“I was blown away by the attention to detail everyone has for the craft, the passion people put into singing, and the feeling of brotherhood in the group.”
Name and singing position: Mitchell Jacobson, tenor
Joined Sound of the Rockies: Began rehearsing with SOR in July 2018, became a member in November
Q:Where are you from?
A: I’m originally from Green Bay, Wisconsin and moved to Colorado for college. I live in Golden, CO.
Q: What do you do professionally?
A: I’ m a PLC Programmer at a water and wastewater integration company.
Q: When did you start singing?
A: I joined the Appleton Boys Choir when I was 6 years old and stayed with the ensemble until I was 9 or 10. After that, I didn’t do much singing outside of school choirs and the car until college.
Q: How were you introduced to a cappella?
A: When I first arrived on campus at Colorado School of Mines, I was looking for organizations to join, and one of them was a men’s a cappella group called the Harmonic Miners. I figured I’d try out because I was interested in a cappella and thought I had a good chance of making it into the group. After that, I joined multiple other groups.
Q: Why do you enjoy being part of an a cappella chorus?
A: Being part of a cappella groups gives me a sense of belonging and accomplishment. The fact that all of these people, who I have the good fortune of singing with, are so talented and can create such incredible music together is simply amazing. Everyone plays their part to create something so much bigger and magnificent. It’s beautiful.
Q: What led you to Sound of the Rockies?
A: I fell in love with the barbershop sound while singing with my group in college. So, after graduation, I looked up “Denver barbershop groups,” and Sound of the Rockies was the first name to pop up on the search list. I decided to check the chorus out at the next Guest Night.
Q: How is being part of SOR different from any other singing experience you’ve had?
A: Previously, being part of a chorus was primarily a hobby. It was fun to be social with others and share interests. I quickly realized at the first rehearsal that Sound of the Rockies was something completely different. I was blown away by the attention to detail everyone has for the craft, the passion people put into singing, and the feeling of brotherhood in the group. The sound and emotion are amazing and the songs we sing are much more challenging and interesting than anything I’ve ever taken on before. It’s been like night and day, going from my rag-tag group of singing engineers to this professional, committed group. I knew right away that I wanted to be part of it.
Q: What have some of the highlights of your experience with SOR been?
A: The chorus has been incredibly welcoming to me. You can tell members just want to spread the love for barbershop music. I officially became a member in November and I had the opportunity to audition for a solo in the Christmas production. I figured I would just throw my voice into the mix to be considered for a solo but was expecting somebody with more experience and tenure to be cast. So, I was really surprised when I got the solo. It was an incredible experience, and I truly felt like I had the support of the rest of the group behind me the whole way.
Q: What do you do when you are not singing?
A: I like to run, work out and play frisbee, as well hike, ski, and rock climb occasionally. I also like to play video games, watch movies, and play board games.
Q: What might surprise us about you?
A: I graduated from Colorado School of Mines with my degree in chemical and biological engineering, as well as a minor in biomedical engineering in three years. On my graduation day, I was only 20 years old. Also, I have perfect pitch but was unaware of it until my second year of college.