I’m sorry you had a bad listening experience with the Robert Shaw Chorale.
I’ve been a serious fan of Shaw’s work starting back in the 50’s when the
Chorale was regularly on tour.



In 1968 Shaw became the first full-time director of the Atlanta Symphony
Orchestra. Within a few years he also established the ASO Chorus who would win
Grammy awards every year for their recordings, this a group of about 180
singers. He was a task master. The chorus had and still has very high
standards. Every singer auditions every year for the coming season that runs
from September to May or June. No matter how long you have been in the chorus,
you still auditioned every year. (Do you know any barbershop choruses that do
that?)



The RS Chorale was a highly auditioned group where essentially everyone was a
soloist, often with a long history as a solo performer. No matter your
background you still had to demonstrate your ability as an ensemble singer. If
anyone is interested, you might visit the Amazon website and type in The Robert
Shaw Chorale. There are many recordings available. Check out those of the
mixed voice chorale and also those recordings of just the men of the chorale.
It ain’t barbershop but it will be a magnificent listening experience.
Certainly the recording technology in the 50s-60s was nothing like today. But
listen to those early recordings for the ensemble work of that day. Do that and
redeem your ears from the experience you had at your convention. It will be
well worth your time.



Mark Rusch


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