Die Singenden Wanderer
Die Singenden Wanderer is a men’s singing group that was establishing in late 1991 to have fun and to sing hiking songs and light hearted beer drinking songs as well as fun songs that depict life in a musical way. Die Singenden Wanderer is not a formal choir but just a bunch of men of all ages wanting to have fun entertaining the guests at our facility. Some of our members tend to provide “extra” emphasis during parts of some songs to add a little bit of levity to the performance. The group started with 10 members and soon grew to over 20 members within a year’s time due their lively way they go about their performances. The group has a Vorsänger (leader) that takes care of the business end and a Dirigent (singing instructor) who is responsible for the songs we sing and the correct way to sing the songs. We have a fairly large selection of German songs that we sing throughout the year and a well-rounded collection of Christmas songs that we sing during the Holiday season in both German and English. As stated previously many of the songs are wanderer (hiking) songs that are happy songs and that talk about life and focus on life’s experiences.
Die Singenden Wanderer perform for many bus tours throughout the year at the German-American Society along with the Heimat Taenzer (ethnic dance group) and where also a German meal is served to the bus tour groups. Likewise, we try to get the audience to participate is some of the songs to “schunkeln” (arms interlocked and swaying from side to side) while the group does their own version of “schunkeln” during the song itself. In addition, on one song that we do called the “Schneewalzer” we have a person or two go out and show and/or instruct the audience what they must do to become a part of the fun.
The group also performs at all of the major festivals (fests) that the German-American Society has throughout the year and those being Maifest, German Day/Oktoberfest and Christmas in Germany. Likewise, we have on many occasions do performances for outside organizations when requested along with singing at local health care facilities typically during the holiday season to add a little holiday cheer to their lives.
OFFICERS
1. Vorsänger: Howard Shipley
2. Vorsänger: Chris Ott
1. Dirigent: Michael Olk
2. Dirigent: Frank Sobetski, Jr.