Straight No Chaser Returns to Benedum Center, 5/2

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust presents the return of the popular male a cappella group Straight No Chaser to the Benedum Center, on Wednesday, May 2, 2012, at 8:00 p.m.   This performance is part of the Cohen & Grigsby Trust Presents series.  
 
Since the group first formed over a dozen years ago at Indiana University, Straight No Chaser has achieved musical success in the U.S. and abroad through views on YouTube, numerous national TV appearances, concert tours, three holiday CDs, and three non-holiday recordings including their latest 2011 release Six Pack: Volume 2.  Straight No Chaser’s recordings have consistently reached top placement on Billboard 200 charts throughout its career.  The group takes their audiences on a musical journey each time they tour and has sung everything from holiday favorites and classics, to doo-wop and contemporary pop, all performed with the distinctive Straight No Chaser twist.  During 2011, the group performed their second consecutive summer exclusive engagement at Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City and their December PBS special, Songs of The Decades: Holiday Edition aired on PBS stations nationwide.
 
Straight No Chaser will feature impressive vocals and captivating personalities of original group members, Randy Stine, Charlie Mechling, Jerome Collins, David Roberts and Walter Chase, with newer SNC members, Michael Luginbill, Ryan Ahlwardt, Seggie Isho, Don Nottingham and Tyler Trepp.  Performances for 2012 began with the group’s inaugural tour of the United Kingdom in February, followed by performances throughout the United States and then Canada. 
 
 “With each opportunity to perform that comes our way, we are reminded of how fortunate and blessed we are to be able to do what we love to do,” comments original SNC member Charlie Mechling.  Group member Ryan Ahlwardt comments, “To see the joy on the faces in the audience when we are onstage reminds us why we’re doing what we’re doing.”  In an era when so much pop music is the product of digital processing and vocal pro-tooling, Straight No Chaser is the real deal – the captivating sound of ten unadulterated human voices coming together to make extraordinary music that is moving people in a fundamental sense… and with a sense of humor.
 
 Tickets ($32.25-$57.25) for Straight No Chaser on Wednesday, May 2, 2012, at 8:00 p.m., at the Benedum Center, may be purchased at the Box Office at Theater Square, 655 Penn Avenue, online at www.TrustArts.org, or by calling(412) 456-6666. To purchase 10 or more tickets at special discounted rates, please call (412) 471-6930.