The Fine Arts Center of Kershaw County is proud to announce the return of The Pitchforks of Duke University, a nationally acclaimed collegiate a cappella group, and a past winner of the SoJam Southeast Collegiate A Cappella Festival.

About the Pitchforks
A multi-talented ensemble, the Pitchforks was founded in 1979. At first, the group sang only barbershop and traditional music.  Now their repertoire includes a wider range, from the Beach Boys to currently popular artists like Coldplay and Usher.  It is incredible to see the variety of songs from various musical genres that this group of college aged men has mastered.

The Pitchforks were the first a cappella group on the Duke campus.  Shortly after the group was started, Dr. Benjamin Ward, professor of Philosophy, Germanic Studies, and Arabic at Duke, began directing.  He has led the group for more than ten years and has contributed innumerable arrangements to the library of now over 400 songs.  Their past two albums, "Bring It Back" (2006) and "Disconcert" (2008), have each won the CARA Award from the Contemporary A Cappella Society for the Best Male Collegiate Album in the nation. The ever evolving Pitchforks have produced 16 albums, and are considered to be one of the top university a cappella groups in the country. 

The group consists of 20 members, 19 students from all over the country along with Dr. Ward.  They spend their school vacations traveling across the country (and even the globe) to perform.

The Pitchforks have sung for the Queen of Jordan; the U.S. Olympic Committee; Bill and Melinda Gates; a number of U.S. Cabinet officers, for the trustees and presidents of Duke University, Yale, Stanford and the Universities of Chicago, Michigan, and North Carolina. They have also performed the Star Spangled Banner for the Chicago Bulls at the United Center. 

This event is sponsored by Bob Sheheen.