The Semonski Sisters are a family musical act that appeared on television's ''

The Lawrence Welk Show ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years, from 1951 to 1955, then nationally for another 16 years on ABC from 195 ...

'' from 1975 to 1977. The sextet consisted of sisters Diane (born August 31, 1956), Donna (born April 20, 1958), Joanne (born July 23, 1960), Valerie (March 1, 1962 - May 22, 2022), Audrey (born March 28, 1963) and Michelle (born August 16, 1967). They were born and raised in

Hackettstown, New Jersey Hackettstown is a town in Warren County, New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the town's population was 10,248. Hackettstown was incorporated as a town by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 9, 1853, from portions of Inde ...

to parents Joe and Roberta "Rusty" Semonski; the family was of

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

and

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

descent. Musically gifted, the family moved to

Altamonte Springs, Florida Altamonte Springs is a suburban city in central Florida in Seminole County, Florida, United States, which had a population of 46,231 at the 2020 United States Census. The city is in the northern suburbs of the Orlando–Kissimmee–Sanford Metro ...

in 1974 and after just two months there, the sisters got to sing in public for the first time when they and their parents went to see

Donald O'Connor Donald David Dixon Ronald O'Connor (August 28, 1925 – September 27, 2003) was an American dancer, singer and actor. He came to fame in a series of films in which he co-starred with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule. His best ...

perform at Disney World's Top Of The World dinner theater. O' Connor invited the girls onto the stage to perform two numbers. The band leader at Top of the World knew that

Lawrence Welk Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted the ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1951 to 1982. His style came to be known as "champagne music" to his radio, tele ...

was coming to Florida for the Disney Golf Classic, and he arranged an audition for the sisters with Welk at Channel 9 studios in

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

. Encouraged by their audition, Welk invited them out to California to be on his show. The Semonskis spent two and half seasons as members of Welk's Musical Family from 1975 to 1977. During their time with the show, the series as a whole had a far greater focus on musical

skits Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

(a medium at which the sextet was particularly adept) than it did without them. Eldest sister Diane left in late 1976 to pursue a solo singing and songwriting career, and the act was a quintet until they themselves left a year later. Today Diane is employed by Fletcher Music in The Villages, Florida where she teaches residents how to play organ music. She also gives weekly performances singing songs from the Lawrence Welk Show.Scan of newspaper articl
The Daily Sun, The Villages, Florida 8-29-2004
''welknotes.com'' Retrieved 7-17-2012.

References

External links

Lawrence Welk Show Biographies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Semonski Sisters People from Hackettstown, New Jersey Family musical groups Living people American women singers Lawrence Welk Year of birth missing (living people)