Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE-The Singing Pioneers men's choir of the University of Wisconsin-Platteville will hold their reunion concert on Sunday, Nov. 15 at the Center for the Arts on the UWP campus. The concert will bring current members and alumni of the Singing Pioneers together to help celebrate the history of men's choir on campus. The concert will begin at 3 p.m. and will be free for all who wish to attend. The event is sponsored by the UWP Office of Performing and Visual Arts and the Segregated University Fee Allocation Commission.

"We have documentation of a men's choir on campus since 1901," said Robert Demaree, director of choral activities and the Singing Pioneers since 1997. "With our best estimate, this will be 100 years of UWP having a men's choir."

The Singing Pioneers are the longest tenured choral group here on campus. "There wasn't a mixed choir on campus until the middle of the 20th century," said Demaree. "Having such a long-running men's group is deeply related to UWP's history as a mining school, just like the brewery in the Pioneer Student Center. It's a very special connection that we have with our past."

The concert will include performances from the women's and men's choirs, as well as a collaboration between the Singing Pioneers alumni and current members. They will sing eight to 10 pieces that will represent the past 30 years.

Some pieces will specifically represent the years James Hershberger directed the Singing Pioneers. "He was the most charismatic and iconic director the Singing Pioneers ever had," said Demaree. "He was like a pied piper to the men's choir." After serving for several decades as the director of Singing Pioneers, Hershberger passed away in 1992 after suffering a heart attack.

Demaree would like to formally invite any former member of the Singing Pioneers to come and participate at the concert. Anyone interested or who knows of anyone who was a Singing Pioneer is asked to contact Demaree by e-mail.

"These guys are a really special group. Choir has never had a curricular purpose here on campus. Students can get credit for participating, but it fulfills no requirements," said Demaree. "I liken these guys to the men that play football for a Division III team. They'll never get a scholarship and nearly all of them will never go pro, but they do it anyway because they love the game. That's why these men sing: they just love singing, and when you get 150 to 200 men together, they can make a phenomenal sound."

For more information about the concert or Singing Pioneers, contact Demaree at (608) 342-1446 or demaree@uwplatt.edu.

Contact: Robert Demaree, director of choral activities, UWP Music Department, (608) 342-1446, demaree@uwplatt.edu Written by: Ian Clark, UWP office of Public Relations, (608) 342-1194, clarki@uwplatt.edu