There were several directors of each chorus over their separate journeys. Seven Hills began with Ken Warner from 1957-1958. A replacement in 1958 was Bob Mucha, then in 1959, Tom Gentil became the director. After Tom’s retirement, having served for over 38 years, Sally Whitledge led the chorus for a year, followed by Beverly Hyden, then Jason Remley. Queen City began with Hal Schaefer, then in 1973, Don Jennings, followed by Suzy Harding Moorhead in 1976, and finally, Lynn Hartmuth directing. Lynn remained as Director after the merge.
The choruses rehearsed in a wide variety of west/east places over the years, but somehow, both choruses ended up settling in the more central Valley Temple building in Wyoming in 1998. It didn’t take long to realize both choruses were fishing in the very same pool for members. There was occasional talk about merging, but it took Jason’s impending move to California to activate the actual combining of the choruses. The process began in June 2006, and as a result, Cincinnati Sound Chapter chartered in January 2007. The oldest charter date (1957) was set as the date of charter.
In 2007, fifty years of a rich history of music, performances, friendships, and so many accomplishments by both choruses made the merger a success. Both choruses had won First Place in competitions at the International level and both always scored well at the Regional level. The first contest as the newly merged Cincinnati Sound scored a win at the Regional level.
The beginning of the pandemic coincided with a search for a new director. CSC was fortunate to find and hire Jack Johnson—over Zoom! He had never heard the chorus in person prior to agreeing to take this position. Four years later, increasing regional scores each year, Jack led CSC to another excellent showing at Regional with a first place ranking. In 2024, Cincinnati Sound was named Championship Chorus and will compete in the International Semi-Finals in Columbus, Ohio in 2025.
