day.

  • The Kroks sang for Princess Grace of Monaco is 1982 during their Summer World Tour.

  • They have performed to large audiences in famed concert venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Centre, the Kennedy Center and the Sydney Opera House.

  • Having recently celebrated their 70th anniversary in 2016, the Kroks have recorded over 30 albums, dating back to 1949.

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