Ambassadors of Harmony
Encyclopedia
Barbershop music
Barbershop vocal harmony, as codified during the barbershop revival era , is a style of a cappella, or unaccompanied vocal music characterized by consonant four-part chords for every melody note in a predominantly homophonic texture...
chorus
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
, based in St. Charles, Missouri. The chorus won International Championship gold medals in 2004 and 2009, each time singing two arrangements by David Wright, under the direction of Jim Henry. Their 2009 victory broke a nearly three-decade winning streak by the Vocal Majority
Vocal Majority
The Vocal Majority is a Dallas, Texas-based men's chorus of over 150 singers, billed as "America's Premier Pops Chorus." The VM is part of the Dallas Metro chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society...
.Winning choruses are required to sit out of competition for two years. The Vocal Majority did not compete in 2004.
Since 1994, the Ambassadors of Harmony Chorus has won top honors in the chorus competition held each October for the 5-state Central States District of the Barbershop Harmony Society
Barbershop Harmony Society
The Barbershop Harmony Society, legally and historically named the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. , is the first of several organizations to promote and preserve barbershop music as an art form. Founded by Owen C...
(formerly known as SPEBSQSA, Inc). In this period the AOH acquired four 4th place, five 3rd place, and two 2nd place medals in international chorus competition, as well as the 2004 and 2009 gold medals.
At the BHS international chorus contest in July 2007, the group tied for first place with the Westminster Chorus
Westminster Chorus
The Westminster Chorus is a men's a cappella chorus based in Westminster, California. International Chorus Champions of the Barbershop Harmony Society in 2007 and 2010, they are composed almost entirely of men under the age of 30.-History:The town of Westminster, in Orange County, CA has supported...
. The tie was decided by the singing category score, earning AoH its first silver medal. The group won another silver medal in the July 2008 international contest in Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, then won their second gold medal in July 2009 in Anaheim, California
Anaheim, California
Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was about 365,463, making it the most populated city in Orange County, the 10th most-populated city in California, and ranked 54th in the United States...
.
Gas House Gang (quartet)
Gas House Gang was a barbershop quartet that won the 1993 SPEBSQSA international competition. They started singing as a group in 1987.The quartet won the International Quartet Championship of the Barbershop Harmony Society in 1993...
, and the 2009 International Quartet Champion, Crossroads
Crossroads (quartet)
Crossroads is the barbershop quartet that won the International Quartet Championship for 2009 at the Barbershop Harmony Society's annual international convention, in Anaheim, California...
. Further supplementing the group's musical leadership is assistant director Jonny Moroni, baritone of Vocal Spectrum
Vocal Spectrum
Vocal Spectrum is a barbershop quartet from St. Charles, Missouri. In 2004, Vocal Spectrum won the Barbershop Harmony Society's International Collegiate Quartet Contest, and on July 8, 2006, they became International Champions, winning the society's International Quartet Contest...
, the BHS 2006 International Quartet Champion & 2004 International College Quartet Champion.
Municipal Opera performances
St Louis MunyThe Muny
The Muny, short for The Municipal Theatre Association of St. Louis, is an outdoor musical theatre, located in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri...
performances include:
- Oklahoma
- 50 members in the 2000 cast of White ChristmasWhite ChristmasA white Christmas refers to the presence of snow on Christmas Day. This phenomenon is most common in the northern countries of the Northern Hemisphere...
- 25 members in the 2006 cast of White Christmas
- 25 members in the 1992, 1997 & 2003 casts of South PacificSouth Pacific (musical)South Pacific is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The story draws from James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific, weaving together characters and elements from several of its...
- Quartets supplied for The Music ManThe Music ManThe Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with...
and other productions
Other performances
- Annual Christmas show
- Annual Spring show
- Crescendo Concert series
- Columbia Chordbusters Chorus Christmas show
- Land of Lincoln Chorus show
- St. Louis Mayor's prayer breakfast
- Half Time Show at St. Louis RamsSt. Louis RamsThe St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...
game - National anthem at St. Louis CardinalsSt. Louis CardinalsThe St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
baseball games
International performances
- Spring 1999 Ireland
- March 2004 Germany (BinG!Barbershop in GermanyBarbershop in Germany is the association for barbershop music in Germany. It was founded in 1991 by the members of a small German barbershop fan group, and the organization is an official affiliate of the US-based Barbershop Harmony Society...
Convention), Netherlands, and Sweden (with the Entertainmen). - May 2006 England BABSBritish Association of Barbershop SingersThe British Association of Barbershop Singers is a British organization of male barbershop singers. It is affiliated with the Barbershop Harmony Society....
Convention
Discography
- All Our Best 1990s [sold out]
- Sing, Sing, Sing 2000
- Applause! 2002
- Holidays in Gold December 2004
- Oh What a Day! June 2010
Selection of songs list
Some of AOH's more popular songs, and their years in repertoire, are:- AmericaAmerica (West Side Story song)"America" is a well-known song from the musical West Side Story. Leonard Bernstein composed the music; Stephen Sondheim wrote the song's lyrics...
2010 - If You Love Me (Really Love Me) 2009
- Seventy-Six TrombonesSeventy-Six TrombonesSeventy-six Trombones is the signature song from the musical play The Music Man , which was written by Meredith Willson. This song also appeared in the film The Music Man , and in the made-for-TV movie adaptation in 2003...
2009 - Get Me to the Church on TimeGet Me to the Church on Time"Get Me to the Church on Time" is a song composed by Frederick Loewe, with lyrics written by Alan Jay Lerner for the 1956 musical My Fair Lady, where it was introduced by Stanley Holloway....
2008 - Love Walked InLove Walked In"Love Walked In" is a song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. The song was composed in 1930, but the lyrics were not written until 1937, for the movie musical The Goldwyn Follies . Hit versions include Sammy Kaye , The Hilltoppers , Ella Fitzgerald , and Dinah Washington...
2008 - They Didn't Believe MeThey Didn't Believe Me"They Didn't Believe Me" is a song with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Herbert Reynolds.First introduced in the 1914 musical The Girl from Utah it was one of five numbers added to the show by Kern and Reynolds for its Broadway debut at the Knickerbocker Theatre on August 14, 1914...
2007 to present - Fit as a Fiddle (And Ready for Love)Fit as a Fiddle (And Ready for Love)"Fit as a Fiddle " is a popular song.It was written by Arthur Freed, Al Hoffman, and Al Goodhart and published in 1932....
2007 - Friend Like Me 2006 to present
- Man of La ManchaMan of La ManchaMan of La Mancha is a musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion and music by Mitch Leigh. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay I, Don Quixote, which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes's seventeenth century masterpiece Don Quixote...
2005 to present - New Ashmolean Marching Society and Students' Conservatory Band 2004 to 2006
- I Have DreamedI Have Dreamed (song)"I Have Dreamed" is a show tune from the 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, The King and I. In the original Broadway production it was sung by Doretta Morrow and Larry Douglas. It has since become a standard, with many artists recording the song...
2004 to 2006, 2010 - Just a Kid Named Joe 2003
- Shine 2003
- ToylandToylandToyland is a German 2007 short film directed, co-written and co-produced by Jochen Alexander Freydank. It won the 2009 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.-Cast:* Julia Jäger * Cedric Eich...
2001 to 2002 - Toy Song 2001 to 2002
External links & sources
- Official website
- Barbershop Harmony Society International Score Sheet
- AOH newsletters ("Break Time")