Schneider Male Choir

The Schneider Male Choir has some of the longest roots in K-W's choral history. It grew out of three male choirs that performed at the Friedenfest (Peace Festival) at the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. Back then the choir was the Orpheus Singing Society of Waterloo, formed in 1866 under the direction of Theodore Zoellner. In 1894 the Orpheus Society amalgamated with the Liedertafel and the Berlin Philharmonic Societies.

The Schneider Men's Chorus, made up of employees of the J.M. Schneider Meat Packaging Company, formed in 1938, and merged with the Orpheus Male Choir in 1947, to become the Schneider Orpheus Male Chorus, and later the Schneider Male Chorus. Paul Berg, its director from 1942 to 1975, was succeeded by Fred E. Lehman. In 1952, 1954, and 1957 it was host to the Big Sing, a series of international male-choral festivals which revived the
tradition of the Sångerfest (Singing Festivals). In 1965 the choir sang in Bermuda, and in 1972 it performed in
Vancouver and other cities on a cross-Canada tour. Today, the Schneider Male Choir is under the direction of Laurence Rowbotham and Barbara Kellerman, with Jennifer Famme as their accompanist.

Check out when you can see them.