Haddonfield Mayor Colleen Bianco Bezich presents a proclamation on the South Jersey Pine Barons’ 75th anniversary to past president Larry Melton (left) and current President John Tsigounis.
When the South Jersey Pine Barons sing together, their faces light up, as they did when the group of about 40 men celebrated their 75th anniversary on Oct. 20 at Tavistock Country Club in Haddonfield.
The chorus’ members range in age from men in their 20s to those in their 90s who’ve been with the chorus for decades. Their anniversary performance featured a display of memorabilia and four songs special to the Pine Barons: “I Don’t Know Why I Love You Like I Do,” a special arrangement of “I Wanna Grow Old With You,” “My Girl” and a number written by a chorus member during COVID called “It’s the Music That Brings Us Together.”
Pine Barons musical director Rich Gray noted the unique thing about barbershop singing is that it was designed for participation by average singers.
“It’s designed so that most anyone who can sing ‘Happy Birthday’ can be part of a chorus like this, and really find a lot of joy singing with other guys,” he explained.
“There’s nothing like entering the rehearsal hall and hearing the warm, echoing and ringing sounds of the chorus singing,” noted South Jersey Pine Barons President John Tsigounis in his written remarks for the anniversary.
“The camaraderie within our chorus is simply the best.”
Gray pointed out that the Pine Barons draw a lot from Motown, popular band music and songs from the likes of Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, as well as patriotic numbers. No matter the genre, the chorus strives to preserve barbershop singing.
“(It) is a big part of our history in the barbershop harmony society,” Gray observed. “One of the big principles that we have adopted is preservation: We preserve this art form, we preserve this unique style, we try not to let it stray or morph into something else. We try to keep it barbershop as we go, and that’s what makes it different.
“That’s what makes it unique.”
Some of the chorus’ shows and locations over its more than seven decades were captured in a slide show put together for the anniversary celebration by member Steven Ritz.
The Pine Barons shared a display of photos for their anniversary on Oct. 20 that chronicled the chorus’ more than seven decades of performances. At left is a selection of the group’s uniforms over the years.
“I tried to have old and new, young and old, individual and chorus moments,” Ritz said. “I think the slide show just captures the breadth of the chorus experience, from the rehearsals week after week to the shows that we do, to the singing Valentine’s Day program, sing-outs in the community. There are photos from singing in Boscov’s (department store), singing in the supermarket, singing in people’s homes.
“It’s really quite touching to visit that again.”
While the photos captured candid moments during performances, the chorus’ history was detailed in a program book given to guests at the celebration. It was founded in October of 1949, when several members of the Camden chapter of the Society for Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America sought a chapter in Gloucester County. That came to pass in the 1950s, and resulted in even more chapters.
An Audubon chapter began in the ’60s with barbershop uniforms and straw hats, and in 1964, it combined with the Medford Lakes chapter to create the Cherry Hill Chapter of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America. It wasn’t until the 1970s that the chorus became the South Jersey Pine Barons, complete with green uniforms.
Since then, the group has earned a fifth-place medal at the Barbershop Harmony Society International Competition; saw members from Cherry Hill and Penn State’s choruses place third against Russian groups during a trip to that country; assisted with hosting the Barbershop Harmony Society’s annual International Quartet and Chorus Competition in Philadelphia in 2010; and qualified to compete at the society’s 2023 International Competition in Louisville, Kentucky.
In recent years, the Pine Barons have typically performed at two or three major events and a few competitions during the year, as well as spring, fall and holiday programs. They have also performed at retirement homes and offered singing lessons to the community as a way to give back.
“It’s a great tradition to carry on,” stated Gray, whose father was also a barbershop singer. “You realize there’s a lot of guys that came before you, and you’re carrying on that same tradition.”
There are now about 40 regular members in the chorus who meet at 7 p.m. each Monday at St. Andrews Methodist Church in Cherry Hill.
“You meet a lot of friends,” remarked Bud Miller, who’s been with the chorus since 1993. “You don’t even care where they work or anything else. You just treat them as good friends and help each other out.”
“You know that no matter what kind of week or weekend you have, you’ll get together on Monday night and you can leave it all at the door,” Gray said. “You can just sing and enjoy it and have fun, and no one’s going to give you a hard time.
“You’ll just enjoy the music, enjoy the friendship, have funm” he added. “And it’s just a great outlet.”
To learn more about upcoming chorus events, visit https://pinebarons.org/
