Morris County's first Beer Choir invites public to sip, sing and join national movement

William Westhoven, Morristown Daily Record
Updated ·3 min read
Photos of 'Beer Choir' events in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area as the concept has grown to 60 chapters in the U.S., Canada and Switzerland.
Photos of 'Beer Choir' events in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area as the concept has grown to 60 chapters in the U.S., Canada and Switzerland.

Beer and song have proven to be an irresistible combination for centuries. On Friday in Morris County, you can indulge in both for a good cause as the growing network of "Beer Choirs" makes its way from the Midwest to New Jersey.

Launched informally in St. Louis in 2015 and organized at a 2017 choir masters convention in Minneapolis, the Beer Choir has expanded to dozens of chapters in North America, including Princeton and Trenton.

Now, other choral groups are testing out the concept − which invites the public to drink beer and participate in singalongs − including the Morristown-based Harmonium Choral Society.

Now in its 45th year, Harmonium recently announced its new season, including classical performances with strings and orchestra. But first, the group is staging a Beer Choir fundraising event on Friday at Grace Episcopal Church in Madison beginning at 7 p.m.

"We've already gotten a good response and if it goes well, it could become an annual event," Harmonium Executive Director Jody Marcus said.

Harmonium Chorus members will lead the songs, led by Artistic Director Anne Matlock, with piano accompaniment. But the hope is they will be upstaged by the audience. Lyric sheets will be handed out from the official Beer Choir "hymnal" to encourage everyone to sing.

"The chorus becomes everyone who shows up," said Adam Reinwald of the Beer Choir.

The Beer Choir songbook leans heavily to old-school, public-domain drinking songs, classic melodies, a few originals and a variety of PG-rated "irreverent" novelty songs and sea chanties, he said.

"We stay in the public domain so we are allowed to print the lyrics," Reinwald said. "No Taylor Swift."

How it got started

Reinwald, artistic director of the Kantorei Chamber Choir in Minneapolis-St. Paul, is the owner, artistic director and "Viceroy of Fun" for the now-national Beer Choir organization. His good friend, Michael Englehardt, got the idea rolling at a St. Louis bar in 2015.

"He said there is a big national choir director convention happening in Minneapolis in March 2017, you should start a chapter there in advance," Reinwald said. "A partner and I took him up on that offer. We launched an event, put it out very loosely on Facebook, and we had 500 people standing outside a brewery in St. Paul, in January, in Minnesota, waiting to get in."

Reinwald said Minneapolis is considered "the Mecca of choral music," but still, "We realized we really had something going on here."

"It has now snowballed, even through the pandemic, to 60 chapters nationwide, into Canada and even Switzerland," he said. "The whole thing is based on community-building through music and beer. Bringing together some people who do not know each other and having an informal singing time in a public place."

Beer choirs are not a new concept, but it's a novel activity for the U.S.

"Europe does this so much better than we do," Reinwald said. "England for example, you walk around towns and there is singing in the pubs after soccer matches. That's the kind of ethos we're after."

Photos of 'Beer Choir' events in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area as the concept has grown to 60 chapters in the U.S., Canada and Switzerland.
Photos of 'Beer Choir' events in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area as the concept has grown to 60 chapters in the U.S., Canada and Switzerland.

Local brews

Beer, of course, will be served.

The chorus has partnered with Morristown-based Glenbrook Brewery to come and pour three of its beers, including their signature Colonial Ale. Snacks and non-alcoholic beverages also will be available.

"Sing responsibly," Reinwald admonished.

Tickets are $35 in advance and $40 for the day of event. Proceeds will benefit the nonprofit Harmonium Choral Society.

45th season

The Harmomium Chorus will officially kick off its new season on Friday, Dec. 8 and Sunday, Dec. 10, at the Presbyterian Church in Morristown. The "Ecstatic Expectancy" program will premiere "Magnificat," by Dale Trumbore, works by Jessica French, Reena Esmail, Mark Miller and Zanaida Robles, and Durante’s Baroque "Magnificat," with strings. See the Harmonium website for more events and details.

William Westhoven is a local reporter for DailyRecord.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com 

Twitter: @wwesthoven

This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Beer Choir in NJ taps public to sip and join national movement