In the fall of 1991 our Artistic Director Grayson Hirst, professor of voice at the University of Arizona, founded Sons of Orpheus—The Male Choir of Tucson as a community-based choral organization with the aid of a UA College of Fine Arts Faculty Incentive Grant to promote the vocal and choral leadership of the University of Arizona School of Music. Twelve men, some borrowed from local church choirs, formed the original group.

In the first few years, our performances were generally limited to a few “mini-concerts” plus an annual Spring Gala; but from the beginning we have sung in several foreign languages. Programs have consisted of romantic songs from Mexico, songs by Stephen Foster, Gregorian chants, operatic choruses, Spanish-American pieces, Welsh chorales, sea shanties, Cole Porter songs, Robert Frost poems set to music by Randall Thompson, and a growing collection of classic “cowboy” selections.

By the 1995-96 season we presented twelve performances. Besides several “mini-concerts,” we collaborated with the Catalina Chamber Orchestra and the Tucson Boys Chorus in three performances of Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem. We also began a long collaboration with the Arizona Balalaika Orchestra in its annual concerts, and later in the season presented a concert to an overflow crowd at the Tubac Center for the Arts. Performances for the Eastside Concert Series, the Green Valley Concert Association, an “appreciation” concert at Northminster Presbyterian Church, and the annual Spring Gala rounded out the season.