This story was originally published on June 23rd 2025 in Penn Today.
Writer: Louisa Shepard
The Penn Glee Club performed at the famous Suntory Hall in Tokyo, an art gallery in Hong Kong, and the U.S. embassy in Beijing during a 12-day tour of Asia. Forty members went on the tour, including 25 singers, eight band members, and seven technical crew.
The Penn Glee Club sang the traditional “Red and Blue” at Commencement on Franklin Field and then headed to the airport, arriving in Tokyo to sing that same song and many others at the famous Suntory Hall.
“We even managed to teach everyone the arm wave. Some of the Penn alums in the audience were able to help,” says Sam Scheibe, who is completing his first year as director. “Getting off the plane and then going and performing in Suntory Hall was such an amazing feeling, to realize that we had come so far. Our whole year seemed to culminate at that moment.”
Tokyo was the first stop in a 12-day tour that also took a group of 25 singers, eight band members, and seven technical crew to perform at an art gallery in Hong Kong and the United States embassy in Beijing to perform. They also experienced the cultures in each country, such as taking a bullet train to Kyoto in Japan, hiking the Hong Kong Trail, and walking along the Great Wall of China.
