Season seven started out with a bang with the performance of “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”  HOAMC made the holidays not only a time for receiving but for giving as well. The audience received a fabulous performance and had the opportunity to donate to the Kansas Food Bank and Positive Directions.

The show featured a unique mix of music set to recognizable Christmas melodies like the Nutcracker. Adding to the performance was featured soloist and Kansas native, Dru Rutledge.

The second show in season seven paid tribute to the heartland in a performance of “At Home on the Range.” Featuring music with heaps of country flavor, the show boasted such classics as “Rhinestone Cowboy”, “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” and “Mommas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys.”

The final show of season seven will be Sing for the Cure, a benefit concert for  Susan G. Komen for the Cure, Mid-Kansas affiliate. Sing for the Cure is a ten-song cycle that depicts the journey of breast cancer through the use of song and narration. Several voices and perspectives show the effects of the disease from every angle including the infected patient to the affected loved ones. The show offers hope, faith, comfort and perseverance to anyone touched by breast cancer.

The show originated 10 years ago and was first performed by the Turtle Creek Chorale in Dallas, TX. Dr. Timothy Seelig conducted this first performance and will be  guest conducting the HOAMC performance as part of the 10^th anniversary celebration.

The sixth season of song began on December 1 & 2, 2008 with the holiday concert “Yuletide Jazz.” “Yuletide Jazz” featured some of your favorite holiday tunes enhanced by a slightly jazzy, big band sound and the talents of the featured guest, vocalist Ms. Lisa Blake.

Spring brought about a very exciting partnership between HOAMC and the 150-member Heartland Men’s Chorus from Kansas City. The first half of the concert featured each of the choruses presenting a 15 to 20-minute set of songs. The second half featured the combined members of both groups presenting a work titled “Exile.”

Season six closed with “Feelin’ Groovy,” which featured music from television, commercials, movies and hit songs of the 1960’s.

The fifth anniversary season began with “A Most Wonderful Christmas...All That Glitters,” which featured the HOAMC men and a group of around 40 women who joined for a portion of the show. Partnering with Positive Directions and the Dr. Donna Sweet Emergency Fund, patrons and chorus members were invited to help build a tower of food for donation to the Daily Bread program of Positive Directions. Those efforts turned into one of the most successful food drives of 2006 for the Daily Bread Program. Offering some last minute “upgrades” to season subscriber status brought the number of HOAMC season subscribers to 270.

Back to Broadway...in more ways than one.

“Back to Broadway” was the second show in the fifth season and the chorus also moved back to Broadway by performing, once again, at Wichita’s historic Orpheum theater. “Back to Broadway” featured hit songs and sets from four musicals:  “South Pacific,” “You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown,” “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream coat,” and “Wizard of Oz.”  The featured soloist, Ms. Jennifer Potochnick, brought the characters of Lucy and Dorothy to life.

Audience members had been requesting a reprise of the extrABBAganza show since it was first presented in July of 2004. So, to close out the fifth season HOAMC brought back extrABBAganza, only this time it was bigger and better. No surprise, new records were set for both ticket sales and concert attendance with the two performances of this show.

HOAMC’s fourth season kicked off with partnership involving the Wichita Community Children's Choir in a production called “A Toyland Christmas.” Sticking with the previous recipe for success, a more serious and formal first half gave way to a stage transformed into a giant toyshop with members of HOAMC dressed  as life-sized toys. It was in this season that season ticket holders grew to 130.

In the spring of 2006 HOAMC performed “That’s Music,”, a concert dedicated to expressing the power and emotion that music brings to life. “That’s Music” featured soloist Ms. Jennifer King. They also introduced a visual aspect to the show through the use of a large projection screen. This addition provided a visual presentation that tied the audience to the music. “One Voice,” a stirring melody about the power of voices united by song, paid tribute to those whose lives have been touched by HIV/AIDS or breast cancer, as well as those serving in the Armed Forces. A mixture of tears and cheers erupted from the audience as the performance touched many hearts. It was through this song that HOAMC began an ongoing partnership with Susan G. Komen for the Cure, mid-Kansas affiliate.

The fourth season closed by partnering, once again, with GraceMed to present “A Symphony of Psalms” consisting of three performances at Plymouth Congregational Church. This concert featured fifty men presenting a powerful set of Psalm texts set to music. The group was accompanied by a pipe organ, hand bells, trumpet, trombone, french horn and harp. Moderate attendance for the Friday and Saturday evening performances gave way to a packed house for the Sunday afternoon closing performance.

The ensemble sang for the first time at Race for the Cure that summer through a  continued partnership with Susan G. Komen for the Cure, mid-Kansas affiliate.