Von Steuben High School (Chicago, Illinois)
Choral Competitions, 1961-1962

Having recently started looking through several boxes of old 33⅓ rpm vinyl LPs of mine from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, looking for LPs I wanted to convert to mp3s, I ran across some very scratchy recordings of my old high school choir, made during city-wide choral competitions in 1961 and 1962. Choir was a big part of my life during high school, and listening to the 40-some year old recordings was very nostalgic. I managed to convert them to super lo-fidelity mp3s (the originals were never really that good quality, even when they were brand new. They weren't even recorded in stereo.) They're not only super lo-fidelity, but also, in some cases, pretty scratchy, despite the fact that I reduced the scratches significantly during the conversion process. But, in the interest of preserving them, it was better than not having them in mp3 format at all. Unless you're a real audiophile, they are listenable, although the last song, Roll, Chariot, may not be listenable to anyone due to the severe scratchiness and distortion. Anyhow, here they are, in all their more than 40 year old glory....

School Year 1960-1961 Choir
God So Loved The World (Stainer)
Hallelujah (from Beethoven's Mount of Olives)
School Year 1961-1962 Choir
For Unto Us a Child Is Born (from Handel's Messiah)
Roll, Chariot (Cain)

Our Von Steuben Choir, usually singing some pretty difficult selections for a high school choir, almost always received the top ('S' for superior) rating in these city-wide competitions.

The album cover for the 1960-61 recording is covered with autographs and comments by many of my fellow choir members, including:

Sharon Bernick Judi Schwartz Rena Goroff Ted Berger Terry Kupperman Myron Weintraub Carole Bers

Phyllis Halperin Marcia Levy Andi Weinstein Jimmy Gordon Frani Rabin a bunch of first names only (Mike, Charlene, Tina, Margi, Linda, Joanie B.) and some that are just unreadable

Click on either side of the album cover below to see if you're on it: