Kensington Road Quartet

Kensington Road in Full Dress Mode

Bob Nicodem

Tenor

Ed McDevitt

Bass

Joe Saintcross

Lead

John Oberlin

Baritone

Kensington Road Squinting in the Sun at Chicago Botanic Garden “Ice Cream Social” Weekend, July 17 & 18, 2004

Kensington Road is a barbershop quartet which, yes, has about 4 singers in it - as you can see.

What do we sing?

We sing old-timey songs, some songs from the Swing era,  some “Irish” songs - an eclectic repertoire, We sing great ballads but not so much in shows - we don’t want people all weepy or (worse) falling asleep. It’s a large repertoire and we’re constantly adding to it (working on some doo wop and other music from the 50s and 60s - maybe even the 70s!). We sing sacred music as well. We can fit a show to an event. We really enjoy events at which we stroll around singing to different parts of the event.

Who are we and how long have we been around?

We’re all proud singers with the famed West Towns Chorus, a barbershop chorus of 80 men which has won an International Championship (1987) and many medals in International barbershop competition. The West Towns Chorus is most famous locally for its annual Christmas Show (to be held this year, 2005, on Friday, December 9 and Saturday, December 10 at the Tivoli Theater in Downers Grove, IL).

We’ve been singing with our current lineup of men for over 3 years (as of November, 2005). The original quartet with that name first sang publicly in September, 2000 at the Barbershop Harmony Society’s Illinois District Fall Contest. We won the rookie award - the “Novice Quartet” trophy - with two of us who remain in the quartet (Joe Saintcross and me) and two guys who each had many years of experience (as long as the quartet has at least 2 members who have never sung in a contest, it’s a “Novice” quartet).

Since its inception, the quartet has changed lineups a couple of times. We have found a mix we really like.

How do we entertain you?

We have an ever-growing repertoire (and clientele). In 2004, we were the entertainment for a large club’s St. Patrick’s Day dinner, a featured weekend act at one of the Chicago Botanic Garden’s big social events of the year. In 2004 and 2005 we were the strolling singers throughout the summer for the Thursday evening events of Downtown Oak Park, IL, among many engagements.

At this event we sang in the amazing and huge pink tent on the Botanic Garden grounds.

We were one of three featured acts. The chairs you see behind us were being set up as we sang so that a very fine and large brass band could follow us. How terrible for them.

The photos were taken by our tenor’s wife. The place had hundreds of seats set up in front of us and to both sides - and they were filled.

The young man in the chair in front us just wheeled up, shook our hands, and had himself a grand old time watching and listening to us - as did the children you can see. Children danced throughout our performances, an unexpected pleasure for us.

More of Kensington Road at Chicago Botanic Garden “Ice Cream Social” Weekend, July 17 & 18, 2004

So how do you hire us?

Call us:

708-366-2611 or 630-651-6227

Send us an e-mail - edmcd@edmcdevitt.com

Very soon we’ll be publishing updates about where we’ll be singng so that you can, if you so wish, come to hear us.

What could you hire us for?

  • Business meetings
  • Special organization events
  • Anniversaries
  • Church services
  • Parties
  • Retirements
  • Commemorations
  • Birthdays
  • Street festivals
  • Promotional events

Singing Valentines

You will also see us every February 14 (and on some other days around then) doing Singing Valentines, a national Barbershop Harmony Society program run locally through each chapter. For further information, go to the West Towns Chorus site beginning in January of each year. Here we are performing a typical Singing Valentine to a typical adoring audience.

The young lady with the rose was the actual recipient, but, as usual, we were rushed like a rock group and had to perform for and pose with everyone else.

Thank you for looking in on our web page. Please come back again to see what news we have. We really do want to hear from you, though, so if you need someone to sing - call us!

Contact Kensington Road Quartet

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