Category Archives: Events

Back row: Joey Pace, Kaeden Kass, Buck Hinman & David Baum; Front row: Chancellor Waye, Joshua Steele & Nat Comisar

CINCINNATI, OH – Following their September tenth anniversary spectacular with the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra and nearly twenty singers from across the country at Oakley’s 20^th Century Theater, NO PROMISES Vocal Band proudly closes their milestone year with three heartwarming Christmas programs across the Greater Cincinnati metro area.

Holiday a cappella magic returns as NO PROMISES loads up the sleigh for their beloved annual “Christmas with No Promises” tour. The celebrated ensemble unwraps seasonal favorites from Joni Mitchell, Pentatonix and A Charlie Brown Christmas, joining selections by The Carpenters, Amy Winehouse, Simon & Garfunkel and much more.

“Christmas with No Promises” will include three public performances at venues across Greater Cincinnati:

St. Columban Parish
Thursday, December 11, 7:30pm
894 Oakland Road | Loveland (45140)
60m Family-Length Program
A freewill offering will be accepted; no reservations required

Community of the Good Shepherd
Thursday, December 18, 7:30pm
8815 East Kemper Road | Montgomery (45249)
60m Family-Length Program
A freewill offering will be accepted; no reservations required

The Carnegie
Saturday, December 20, 7:30pm
1028 Scott Boulevard | Covington (41011)
Full-Length Program with Two Sets
Tickets $26 | Purchase Online or 859.957.1940

Celebrating A Decade of Holiday A Cappella Magic
In its tenth season of live concerts, “Christmas with No Promises” has become a holiday tradition for vocal music lovers across Cincinnati, drawing thousands of listeners to concerts at the Tri-State’s popular venues and sacred spaces. More than 25 NO PROMISES singers have appeared on the holiday series since its 2015 inception, at venues including Cincinnati’s Garfield Theater, the Warsaw Federal Incline Theater and places of worship in Dayton, Toledo, Findlay and Northern Kentucky.

A Yuletide Youth Movement
In less than two years, a personnel transition has seen NO PROMISES get considerably younger. The once five-member group has swelled to eight singers, including five under the age of 40. Notable recent additions include:

• WLWT-TV Executive Producer Buck Hinman (resident of Walnut Hills) brings with him a passion for barbershop-style singing honed through international competition.

• Recent Xavier University graduate Chancellor Waye (Mason) is a bass singer who directed of his university’s a cappella group, Harmon-X, and serves as the Associate Music Director for the school’s Bellarmine Chapel.

• An alumnus of St. Xavier High School, Joey Pace (Clifton) is now that institution’s Director of Choirs. Similarly coming to the group by way of barbershop music, Joey sings with the Southern Gateway Chorus and enjoys publishing multi-track a cappella recordings.

• Multi-instrumentalist Kaeden Kass (Mt. Airy) is a therapist by day and a singer with NO PROMISES and the Cincinnati Men’s Chorus by night. He’s a graduate of Miami University.

• Recently returned from attending school in Arizona, past NO PROMISES guest artist Paul Phelps (Liberty Township) is a medical credentialing analyst by trade and has performed with local groups including the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra.

These “young lions” joins three longtime members of the group who round out the octet:

• Practicing clinical psychologist David Baum runs his own Blue Ash-based practice and was recently promoted to Chief of Psychology at the Dayton VA Medical Center. Prior to becoming a psychologist, David appeared in the Broadway productions of MARY POPPINS and A CHORUS LINE. David was a founding member of NO PROMISES Vocal Band.

• Former operator of The Maisonette and other legendary Cincinnati-area restaurants, Nat Comisar is now a successful real estate agent and vice president at Sibcy Cline Realtors.
• 3CDC’s director of Over the Rhine’s historic Memorial Hall, Joshua Steele is also a longtime voice instructor at Northern Kentucky University and a founding member of NO PROMISES.

About NO PROMISES
NO PROMISES Vocal Band is a Cincinnati-based professional a cappella ensemble bringing exhilarating vocals and breathtaking harmonizations to jazz and popular music favorites from 1940s classics to today’s jams. Citybeat “Best of Cincinnati” winners in 2017 and 2022, the group has entertained at festivals, concert series, stadiums and performing arts centers throughout the state. Its members have graced the stages of Broadway, fronted major symphony orchestras, and backed the likes of Jim Messina, Steve Winwood, Kenny Loggins and POCO. In their day-to-day lives, the men of NO PROMISES are clinical psychologists, television producers, concert promoters, therapists, choir directors and real estate moguls with a passion for fine a cappella singing.

2025 marks the ensemble’s tenth anniversary, memorably celebrated in September with a blowout concert featuring the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra and ten former members at the beautifully restored 20^th Century Theater in Oakley. In 2024, NO PROMISES was honored to make their debut at Great American Ballpark, performing the national anthem for two Cincinnati Reds games, including a nationally televised tilt with the Boston Red Sox. During the year prior, the group premiered a newly commissioned work as part of Cincinnati May Festival’s 150^th anniversary season and joined Broadway veteran Sally Wilfert in concert at historic Memorial Hall in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood. 2021 saw the ensemble’s debut of “The Boy Band Diaries,” a collaboration with the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra featuring male vocal hits spanning the past century.

NO PROMISES’ annual co-bill “Sweet Harmony” with soft rock group Three Bald Guys draws perennially capacity crowds at The Redmoor in Mt. Lookout. The group’s numerous other collaborators and guest artist appearances have included the Gem City Chorus, the Southern Gateway Chorus, the Sycamore Community Singers, the Northern Kentucky Brotherhood Singers, the Queen City Sisters and the Cincinnati Collaborative Ringing Project. NO PROMISES has released three recording projects: A No Promises Christmas (2016), All Wet (2018) and The Nines (2019), as well as the pandemic-era virtual concert, NO PROMISES Saves Christmas. NO PROMISES has also released three singles with music vídeos: “Just My Imagination” (the Temptations, 2024), “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” (Andy Williams, 2024), and their 2023 release of “Kol Nidre,” a rich vocal arrangement of one of the most sacred texts in the Jewish tradition.

The members of NO PROMISES are Joshua Steele (resident of Kennedy Heights), Buck Hinman (Walnut Hills), Kaeden Kass (Mt. Airy), Joey Pace (Clifton), Paul Phelps (Liberty Township) David Baum (Montgomery), Chancellor Waye (Mason) and Nat Comisar (Symmes Township). Individual bios here.

“Their harmony is tight, their arrangements are delightfully eclectic… they sound like a cross between the Four Freshmen and Pentatonix.” – David Lyman, Cincinnati Enquirer

“For my money, the best a cappella group in the region” – Thom Mariner, Movers & Makers

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