The Society of Orpheus and Bacchus
| The Society of Orpheus and Bacchus | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | The SOBs |
| Origin | Yale University, New Haven, CT |
| Genres | A cappella, choral, barbershop music, comedy music |
| Years active | 1938–present |
| Website | http://www.yalesobs.com |
| Members |
Tenor I Benson May '17+1 Khyber Shepperd '18 Ben Biniaz '19 Spencer Johnson '20 Ben Kieff '20 Tenor II Douglas Streat '16 Joshua Bansal '16+1 Jesse Wang '17 Dylan Hosmer-Quint '18 Andrew Evren '19-1 Jordan Smith '20 Baritone Kristoffer Acuña '17 Dane Underwood '17 Stephan Sveshnikov '18 John Kauffman '19-1+1 Thomas Zembowicz '19 Krzysztof Chwala '20 Ryan Gittler '20 Bass Jordan Lee '17 Jason Morris '17 Kwasi Enin '18+1 Seth Gregson '19 Roland Huang '19 Kyle Almquist '20 John Kauffman, Orpheus (musical director) Dylan Hosmer-Quint, Prometheus (business manager) |
The Society of Orpheus and Bacchus, also known as the SOBs, is an all-male a cappella singing group from Yale University. Founded in 1938, The Society of Orpheus and Bacchus is the second longest-running a cappella group in the United States, after the Yale Whiffenpoofs. Alumni of the SOBs have gone on to be founding members of other college a cappella groups such as The Pitchforks of Duke University (Jeff Warren 1978) and The Chorallaries of MIT (David H. Bass 1975, also composer of their Engineer's Drinking Song).
On October 31, 1938, twelve Yale undergraduates gathered at Mory's Temple Bar to form an alternative a cappella group to the Yale Whiffenpoofs. The group capitalized on a back-handed compliment received from an audience member: "These SOBs are good!" and formed a backronym.
The society’s repertoire, which contains over 200 arrangements, is composed entirely of music arranged by current and former members of the group during its more than seven decades of existence. It spans a variety of genres from barbershop to jazz to songs by more contemporary artists like Queen, MIKA, Radiohead, Ariana Grande, Tenacious D, Kanye West and Michael Bublé. In addition to singing, the group prides itself on its comedy, with a typical concert including shtick written by members of the group. Each year, the Society of Orpheus and Bacchus performs across the USA and around the world, typically wearing tuxedos or suits with custom group neckties. They have performed at the White House, La Fortaleza in Puerto Rico, the American Airlines Arena for the NBA team the Miami Heat, as well as at country clubs, yacht clubs, churches, schools and resorts. The SOBs are one of only two groups — along with the Whiffenpoofs — that have a weekly engagement at Mory's Temple Bar.
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