The Pine Barons Chorus hosted its guest night on June 1, welcoming six people to its practice and performance to learn what the weekly group of about 40 members has to offer.
Guest night is hosted two or three times a year, and chorus members come from as far north as Princeton and as far south as Atlantic City to the township’s Saint Andrew’s United Methodist Church. Music director Rich Gray – in the job for 14 years – said guest night draws between four to 15 people.
The chorus membership is at 48 performers.
“You’re always going to lose a couple guys, whether some guys move or, we’ve had younger guys getting married having kids and have to bow out, at least for a little while being first-time dads and that kind of thing,” Gray explained. “Unfortunately, we’ve had members that get old and pass away.
“So there’s always going to be some attrition, but a steady increase over the years.”
The Pine Barons Chorus began in 1949, when the Camden chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society broke off to form a chapter in Woodbury. That chapter merged with Audubon in 1964 to create the township branch. While membership there numbered about 100 in the ’80s, according to Gray, the number has fluctuated over the years. It has held steady in the last decade.
Most of the chorus members are older men, but a few are in college and one is a student at East High.
Charlie Flynn is a junior music education major at Rutgers University. He’s been singing with the chorus for a year-and-a half, and listening to the group energizes him.
“I came to one of the Pine Barons’ shows, and there was a quartet that sang this one song … it brought a whole new light in my life,” he recalled. “I already loved music and was dedicating my life to it. But this is such an amazing hobby.”
Flynn is not bothered by singing with older members.
“It’s nice to be here and just bring new youth into the chorus,” he acknowledged. “But it’s definitely a little strange for me, being the youngest by like 50 years .. But it’s nice. It’s an interesting experience.”
Vice president of marketing Eric Herr noted that the chorus is getting away from its barbershop singing image to draw new members.
“A lot of people have this notion that it’s still four guys with straw hats and vests and armbands on a street corner somewhere,” Herr noted. “And we’re trying to get out of that image and more into a current kind of thing, sort of like “America’s Got Talent” … the (“Pitch Perfect”) movie franchise and stuff like that.
“We’re trying to get people aware.”
Part of that means bringing more modern music to the chorus playlist, such as “Lullaby,” by Billy Joel or “My Girl,” by The Temptations, along with classics like “As Time Goes By” and “If I Had My Way.”
“We’ve tried to provide a broader mix of music in recent years,” Herr pointed out, “and I think that’s been getting us … a lot more visibility.”
Members are from all backgrounds and careers.
“We have people in construction, we have educators, we’ve got a former high-school principal,” Herr said. “We’ve got people in the medical equipment sales. It ranges the gambit. What I always like to say is that it’s not everywhere where you can literally stand between a rocket scientist and a plumber … but it’s true.
“You get a wide diversity of occupations.”
At guest night, the singers broke off into sections by range and practiced singing 1921’s “Ain’t We Got Fun,” by Richard Whiting.
Chorus members Eric Herr (clockwise from left) Tom Wilson, Brian Reilly, Steven Ritz, Jeff Knightly, Larry Milton and Chris Bush practice singing “Ain’t We Got Fun,” recorded in 1921, at the Pine Baron Chorus’ guest night on June 1.
Baritone Steven Ritz led other baritones, directing them on how to sing the song, pronounce certain words, which notes to draw out, when to raise pitch and when to lower it.
Herr – who’s been with the chorus for 25 years – was honored with a 50-year pin at guest night for his years in various barbershop groups, among them the Bryn Mawr Mainliners.
Meanwhile, Gray wants to again grow chorus membership, in part by being as accessible as possible.
“None of us are professional singers or anything,” he pointed out, “and we always want to be wide open and accessible to an average singer in the community who just wants to have fun and enjoy the music and do some performances around in our local community.
“And just have a blast.”
