My Tri-C
My Tri-C Student Resources News & Events Corporate College Alumni Give
Paying for College Apply Visit

Getting Started

Whether you want to earn a degree, improve your skills, get certified, train for a new career, or explore a new hobby, you can choose from many programs and courses.

Get Started
What type of student are you?
New Student
Returning
Transfer
Visiting
International
College Credit Plus
Non-Credit
All Student Types

Classes & Programs

Explore your interests and find a program that puts you on the path to a bright future. Tri-C offers both credit and non-credit courses as well as certificate programs in most career fields.

View all programs

Degree Programs & Certificates

More than 1,000 credit courses are offered each semester in more than 200 career and technical programs. Tri-C also grants short-term certificates, certificates of proficiency and post-degree professional certificates.

View A-Z Program List

Workforce Training & Professional Development

Tri-C's Workforce Training provides both non-credit and credit training for individuals and businesses to assist individuals with skills leading to employment. Tri-C's Corporate College provides professional development and corporate training opportunities.

Learn more

Community Programming for Adults & Youth

Tri-C offers a variety of affordable and convenient community programs for both adults and youth. These programs are designed to promote individual development.

Learn more

Request Info

Tri-C is here for you. Have a question about a program or service? We'll help you find the answer.

Ask a Question

Live Chat

Chat live with college departments and services.

Start live chat

Tri-C 24/7

Outside of business hours? Get answers to your questions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Student Support Services

Ask Tri-C

Get answers to your frequently asked questions from navigating the website to programs and services.

Get Answers

Getting Started

Whether you want to earn a degree, improve your skills, get certified, train for a new career, or explore a new hobby, you can choose from many programs and courses.

Get Started
What type of student are you? New Student Returning Transfer Visiting International College Credit Plus Non-Credit All Student Types

Classes & Programs

Explore your interests and find a program that puts you on the path to a bright future. Tri-C offers both credit and non-credit courses as well as certificate programs in most career fields.

View all programs

Degree Programs & Certificates

More than 1,000 credit courses are offered each semester in more than 200 career and technical programs. Tri-C also grants short-term certificates, certificates of proficiency and post-degree professional certificates.

View A-Z Program List

Workforce Training & Professional Development

Tri-C's Workforce Training provides both non-credit and credit training for individuals and businesses to assist individuals with skills leading to employment. Tri-C's Corporate College provides professional development and corporate training opportunities.

Learn more

Community Programming for Adults & Youth

Tri-C offers a variety of affordable and convenient community programs for both adults and youth. These programs are designed to promote individual development.

Learn more
Paying for College
Apply
Visit

Request Info

Tri-C is here for you. Have a question about a program or service? We'll help you find the answer.

Ask a Question

Live Chat

Chat live with college departments and services.

Start live chat

Tri-C 24/7

Outside of business hours? Get answers to your questions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Student Support Services

Ask Tri-C

Get answers to your frequently asked questions from navigating the website to programs and services.

Get Answers
Student Resources News & Events Corporate College Alumni Give

Categories

All Categories Tri-C Eastern Campus Metropolitan Campus Western Campus Westshore Campus Creative Arts Health Careers Hospitality Information Technology Manufacturing Public Safety Events JazzFest Alumni Athletics Faculty #mytricstory Tri-C Famous Student Success Veterans Community Involvement Corporate College Equity In Outcomes Gifts and Grants Pathway Programs Workforce Impact
  • Tri-C Home
  • »
  • News and Events
  • »
  • News
  • »
  • Tri-C People: Vincent Briley

Bringing Music to the Masses

Tri-C’s Vincent Briley and the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus make their voices heard despite pandemic

Vincent BrileyIt’s been almost a year since the lights went out on the performing arts industry. 

From Blossom Music Center to Broadway, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacted a massive toll in the form of canceled concerts and shows. It has forced performers to practice at home and perform via video stream. 

The impact of social distancing is magnified when you’re a part of an ensemble like the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus, the 110-member vocal component of the world-famous Cleveland Orchestra. 

Vincent Briley, assistant dean of learning and engagement at the Metropolitan Campus of Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C®), has been a member of the chorus for six years. He sings first tenor. He is also in his second year as co-chair of the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus Operating Committee. 

“The big challenge is that we’re not around each other,” he said. “Usually you’re together in the room and can feel the presence of everyone. You can fine-tune your voices to achieve one sound. When you’re practicing over video, you can’t do that the same way.” 

But even though it’s a time of unprecedented hardship for the performing arts in Cleveland and elsewhere, Briley and the rest of the Cleveland Orchestra Chorus look forward to the day when the lights come back on; when theaters and concert halls will once again be packed. 

Briley and fellow chorus members Danielle McDonald and Brian Fancher recently appeared in a video highlighting the importance of the chorus in their lives and to Northeast Ohio. While the video was part of an announcement of a $45,000 donation by the chorus to the Cleveland Orchestra Preservation Fund, it also offered a behind-the-scenes look at rehearsals for a holiday performance of Dona nobis pacem, the music from Bach’s Mass in B minor. 

It’s the chorus’ first full performance since the pandemic began. Though it’s not the same as being together in Severance Hall, Briley sees it as an important step toward a return to normalcy. 

“We felt it was a good project for us,” he said. “Working in a virtual environment might be a bit more of a challenge, but we’re up to facing it.” 

As someone who has sung in choruses and choirs since middle school, Briley isn’t about to let social distancing dampen his passion for music — or his desire to share it with others. 

“Music and performing is something that’s a part of me, and I can’t tell you how special it is to have an institution like the Cleveland Orchestra here, where people come from all over the world to perform with it,” he said. “Its mission to spread music and the arts to the people in this community is something I’ll always work to advance.” 

Briley, who also works as a greenskeeper at the Cleveland Metroparks’ Shawnee Hills Golf Course in Bedford, sees parallels between choral music and golf. Both require years of practice to master, and both will test your mettle — your persistence, perseverance and mental toughness. Never more so than right now. 

“It’s nice to have a standing ovation at Severance Hall, just like it’s nice to break par for a round,” he said. “But in music, you don’t always have that packed house. And in golf, you don’t always get a hold of one off the tee. That said, golf is a generous sport full of people willing to help you, and our chorus is full of generous people. We’re all lifting each other up right now. It’s a wonderful thing to watch.”

January 04, 2021

Erik Cassano, 216-987-3577 erik.cassano@tri-c.edu

© 2021 Cuyahoga Community College
700 Carnegie Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44115

Quick Links

Employment at Tri-C
my Tri-C space
Athletics
Blackboard
Bookstore
Course Search
College Catalog
Library
Technical Support
Transcripts

About Tri-C

About
President's Office
Accreditation
Administrative Departments
Accessibility
Board of Trustees
Diversity & Inclusion
Student Consumer Information
Title IX Equal Opportunity
Privacy Policy

Campus Locations

Map & Directions
Parking
Campus Police

Connect With Us

Visit Tri-C
Request Information
Phone Directory
Tri-C 24/7
Ask Tri-C
Live Chat
Tri-C 216-987-6000 Corporate College 216-987-2800