The Swanee Singers male chorus has a new director, Jewell R. (Bud) Ross, who succeeds Jay Campbell.
The singers practice every Wednesday evening from 7:30 to 9:30 at Highland High School, and male singers interested in joining the group are invited to attend a rehearsal.Ross earned a bachelor's degree from Oklahoma State University, and did graduate study at the University of Utah and Utah State University. He has performed with the Utah Symphony, Tabernacle Choir and Musicians Local 104, and toured with the Theo Ross Family Performers. He taught public school bands, orchestras and choral groups for 15 years in the city before founding Music Promotions Inc., and has directed a number of community and church choirs, bands and choral groups.
Having sung every season for 76 years, the Swanee Singers may be the oldest continually organized male chorus in the western United States, said publicist Howard T. Hausknecht. It was organized in April 1914 by John and Bert Donelson, with J. Spencer Cornwall (later conductor of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir) as director. In September 1990 Bert Donelson died at the age of 99, having sung with the group and served as active historian until 1988.