Thanks for a banner season!

With a full house and an exuberant audience of passionate a cappella fans, Sound of the Rockies wrapped up its 2018-19 season at University of Denver’s Newman Center for the Performing Arts with Acappellooza on Saturday night.  

What a great way to end the season. SOR featured four extremely strong competitors, with relative newcomer Aurora, Colorado’s, Legacy, taking the win. Congratulations to Legacy for blowing the audience away with your powerful sound! Well done to Crimson and Slate, First Edition and In the Buff for putting on outstanding performances that made the voting a nail-biter until the end. Thank you to our special guests and celebrity judges, for making it a night to remember and for helping Sound of the Rockies support the Denver a cappella scene.

SOR’s final Newman Center show, came little more than a week after we had the distinct privilege of honoring those who made the ultimate sacrifice in World War II at the 75^th Anniversary of D-Day ceremonies in Normandy, France. Taking the risers in France with 85 fellow members was a truly meaningful moment.  The responses from audiences at Brittany American Cemetery, Omaha Beach and St. Mère-Église were singularly moving to all of us who had the good fortune to be there. We couldn’t have done it without a wonderful outpouring of support from our fans, who helped finance our trip through their generosity. Thank you. We will never forget this once-in-a-lifetime experience.

More than 100 strong

The good news doesn’t end there. We had fantastic turnouts for our Christmas and Spring shows. And, for the first time in several years, Sound of the Rockies’ active membership eclipsed 100 singers!  Moreover, we are happy to see an enthusiasm for Barbershop in a new generation of singers, as several of our recent members are in their teens and 20s – SOR’s youngest member just turned 16! (If you love to sing and are interested in learning more about what it’s like to be part of Sound of the Rockies, join us at our next Guest Night on August 1.)  

What does this mean for Sound of the Rockies and our fans? More members translates into a stronger chorus and better performances.

“It’s been a great season for Sound of the Rockies,” said Chorus President Mark Palmer. “Our mission is to preserve and strengthen Barbershop as an art form. We are successful in achieving this goal when we can introduce broader audiences to the beauty of four-part harmony and welcome enthusiastic new singers to our ranks. Looking out into the audience at Acappellooza the other night and seeing people of all ages and backgrounds loving our music was a fantastic way to end our show season.”

It’s also the ideal way for the chorus to get inspired for the International Barbershop Chorus Contest in Salt Lake City on July 5. This competition brings together the best Barbershop choruses from around the world each year and Sound of the Rockies has consistently placed in the top 10 since 2002. SOR took fourth place in 2018 and we look forward to another successful finish this year.

Thank you to our wonderful fans for your continuing support and don’t forget to spread the word about our shows!