Staff photo by Fritz Busch The Concord Singers cut loose in the second hour of their fall concert Saturday at the State Street Theater. From left, front, director Pat Sonnek, Gary Klimmek, Stan Miller and Dick Seeboth.

NEW ULM — Fall concert-goers got a taste of German and American standards, folk and some rock tunes from the Concord Singers at the State Street Theater (SST) Saturday.

“We were formed 92 years ago,” said Stan Miller. “Tonight, you’re going to see a little different side of the Concord Singers. We perform at nine long-term care facilities in the coming weeks of December. You’ll recognize many of the tunes, some in German, English and one in Latin, Veni Jesus (Come o Jesus, come to me).

The free, two-hour concert included 33 songs.

Traditional music included “O Tannenbaum, (O Christmas Tree), We Three Kings, The Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth, and Stille Nacht (Silent Night) in the first session.

The second hour featured more German tunes including Snitzelbank and popular American songs from decades ago like John Denver’s Country Roads, a Beatles melody and Neal Diamond’s Sweet Caroline, plus Una Paloma Blanca (George Baker’s White Dove).

New Ulm boasted a quintet of singing pioneers as early as the 1860s. Some history books of that period mentioned how impressed military officers were when the volunteers from new Ulm arrived at Fort Snelling, singing and playing on their way to Civil War battles. Officers said it was uplifting to identify the German men by their spirit and musical ability.

Founded in 1931, the Concord Singers began as a group of men united by the love of song. They have appeared on radio and television and have recorded many festive German-language songs, which are available on CD. The group has toured Europe five times, performing in Germany and Austria besides entertaining audiences throughout the upper Midwest.

A free will offering to the New Ulm Area Emergency Food Shelf was accepted at the door.

Future holiday SST events include comedy and music with Jason Schommer Nov. 25, The Christmas Express State Production Dec. 1-3 and Robert Robinson and Friends Holidays From the Heart Christmas concert Dec. 9.

For more information, visit https://concordsingers.com and www.statestreetnewulm.org