Serenade your sweetie or charm your chum on Valentine’s Day, courtesy of the Sounds of Aloha Chorus.
The Honolulu barbershop chorus will send out quartets anywhere on Oahu to perform singing valentines Friday and Saturday.
"It’s perfect when we go to an office setting," said Glenn Crowder, a baritone who will be one of the wandering warblers. "We ask for the person, and everybody starts looking around and they start gathering, and we go in front of her cubicle or she sits in front of us. Everybody gathers around and she turns red, and we sing."
Women haven’t been the only targets of vocal admiration. Crowder and his colleagues have sung in a gunshop and a fire station before a dozen firefighters.
"Singing love songs to them? Come on," said tenor Bill Joor. "We didn’t sing love songs to them. We sang more traditional barbershop."
Joor — who performs with his son, lead Mike Joor; bass Adam Lefebvre; and Crowder — said "embarrassment, tears or both" is usually the reaction to their appearances.
The group has performed at the zoo, schools and restaurants, with one performance ending in a marriage proposal.
"She accepted, luckily," Crowder said.
They usually sing "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" and "Heart of My Heart." If there’s a request and they know the song, they’ll sing that, too, all in the distinctive, a cappella harmonies of barbershop. It’s an old-fashioned appeal that just won’t go out of style.
"Barbershop is evolving," Crowder said. "There’s traditional barbershop that’s been sung for the last 80 to 90 years, but they’re getting into some ‘newer’ songs that are only 40 or 50 years old."
The performances cost $60 for the two songs, a silk rose and a card, for an appearance that is scheduled within a two-hour window. For an appearance at a specific time, or an evening performance in Waikiki, the cost is $75. Visit hawaiisingingvalentines.com or call 262-7664 to order.
