Oriole Four
Encyclopedia
Oriole Four is a barbershop quartet that won the 1970 SPEBSQSA international competition.
The beginning of the Oriole Four, 1970 International champion quartet, was in 1951 outside a Baltimore high school when students Fred King and Jim Grant first met, discovered they had a mutual fondness for harmony and sang an impromptu duet. They joined SPEBSQSA a couple of years later, found two other students who liked to harmonize and formed the Deacon Four, with Grant on lead and King on baritone.
The quartet, with occasional personnel changes, still met occasionally after its members had graduated, and in 1956 the name was changed to the Oriole Four. Bass Don Stratton came along in 1957, and tenor Bob Welzenbach joined in 1958.
All were members of the Chorus of the Chesapeake
in Dundalk, Maryland
, and three weeks after their first rehearsal they won the Dundalk Open and later the Chesapeake Bay Open. It was in 1958 also that they met Bob Loose, who was to become their permanent coach and close friend. After working with him for only three months, they won the Mid-Atlantic District championship.
Although they placed eighth in their first international competition in 1959, it would be 1965 before they again reached the finals and '69, in St. Louis, before they won their first medal, a fourth-place bronze. In Atlantic City in 1970, they finally won the competition.
The beginning of the Oriole Four, 1970 International champion quartet, was in 1951 outside a Baltimore high school when students Fred King and Jim Grant first met, discovered they had a mutual fondness for harmony and sang an impromptu duet. They joined SPEBSQSA a couple of years later, found two other students who liked to harmonize and formed the Deacon Four, with Grant on lead and King on baritone.
The quartet, with occasional personnel changes, still met occasionally after its members had graduated, and in 1956 the name was changed to the Oriole Four. Bass Don Stratton came along in 1957, and tenor Bob Welzenbach joined in 1958.
All were members of the Chorus of the Chesapeake
Chorus of the Chesapeake
The Chorus of the Chesapeake is a men's a cappella chorus, based in Dundalk, Maryland. Chartered in 1957 as the Dundalk chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, the chorus is rich in both history and accomplishment.-Early history:...
in Dundalk, Maryland
Dundalk, Maryland
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 62,306 people, 24,772 households, and 16,968 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 4,689.5 people per square mile . There were 26,385 housing units at an average density of 1,985.9 per square mile...
, and three weeks after their first rehearsal they won the Dundalk Open and later the Chesapeake Bay Open. It was in 1958 also that they met Bob Loose, who was to become their permanent coach and close friend. After working with him for only three months, they won the Mid-Atlantic District championship.
Although they placed eighth in their first international competition in 1959, it would be 1965 before they again reached the finals and '69, in St. Louis, before they won their first medal, a fourth-place bronze. In Atlantic City in 1970, they finally won the competition.