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Dondero High School A Capella Choir - Pop Concert Sampler 1995-2005

Dondero High School A Capella Choir, Royal Oak, Michigan. Rick Hartsoe, Choir Director. Coordinated & Released for Comfort Stand by Suzanne Baumann. Special thanks to Rick Hartsoe, Jan Stewart & Ryan Parmenter.

Check out more information about this album on its Comfort Stand release page.


1. Instrumentalists unknown

2. Drums: Tyler Berg; Guitar: Ryan Cairo, Sean Dufty, Geoff Iverson; Bass: Mike Farr; Fender Rhodes: Max Schurig

3. Instrumentalists unknown

4. Keyboard: KT Cassady, Joel Schenk, C.J. South; Guitar: Chris Csicsay, Roy Garbuz; Bass: Matt Csicsay; Drums: Ryan Gates; eDrums: Joe Scott

5. Drums: Tyler Berg; Bass: Matt Csicsay; Slapstick: Mike Farr; Guitar: Roy Garbuz; Organ solos: Chris Logan, Joel Schenk

6. Drums: Tyler Berg; Bass: Sean Dufty; Moog Prodigy: Mike Farr; Guitar: Geoff Iverson; Acoustic Piano: Max Schurig; Organ: Allison Vogelsong

7. Bass: Nick Byrnes; Drums: Brad Elliott; Guitar: Roy Garbuz; Percussion: Ryan Gates; Piano: Ashley Heidrich; Synth: Sarah Herzberg; Lead Guitar: Ian Prukner

8. Keyboards: Ryan Parmenter

9. Soloist: Adam Brown; Bass: Mike Farr; Drums: Ryan Gates; Guitar: Andy Toggweiler

10. Guitar: Chris Csicsay, Roy Garbuz; Bass: Matt Csicsay: Keyboard: Joel Schenk; Drums: Joe Scott

11. Instrumentalists unknown

12. Keyboard: KT Cassady, Jan Stewart; Guitar: Chris Csicsay; Bass: Matt Csicsay; Drums: Joe Scott

13. Drums: Tyler Berg; Guitar: Adam Brown, Sean Dufty; Bass: Mike Farr; Bass Drum/Cowbell/Clap Machine: Ryan Gates; Keyboard: Chris Logan, Max Schurig, Joel Schenk; Shaker: Geoff Iverson

14. Cowbell: Tyler Berg; Acoustic Guitar: Mike Bermudez; Drums: Matt Csicsay; Sleighbells: Mike Farr; Guitar: Roy Garbuz; Tambourine: Ryan Gates; Shaker: Rob Gignac; Bass: Alex Hill; Keyboard: Chris Logan & Joel Schenk

15. Bass: Nick Byrnes; Keyboard: KT Cassady; Drums: Brad Elliott; Keyboard: Ashley Heidrich & Sarah Herzberg; Lead Guitar: Ian Prukner

16. Instrumentalists unknown

17. Trumpet: Sam Beaubien, Andrea Champagne; Drums: Brad Elliott; Flute: Melanie Flynn; Tambourine: Ashley Heidrich


This audio is part of the collection: Comfort Stand

Keywords: school band, pop concert, dondero high school

Creative Commons license: Attribution-NonCommercial

Notes

For me, it started one Saturday morning in 2002. On a whim I picked up two Dondero A Capella Choir cassettes at a thrift store, something to listen to in the car as I went about my errands.

I got in the car, popped in a tape and "Black Water" started to play. As with so many ubiquitous pop songs, the Doobie Brothers original never did much for me. It was just another pretty sound that might come over the loudspeakers at the supermarket. The Dondero version, however, pulled the song out of the background and shoved it right in front of me. Now I had context: knowing that high school students learned this song, rehearsed this song, performed it in front of family and friends finally made "Black Water" real to me as a piece of music.

This ability to make tired old pop songs fresh is only part of what makes these concerts a such a pleasure to hear, however. There's real skill demonstrated here, and a palpable sense of excitement in this music. The students sound like they're having a great time on stage, and the audience is cheering and shouting with equal -- if not more -- enthusiasm. This holds true through every year of Pop Concert I've heard, and there's eight of 'em sampled here. Listen to the full concerts (Comfort Stand releases 072-079) for the banter between songs and you'll soon understand these kids' genuine fondness for the concert, their fellow choir members, and their instructor, Rick Hartsoe. The students truly put their hearts into each performance.

Thanks to everyone involved in these recordings for such hard and amazing work.

- Suzanne Baumann

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Reviewer: abelincoln62 - - October 23, 2006
Subject: engergy and enthusiasm rule
This is an incredibly ambitious undertaking for highschool kids. Some of the work is a little raw, but the power and enthusiasm of the performers literally pounds away any notion that what you are hearing isn't first class pop music with real fun in mind.

The choir director works the material and his performers into a musical frenzy. The result is live performance that is so palpable that you feel like you attended it yourself. I only wish I lived near enough to this school to be able to do so. I would not pass on the opportunity.