As members of the Coalcracker Barbershop Chorus stood in a semicircle, director Larry Sabino played a note on a pitch pipe and the singing began.

First, Sabino had the members warm up by practicing their voice parts separately.

Two of the leads began the melody of the song, “Mickey Mouse” — a popular four-part barbershop harmony.

“M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E,” they sang.

Bass singers were up next, providing the lowest ranges, and baritones chimed in later with sounds that filled what would be empty parts. And finally, the tenor offered the high harmony.

Taken separately, the song just didn’t seem “right.”

But when Sabino raised his arm to signal all to sing together, the four parts melded, and the song reverberated with a fullness.

Barbershoppers call the sound “ringing,” or when the overtones join in a perfect tuning.

But it simply sounded amazing.

“This is the barbershop ‘magic’ moment that audiences love,” explained member Blake Tharp, of New Ringgold.

The chorus is celebrating its 75th year.

Established on April 4, 1951, the group was first based out of the Mahanoy City Elks Lodge.

In its charter application to the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, it noted that the group would “bring to our citizens an opportunity to find new pleasure in reviving the old songs and to become identified with a movement for the preservation … of a traditional American form of folk music — the barbershop quartet.”

Varied backgrounds

Barbershop singing does not include instruments — only the voices that make up the lead, baritone, tenor and bass.

Original members’ names and occupations are listed on the charter application. Numbering 23, they worked as coal miners, brewery workers, clerks, a physician and an undertaker.

The jobs are almost as diverse as those of current members — two computer analysts, a pastor, an engineer, a warehouse worker, a college student, a teacher and a guidance counselor.

“When I first joined, I heard the blend of the music, and I asked, ‘How long did you study music?’ ” Tharp recalled. “And it was like, Tommy is a farmer and this guy is an electrician — all different trades. It just blew my mind that these weren’t people who didn’t dedicate their whole lives to music.”

No matter their job, their age or their experience, the common thread is that all just enjoy singing and harmonizing.

“I joined right after I graduated from high school and was about to start college,” Adam Bachert, of Tamaqua, said. “It was for the love of singing, really.”

Bachert is the youngest and newest member, while Al Hoffman, of Brockton, holds the longest membership with 47 years.

The group meets Mondays at the Tamaqua Arts Center, but Hoffman recalled many a practice at the chorus’s former headquarters — an old one-room schoolhouse in Rush Township called “Harmony Hall.”

When Harmony Hall was sold, the group moved to the Tamaqua Arts Center.

Ron Beltz, of Lehighton, has been singing with the chorus for 25 years. Soon after he joined, he was asked to sing in a quartet. He and three others started by singing chords and half notes.

It was a moment — and a sound — he said that he will never forget.

“We were like little kids. We were giggling and everything because the sound, the sound is just beautiful,” Beltz said. “When we would sing and we would get it right, wow, there is nothing like it.”

On the road

When the group first started, it often performed at the former Lakewood Park in Barnesville and at functions throughout the region.

Members continue to take their show on the road, and have sung the national anthem at Lehigh Valley IronPigs and Reading Fightin Phils games, along with Tamaqua Area and Marian Catholic high schools sporting events. They perform at festivals and churches, member Chris Metger said, and frequently visit nursing homes and senior centers.

“It’s truly rewarding going to nursing homes,” Tharp said. He said it’s not uncommon for residents who haven’t engaged or spoken in some time to sing along.

Beltz recalled visiting a nursing home and seeing a resident moving her lips along with the songs.

“When we were finished, one of the nurses there said, ‘You know what? Those are the first words that woman said since she has been here,’ ” Beltz said. “And that made my day. I’ll never forget that.”

The Rev. Rick Clemson, a member for 33 years, said the songs are recognizable — they’re the classics that herald to bygone days.

Songbooks, recordings

The group, like most barbershoppers, rely on “The Barberpole Cat” songbooks, which include music and lyrics in barbershop harmony. They’re tunes such as “My Wild Irish Rose,” “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” and “Goodbye, My Coney Island Baby.”

Coalcrackers don’t limit their songs to the books, however, and are practicing “My Country Tis of Thee,” “America the Beautiful” and “God Bless America” in advance of America’s 250th birthday.

As the director, Sabino helps from the day new members join.

“I will gauge what kind of voice they have to determine whether it is a bass, tenor, lead or baritone,” Sabino said.

They practice under Sabino’s leadership weekly — but they also develop their musical skills by listening to “learning tracks,” member Art DiCasimirro noted.

The tracks, or recorded versions for each harmony, can be played and practiced at leisure.

Sabino, of Orefield, said it’s a help — especially for those who do not know how to read music.

“If you listen to it over and over, you know your part better,” Tharp added.

New voices welcome

Like most barbershop groups, membership is on a decline. Lack of members meant the end of groups in Pottsville and Hazleton.

According to the Barbershop Harmony Society, the Coalcracker chorus is one of 22 chapters remaining in Pennsylvania. The closest are in Allentown and Reading.

The chorus is always seeking new members in an attempt to, like the song says, “Keep the Whole World Singing.”

“It’s fun, it’s easy, and we’ll show you how,” Tharp said.

If interested, visit the group at the Tamaqua Arts Center, 125 Pine St., Tamaqua, on Mondays between 7:30 and 9 p.m. Membership is open to men and women high school age and older.

Tharp may be contacted at 610-570-4417, or visit the group on Facebook at “Coalcracker Chorus.”

The chorus will next take the stage at 3:30 p.m. April 11 during the Cancer Telethon held from Penn’s Peak.