Hymn of praise: Pine Barons Chorus celebrates 75th anniversary

Every Monday night, 30 to 40 men from Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties come together to sing a cappella and rehearse for local holiday shows, barbershop quartet tournaments and other annual events.

They are members of the Pine Barons Chorus, which is celebrating its 75th diamond anniversary this year, said Eric Herr, the group’s vice president of marketing, who was one of the chorus singers who auditioned July 8 at St. Andrew’s Methodist Church in Cherry Hill.

“I like the camaraderie and solidarity of the men, and we all share a love of singing and music,” noted Assistant Director Jim Rohn of Eastampton. “I started singing in 1980 with my father, uncle and brother.”

Rohn, who filled in for director Rich Gray, said the choir consists of 15 lead singers, 15 bass singers, five tenors and eight to 10 baritones, each of whom sings a section of traditional four-part barbershop harmony singing together. During their performances, the choir members are mixed up on stage to create a more powerful sound.

“Some choirs have as many as 150 members,” said Bud Miller, a lead singer from Barrington who joined the choir in 1992 and served as its director for 10 years. “The more men, the bigger the sound.”

Miller said it “feels great to sing anywhere – after a performance or a good rehearsal.” He began performing as a student at Rutherford High School and appreciated it while serving in the Army during the Vietnam War.

“I was in the choral society and the barbershop quartet at West Point,” recalled Miller, who founded the Armed Services Barbershop Chorus with a group of generals in Saigon who were looking for a pleasant diversion for the soldiers.

“I’ve made a lot of good friends, and we’ve lost some good people,” noted 88-year-old Chuck Edgerton, who gathered with other choir members to warm up on a makeshift basement stage at St. Andrew’s. Two Christmas shows this year were sold out and held in the nave.

“I joined the choir 42 years ago,” added Edgerton, a Cherry Hill resident, who said the feeling after an outstanding performance is “overwhelming.”

“I really enjoy singing.”

Jim Evans of Haddonfield – who claims to be 95.5 years young – has been the choir’s lead singer for 45 years.

“I was 50 when I joined,” he recalled. “I heard them at a show and was really impressed. I liked the sound and the music.”

The oldest member of the group is 97-year-old George Neff, who happily sang the first rehearsal number along with the choir members. The youngest artist in a group that spans several generations is 17-year-old Garrett Hardt, a bass singer who discovered his interest after watching barbershop videos on YouTube.

“I joined in September 2023 and I really enjoyed performing in the Christmas shows,” noted Hardt, who sang in the Pennington High School a cappella choir. “I’ve never experienced anything like it.”

The origins of the Pine Barons Chorus in Cherry Hill date back to October 5, 1949, at the Walt Whitman Hotel in Camden, where several members of the then Camden chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society attempted to form a chapter in Gloucester County.

In the early 1950s, the Woodbury division was officially named a part of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop Quartet Singing in America. The rapidly growing group relocated and became the Audubon Chorus in 1955, and in 1964, it merged with the Medford Lakes division to form the Cherry Hill group.

This chapter received a new name and look in the 1970s. The name Pine Barons was chosen as a so-called “royal touch” for the nearby 2,000-acre tract of land known as the New Jersey Pine Barrens, located between the Garden State Parkway to the east and the New Jersey Turnpike to the west.

A distinctive green uniform replaced the group’s nondescript uniform. The new and improved look caught the attention of many in barbershop circles, who often referred to the Cherry Hill chapter as “the big green singing machine,” a nickname that stuck for years.

A special highlight was the trip to Russia by some members of the Cherry Hill and Penn State choirs, who together won an unexpected third place medal against strong competition from several Soviet groups.

The township chapter of the Pine Barons Chorus will continue its proud tradition in 2024, playing to audiences of all ages in the South Jersey and Philadelphia area.

“The choir is always looking for good singers,” emphasized Herr, “and anyone interested is welcome to come to our rehearsal…”

The Pine Barons Chorus rehearses on Mondays at 7 p.m. in the basement of St. Andrew’s, located on Route 70 east next to Ponio’s Diner in Cherry Hill.”