The Georgetown Chimes

The Georgetown Chimes
The Chimes' Active photo, taken at the 2015 John Carroll Awards in Los Angeles
Background information
Origin	Georgetown University
Genres	A Cappella
Years active	1946–present
Labels	Collegiate
Website	Official Site
Members	Dylan Conboy (#247) Duncan Peacock (#252) Will Haskell (#253) Daniel Frumento (#254) Matt Beshke (#255) - Ephus Jack Thiemel (#257) Toby Nelson (#258) Derek Haase (#259) Phil Holt (#260) Jake Gile (#261)

Founded in 1946, The Georgetown Chimes are Georgetown University's oldest all-male a cappella singing group.

The Georgetown Chimes were founded in 1946 by Francis E. (Frank) Jones, a graduate student at Georgetown University. As an undergraduate, he played back-up quarterback on Yale University's football team, before serving as a Captain for the United States armed forces in the Pacific Theatre during World War II. Upon returning home from the war as a graduate student at Yale, he was disappointed to find that the university would not allow graduate students on its football team, so Jones, understanding that Georgetown would permit it, transferred.

Although, upon Jones’s arrival at Georgetown, the University’s athletic policies had changed, barring him from participation in the football team as he had hoped, Jones channeled his energy instead into Georgetown’s Glee Club, drawing upon singing experience that he had attained before his college years at Yale. Jones believed that he could create a group at Georgetown that “emphasized brotherhood and friendship through harmony.”

Asking around Georgetown’s campus, Jones attempted to recruit the best talents he could find, starting with Chuck Laiosa, who was known to be Georgetown’s best bass singer. Jones and Laiosa’s new-found group started as a branch of Georgetown’s Glee Club, but separated after fifteen years, becoming “The Georgetown Chimes” that are known today. The Chimes got their name from the original bells that hung from the South Tower of Healy Hall, after Jones heard them ring during one of the group’s rehearsals. When these bells eventually fell into disrepair, the Chimes used donations brought in by their performance on the Ed Sullivan Show to replace them.

The Chimes have since grown from its original quartet into a group that now numbers 258 Chimes, from #1, Frank Jones, in 1946, to #261, Jake Gile, the "Baby Chime", in 2017. The group sings a repertoire that includes numbers that range from original barbershop standards, to show tunes, and even to modern-day hits. These songs have been compiled on over two dozen albums, beginning with the eponymous first record in 1946.

In the fall of 1987, the Chimes settled into the Chimes House on Prospect St., one block from the main campus of Georgetown University. The Chimes House functions as headquarters for the Chimes, and is where most practices and smaller social gatherings are held. Several Chimes live in "The House." The first five Chimes are honored or remembered by their fellow Chimes with Orchestra seats dedicated in their names, in the Gonda Theatre at the Royden B. Davis, S.J. Performing Arts Center on Georgetown's campus. This is not a coincidence. When Father Davis himself was a Georgetown student after returning from WW II and before joining the Jesuit Order, he roomed with Chuck Laiosa, Chime #2. He used to complain that he knew when the Chimes were going to perform, because Jones would "borrow" his dress shirts.