'Maurice Sheppard, Jeremy Conlin, Bear Schacht and Daniel Sheppard of Infectious Harmony are one of four quartets performing this Friday night at the United Church of Los Alamos. Courtesy photo
'Note-able' Whimsy along with John Baillie and Jim Goforth sang for 102-year-old former member Joe Petranto at Los Alamos Assisted Living on National Barbershop Quartet Day. Petranto was an original member of the Lads of Enchantment and one of four chorus members from both choruses that will be remembered in song on Friday. Pictured here are John Baillie, Joe D'Anna, Jim Goforth, Bernadette Lauritzen, Ron Nelson and Lisa Rothrock. Courtesy photo
COMMUNITY News:
This Friday at 7 p.m. is the 2024 Barbershop "Celebrate the 60's" show at the United Church of Los Alamos. The Santa Fe Harmonizers (SFH) and the Lasses and Lads of Enchantment (LALOE) will also feature four barbershop quartets.
The first is a group of newcomers that debuted on Valentine's Day, as they roamed the town delivering personal vocal valentines. "Note-able" Whimsy is comprised of Joe D'Anna, Ron Nelson, Lisa Rothrock, and Bernadette Lauritzen. Rothrock will fill you in on the details.
"We take you back to Africa and beautiful memories of the sixties," Rothrock said. "Our new quartet is a male-female mix of whimsy in true barbershop style."
Infectious Harmony will follow next with Jeremy Conlin, Bear Schacht, Daniel Sheppard, and Maurice Sheppard. "We are all part of the chorus but enjoy the extra challenge that being in a quartet provides, and we have a good time with it," Schacht said. "Our biggest problem is that Jeremy and I both like to sing lead, so we end up taking turns on lead and baritone. We just happened to have a Beach Boys and an Elvis song in our repertoire, so it was perfect for this show!"
Three Nice Guys will round out the final local quartet with Dick Heaton, Maurice Sheppard, Daniel Sheppard and David Daniel. Heaton has been singing for 30 years. The group enjoys an eclectic mix of a capella music. They sing not only with the LALOE, but also at a variety of events around town.
"People sometimes ask which of us is not a nice guy," Heaton said. "Well, that depends on a lot of things, but we have all qualified at one time or other."
Finally, the premier quartet featured just after intermission will be, "Sophisticated Gentlemen". The group was created in the Fall of 2023 by members of Albuquerque, New Mexico's Duke City Sound. When they did not have enough to compete as a chorus, several quartets were born to perform.
"The members of this quartet were hand-picked by Bass singer, Farris Collins," said Shawn Mondragon, the Lead singer for Sophisticated Gentleman. They went on to compete in Ogden, Utah where they captured the Rocky Mountain District Senior Quartet championship. They qualified for the 2024 International Senior Quartet Championship in New York City and took fourth place.
Earlier this month, they sang at the Rocky Mountain District Convention in Chyenne, WY. There, they qualified to compete in the International Senior Quartet contest in San Antonio, Texas in January of 2025. Mondragon asks that you, "Please wish them luck as they set out to hopefully "UP" their medal position!"
Tickets are available at the door for $15 for adults, $5 for students and kids 13 and under are free. Intermission includes a free light snack and drink. Additional information is available at 505.660.0484.