Staples Men's Chorus Dinner Concert

     This traditional concert is a wonderful event. The audience will experience good music, fine food, and the fun of having the performers come right to their table. Throughout the evening, courses of the dinner are interspersed with portions of the concert, and of course, there is nothing like the thunder and the whisper of male voices raised in song. It is always a rousing evening of food for the body and for the soul.

     The Dinner Concert means, of course, that coffee cups and assorted dinnerware, are at risk, as the men put on their red vests and take a "crash" course in bringing their waiter skills up to the level of the musical skills for which they have become justifiably famous.

     The Staples Area Men's Chorus has been a part of the cultural life of Central Minnesota for seventy years. The Chorus traces its origins back to a Staples Civic Chorus under the direction of Lois Cruikshank in the mid-1930's and even before that to the wealth of community music-making that flourished in small rural communities virtually from the day they were founded. In Staples' case this was 1889. After a hiatus during World War II, the Chorus was reorganized and flourished under the direction of Erling Lian in the late forties and early fifties. It became one of the first outstate groups to issue its own recordings. It was reformed again under its current director in 1971, with the urging of Doug Grossman who had sung in the group as a student under Lian. Grossman guided the group as President through much of the 70's. Early support for the Chorus came from the Staples Lions Club and the Staples Public Schools. The group has been self-supporting for most of its existence and contributes to music scholarships and cultural causes in Central Minnesota. The group represents a tight community of Civil Society whose members travel up to 100 miles each week to rehearse. They perform a wide range of musical styles from works of the great masters to folk tunes, spirituals, show tunes and pop standards.

     The Staples Area Men's Chorus has issued recordings throughout its history starting with 78-RPM records in the 1940's. The Chorus has a compact disc and two cassettes currently available.

     The Staples Area Men's Chorus has appeared at the Minnesota Music Educators Association (MMEA) and the Music Educators National Conference (MENC) Divisional Convention, the St. John's University Male Chorus Festival and Associated Male Choruses of America (AMCA) Divisional and National Conventions. The Chorus won the Bronze medal in its class at the Great American Choral Festival.

     Stanley Carlson has been the Music Director for the Chorus since 1971. He was Director of Choral Activities at Staples Motley Public Schools from 1965-1999. Mr. Carlson was named "Choral Director of the Year" in 1990 by the American Choral Directors Association of Minnesota and "Music Educator of the Year" in 1998 by the Minnesota Music Educators Association.