Virginia Gentlemen

The Virginia Gentlemen
Group photo, taken January 2015.
Background information
Also known as	The VGs
Origin	University of Virginia
Genres	A Cappella
Years active	1953–present
Labels	Collegiate
Website	Official Site
Members	Class of 2017 Chris Cortner Taylor Head Nate Oberholtzer Ian Yanusko Class of 2018 Joey Michel Alex Rigby Sam Roller Class of 2019 Zach Balcomb Jack Gereski Alex Gromadzki Mark Mora Griffin Smith Ethan Zell Class of 2020 Tristan Johnson-Hodges Benjamin Oberholtzer

The Virginia Gentlemen (VGs) is a men's collegiate a cappella group and the oldest a cappella group at the University of Virginia. The group was founded in 1953 as an elite octet of the Virginia Glee Club. Since establishing independence from the Virginia Glee Club in 1987, the group has continued to perform a mix of contemporary pop and classic vocal music.

Recognizable by the signature navy blue blazers and orange-and-blue bow ties worn during performances, the VGs offer regular performances across the Charlottesville area and the United States, and conduct annual international tours, having most recently travelled to Southeast Asia, South America, and North Africa. Additionally, the group has performed in recent years at the Sydney Opera House, the Forbidden City, the Grand Palace of Thailand, and at the White House for the Bush and Obama administrations.

The Virginia Gentlemen were founded in 1953 and as such are the oldest a cappella group at the University of Virginia. The group was conceived as an elite octet of the Virginia Glee Club and would perform regularly at their concerts, eventually building enough of a reputation to attract its own audiences and perform its own shows. The group existed for over three decades as a subsidiary of the Glee Club until establishing itself as an contracted independent organization in 1987, under the leadership of then-music director Michael Butterman.

Since the VGs' independence from the Virginia Glee Club, much changed with the group, the least of which being the group's membership size. From the Glee Club era size of 8 to 12 members, the group now stands regularly between 15 and 19 members per year. The group's musical tastes changed as well, diverging from the classical and barbershop chorus pieces of the Glee Club era to arrangements of modern pop singles and rock ballads that it performs and records today.

The VGs maintain a close relationship with the University of Virginia and the city of Charlottesville, performing regularly on campus in concerts and for special occasions and memorials, including the vigil for Yeardley Love after her death.