Spring Sing - Before A Cappella was Cool!

     It all began rather inauspiciously on a barge at New Hope, Pennsylvania in May of 1957. A party planned to bring together three Philadelphia/New Jersey area male a cappella singing groups attracted other singers and, before you could say, "Cookout on shore!" a tradition was begun.

     The following year the barge scene repeated itself (good parties are difficult to discourage), adding a female group. A tent next to Princeton's Lake Carnegie provided the setting for several groups to perform in 1959, including a first mixed group and the Princeton Nassoons. NBC even broadcast the music (not sure about the 'festivities') coast to coast!

     The annual Spring Sing we know today grew out of these humble yet 'irresistible-to-singers' beginnings. The opportunity for singers to meet other singers and to perform for folks who appreciate their vocal skills has kept the tradition alive for forty years. In that time, groups have come and gone, re-formed and given up, changed names and styles, - in the process creating a special a cappella category of the genre we have come to call "vocal jazz" that has been recognized by musicians and arrangers, educators and historians as something unique and identifiable. Spring Sing is even recognized in a special collection at the Library of Congress.

    Although most of the singers who participate in Spring Sing have always come from the East Coast, in recent years groups in other parts of the country have joined the effort to support and encourage this annual gathering. Its charm continues to lie in the sharing of special musical moments - mostly informal songs from the popular, jazz and folk repertoire - that bring smiles to faces, sometimes tears to eyes, and always the heart-warming applause that signifies appreciation and acceptance. Spring Sing is for having fun!

1957 Palmer Squares The Barge at New Hope

1958 Suburban Squires The Barge at New Hope

1959 Opposite Sextet The tent at Lake Carnegie

1960 Revelers Phillips Mill, New Hope

1961 Counterparts The Barn at Andalusia

1962

1963 Commuters The Barn at Andalusia

1964 Augmented 8 Gadby’s Tavern, Alexandria

1965 Palmer Squares Chapin Day School, Princeton

1966 Spare Parts Goodspeed Opera House, East Haddam

1967 Suburban Squires The Barn at Andalusia

1968 Grunyons Players Club, Deetroit

1969 Off Sounders Belle Haven Yacht Club, Greenwich

1970 Commuter Belmont Mansion, Fairmont Park

1971 Augmented 8 Potomac School, Washington DC

1972 Private Parts Hun School, Princeton

Opposite Sextet

1973 Two by Fours Concord Academy & The Vale

1974 Spare Parts Renbrook School, Hartford

1975 Peddler’s Pack Warrington Country Club & Phillips Mill, New Hope

1976 Foxheads Garrison Forest School, Owens Mill

1977 Grace Notes Greenwich Hight School and Riverside Yacht Club

1978 Wizards Central City Opera House, Co. Governor’s Mansion

1979 Grunyons Orchestra Hall $ Renaissance Center

1980 Augmented 8 Coolidge Auditorium & Kennedy Center, Washington

1981 Boudinotes Alexander Hall & Nassau Inn Princeton

1982 Two by Fours Faneuil Hall and Sanders Theater Boston/Harvard

1983 Off Sounders SUNY Center for the Art &

Riverside Hilton, Greenwich

1984 Spare Parts Whaling Church, Martha’s Vinyard

1985 Foxheads Walters Art Gallery, Harbor Place

Baltimore

1986 Wizards Keystone Lodge

1987 Grace Notes Second Congregational Church, Greenwich Hyatt, Riverside Yacht Club

1988 Grunyons Rackham Auditorium, Michigan

League, Ann Arbor

1989 Bosstones/Cahoots Paine Hall Theater, Harvard

1990 Counterparts Pocono Manor Inn

1991 Augmented 8 Gaston Hall, Georgetown University

1992 Jersey Transit Richardson Auditorium

Double Treble Scanticon-Princeton

1993 Two by Fours Lindsay Auditorium, Bentley College, Waltham, MA

1994 Spare Parts Central Baptist Church and Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford

1995 Grace Notes First Congregational Church, Old Greenwich
Off Sounders

1996 Wizards Estes Park

1997 Grunyons Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village

1998 Counterparts Pocono Manor

1999 Augmented 8 4-H and Chevy Chase Clubs

2000 Jersey Transit Cape May, New Jersey

2001 Lake Shore Jive Chicago

2002 Noteworthy Hilton Windsor, Ontario

2003 Off Sounders Yale Art Gallery, New Haven

2004 Grunyons Disney World, Orlando

2005 Grace Notes Greenwich Academy

2006 Wizards Boulderado Hotel