About PR
Who we are: The Poor Richards are Franklin & Marshall College's oldest and only co-ed a cappella group. Taking a hint from one of our school's founders, our group is named after Ben Franklin's The Poor Richard's Almanack. Ben Franklin often used the pseudonym "Richard Saunders" or "Poor Richard" when publishing his almanacks. Coincidentally, we have named our end of the year concert "Almanack" to honor this connection. We began in 1967 as a group of 14 male singers from F&M's Glee Club led by Bob Esty and Bruce Sussman. The group started initially as a comedic singing group, which then expanded into singing folk ballads, romantic songs, and other types of musical comedy songs. We officially became the "The Poor Richards" in 1968 and in 1969 we added some soul sistahs to the group when F&M went co-ed!
What we do: We sing. Without instruments or sheet music. Since we are an a cappella group, we provide the music, the beats, the rhythm, and all those other background noises you may hear in a song by using only our voices. All of our music is self-arranged by talented musicians in our group and is learned during weekly practices.
Music We Sing: From oldies to contemporary, from country to a medley of Beatles classics, and from Elvis to Dispatch, we sing it all. Every May we record a CD that features our best songs and all members of the group. To learn more about our music, please visit MUSIC.
Concerts: Each year our group holds a series of concerts in which we showcase our music to the college, families, friends, and alumni. Our concerts usually include a Fall Opening Concert, a Holiday Concert, Trilogy, and Almanack. Trilogy features F&M's two other a cappella groups, The Chessman and Sweet Ophelia. Almanack is our final concert in which not only do we perform our entire repetoire from the school year and some of our senior's past solos, but we usually have the priviledge of having guest a cappella groups perform alongside with us. The Poor Richards can also be heard at F&M sponsored events including open houses, faculty gatherings, and other festivities around campus.
Tour: Every October during Fall Break, The Poor Richards make a five day tour visiting and singing at member's high schools, nearby colleges, and houses of friends and family. We also sell our latest CD's during this tour. If you are interested in learning more about Tour and whether we will be in your area, please visit NEWS or CONTACT for the latest!
Interested in learning more about our group? Visit http://www.b-eleven.com/poorrichardsalums/alumni.html for some old-school fun.
*Every Fall and Spring semester, The Poor Richards holds auditions for new members. To learn more about Audition information, please visit NEWS.
