What’s a Singing Sergeant?
Recognizing that choral music can honor, lift, and inspire, three of America’s uniformed services have an official chorus. The oldest is the Air Force’s Singing Sergeants, formed in 1945. A successful performance by an informal group of Navy singers led to the organization of the Navy’s Sea Chanters in 1956. The Army has two premier singing groups. The U.S. Army Chorus was established in 1956 as a complement to the United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own” and emphasizes performing in and around Washington, DC. The Army’s Soldiers’ Chorus was founded in 1957 as a complement to the United States Army Field Band and emphasizes touring performances. All four choruses were initially male-only but years ago transformed into balanced, mixed ensembles. The groups range in size from 20 to 31 singers.
The singers in these groups are not contractors or volunteers—they are active-duty members of their respective armed forces. They must both audition for membership in the group and apply to join the service branch to which their chosen group belongs. Most or all of the singers trained at college, and many also perform as soloists in a variety of settings.
The purpose of all four choruses is captured in the Singing Sergeants’ mission statement: “To honor those who have served, inspire American citizens to heightened patriotism and service, and connect with the global community.” They represent their respective service branches and the United States. One function is to provide music at official government events and ceremonies. They have sung at presidential funerals, dedication services for memorials, and many White House, State Department, and military events. In addition, all four choruses perform for the public in concerts, broadcasts, and on national and international tours. They have sung with many of the nation’s leading orchestras as well as with a long list of popular soloists.
Each of the choruses performs a wide variety of music. Patriotic music is a staple, of course, but they also feature Broadway, popular, folk, and country music. The Sea Chanters have an additional charge to perform and preserve traditional sea chanties, song that were once used to help sailors coordinate their actions while working on ship.
You can sample their music here:
The Singing Sergeants
“My Country, ‘Tis of Thee,” Samuel F. Smith
“The Way You Look Tonight,” Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields, arr. Mark Tarallo
The Sea Chanters
“Eternal Father, Strong to Save” (Navy Hymn),” William Whiting
“Sleep” Eric Whitacre
U.S. Army Chorus
“The Star-Spangled Banner,” John Stafford Smith and Francis Scott Key
“O Magnum Mysterium,” Morten Lauridsen
Soldiers’ Chorus
“God Bless America,” Irving Berlin
“Battle Hymn of the Republic,” William Steffe and Julie Ward Howe, arr. Peter J. WIlhousky
At this time, there is no official chorus for the Coast Guard, Marines or Space Force.
Image credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org, US Navy 080911-F-8801M-017