Sound of the Rockies
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The Sound of the Rockies (SOR) is an a cappella men's chorus based in greater Denver, Colorado. They are currently the 3rd place International Bronze Medalist Chorus for the Barbershop Harmony Society, a ranking they earned while successfully co-hosting the 2007 International Convention in Denver, Colorado with the Denver Mountainaires.
In the 1990s, there were two major chapters in the Denver area, the older Mile High Chorus and the Denver Tech chapter, chartered in the 1980s. In 1999, the two chapters began to discuss the idea of merging, which is very rarely successful for large choruses. It was put to a vote by the members of each chapter, and a merger was approved on January 1, 2000. The chorus drafted a young, untried director for their initial leadership in Darin Drown, who had recently moved to Denver from Nebraska.
The chorus put on a successful charter show in the spring of 2000 that consisted of Broadway tunes, and competed in their first Rocky Mountain District contest in the fall of 2000 in Rapid City, South Dakota, placing second and missing a wild card invitation to International by a mere 5 points.
In the fall of 2001 the SOR competed in their second District contest, again placing second, but this time earning a wildcard to compete at the International Chorus Finals in Portland, Oregon. They traveled to their first International in July of 2002 and shocked the barbershop world by placing 8th. They won their first Rocky Mountain District championship in the fall of 2002 and once again traveled to International in July of 2003, placing 7th in the Montreal contest. The year 2004 brought them to Louisville, Kentucky where they continued their climb, placing 6th and missing a medal by only a few points. In Salt Lake City, Utah in 2005 they placed 7th with a comedic package. They again placed 6th at the 2006 Chorus contest in Indianapolis, Indiana. The chorus was the host for the 2007 International contests and convention, held in Denver, Colorado. On July 6th, 2007, The Sound of the Rockies placed 3rd at the International contest, finally giving them a long sought-after medal.
