158:. He has also won 4 gold medals singing bass in the Vocal Majority. In 2012, after a merger with another Chorus, Mark Holdeman stepped in as the director. He had been a former member, coach and assistant director of the Texas Milliionaires. In 2015 Holdeman stepped own and the chorus opted to have his wife, Lindsay Chartier, step in as the director, a position she currently holds.
143:
101:
133:
The July 2005 International Chorus contest in Salt Lake City was a new experiment. 12 wild card choruses competed against each other on
Thursday of the convention week. From those 12, 6 were selected to compete in the international chorus finals on Saturday. The Texas Millionaires were among the only
91:
They scored a 66.3% average in 1997, the first contest with McShan directing, moving up to a 75.7% in 1998. The climb continued to a 79.2% in 1999, a 79.8% in 2000, and an 81.8% in 2001. After making an impact in their first few contests, the newly renamed Texas
Millionaires leveled off for a few
108:
In 2004, the
Millionaires began to evaluate what it might take for them to score high enough to qualify for the International competition. The idea of a theatrical package was agreed upon, with the chorus performing as scarecrows, singing
70:, radio station KWBU, and at the City Recreation Hall on Vickery Street. The Fort Worth chapter was sponsored by the Dallas 'Big D' chapter. Fort Worth was issued a permanent charter on July 5, 1952 with 48 men in the chorus.
58:
chapter, ran various articles inviting men to join a new barbershop chapter. This attracted a nucleus of approximately 35 men to form a temporary local chapter called the
Cowtown Chorus that included several service men from
154:. After a short search, assistant director Tom Jackson took the reins as director. Jackson is a music educator himself, having earned a Bachelor of Music Education and a Master of Music in Choral Conducting from
117:, and a parody uptune about blackbirds. Cindy Hansen, who had done several gold medal winning visual packages in recent years, was the choreographer. In October 2004, the Millionaires competed in
121:
at district, and again placed third, scoring an 82.2% average, by far the best score in the chapter's history. The chorus received a wild card invitation to the
International chorus contest in
66:
Mr. Morris petitioned the
Barbershop Harmony Society for a temporary charter. It was issued on July 5, 1951, and the chorus had 34 men. Meetings were held each Monday evening at the downtown
78:
The Fort Worth chapter reached the "Century Club" of 100 members in 1959, then peaked with 104 members in 1960 under the leadership of
President Glenn Hutton and Vice President Max Gwathmy.
84:
After years as a mid B-level chorus in the
Southwestern District, the Cowtown Chorus Phil McShan as director. McShan had been singing for several years with the International Champion
88:, and immediately the chorus saw a marked improvement in their performance level. The chorus approved and adopted a new name in 1997, the Texas Millionaires Chorus.
134:
choruses competing who were on their first trip to
International. They made the finals and the "scarecrows" competed on Saturday, finishing 17th.
218:
92:
years, hovering at 2nd/3rd place in the district, right below the cutoff for a wild card invitation to the
International competition.
114:
81:
From 1957 through 1982, the membership fluctuated from 33 to 49 members. Since 1982, membership has been 50 to 79 men.
43:
155:
39:
171:
35:
60:
54:
In March 1951, while copy editor of the Fort Worth Press newspaper, Barney Morris, a former member of the
167:
55:
179:
183:
150:
In May 2005, director McShan retired, citing a growing family and his responsibilities in the
118:
31:
175:
178:
in July 2007, where they placed 24th. At the 2008 International chorus contest, held in
187:
151:
122:
85:
212:
24:
46:
for over 50 years. From 1951 to 1998, they were known as the Cowtown Chorus.
174:
and earning a wild card invitation to the 2007 International convention in
142:
100:
191:
203:
63:, with previous singing experience from their home town chapters.
141:
99:
27:
67:
182:, they placed 18th. They opted out of the 2009 contest in
42:, the Millionaires have been performing throughout the
170:on October 27, 2006, taking second place in the
8:
146:The Texas Millionaires Chorus, October 2006
104:The Texas Millionaires "scarecrow" package
204:The Texas Millionaires Chorus website
7:
16:American all-male a cappella chorus
14:
1:
44:Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex
235:
156:Texas Christian University
40:Barbershop Harmony Society
219:A cappella musical groups
21:Texas Millionaires Chorus
166:The chorus competed in
61:Carswell Air Force Base
147:
105:
172:Southwestern District
168:Corpus Christi, Texas
145:
111:If I Only Had a Brain
103:
56:Corpus Christi, Texas
36:Southwestern District
180:Nashville, Tennessee
184:Anaheim, California
162:Recent competitions
148:
106:
34:. A member of the
119:Richardson, Texas
32:Fort Worth, Texas
226:
176:Denver, Colorado
138:Director changes
115:The Wizard of Oz
234:
233:
229:
228:
227:
225:
224:
223:
209:
208:
200:
194:was competing.
164:
140:
131:
125:for July 2005.
98:
76:
52:
17:
12:
11:
5:
232:
230:
222:
221:
211:
210:
207:
206:
199:
198:External links
196:
188:Vocal Majority
163:
160:
152:Vocal Majority
139:
136:
130:
129:Salt Lake City
127:
123:Salt Lake City
97:
94:
86:Vocal Majority
75:
72:
51:
48:
15:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
231:
220:
217:
216:
214:
205:
202:
201:
197:
195:
193:
189:
185:
181:
177:
173:
169:
161:
159:
157:
153:
144:
137:
135:
128:
126:
124:
120:
116:
112:
102:
95:
93:
89:
87:
82:
79:
73:
71:
69:
64:
62:
57:
49:
47:
45:
41:
37:
33:
29:
26:
22:
190:from nearby
186:because the
165:
149:
132:
110:
107:
90:
83:
80:
77:
65:
53:
20:
18:
23:is a men's
96:Scarecrows
50:Beginnings
25:a cappella
30:based in
213:Category
74:History
38:of the
192:Dallas
28:chorus
113:from
68:YMCA
19:The
215::
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
