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From simple singing games to complex works of the masters, we educate. Quality repertoire. Comprehensive musicianship. Choral artistry. Fun. We are Milwaukee Children's Choir.
Do you know a child who loves to sing? Contact us now. Download a web version of our 2011-2012 brochure. Download flyer. Download a Calling all Singers brochure with detailed information for prospective members.
Milwaukee Children's Choir is Southeastern Wisconsin's premier children's choir. We provide children with exceptional choral music instruction and performance experiences they can get nowhere else in the area. Founded by Emily Holt Crocker in 1994, a new era began when Carol Storck became MCC's Artistic Director in 2009.
Under Ms. Storck’s leadership, we offer programs for children ages 4 through 18. All classes and rehearsals are educational, child centered, and age appropriate. We believe in educating the whole child, and work with the human voice to teach not only music but also important life skills such as poise, self-confidence, focus, problem solving, and teamwork. Experts agree that singing in a choir has a remarkably positive impact on children. Choir parents agree with the experts. Our choristers simply say how much fun it is to be a part of the choir!
Artistic Director Storck is an expert in the internationally renowned Kodály method of teaching. Members of her artistic team are talented music educators and performers known for their musicianship, their passion for quality music education, their leadership in the field of music, and the joy they get from music and teaching children. Several key concepts from Kodály methodology are integrated into MCC curriculum: singing as the basis for music education, folk music for beginning singers, use of solfege, performing highest quality music, developing the complete musician, and using sequenced curriculum. As staff prepare for rehearsals, careful attention is paid to each of these concepts.
MCC has rehearsal sites throughout the Milwaukee metropolitan area. Choristers sing in five divisions: Songbirds (non-performance based class for K4 and K5); Prelude Choir (beginning choir grades 1-3); Cantabile (training choir grades 4-8); Jubilate (advanced treble choir grades 7-9); and Milwaukee Youth Chorale (experienced mixed ensemble grades 10-12). Singers joining the choir in grades 4K-3 need not audition but are encouraged to preview our program. Auditions help singers (grades 4-12) and MCC directors get to know each other and are used to place singers in the appropriate choir.
MCC teaches through performance. We will present four performances during the 2011-2012 season, using some or all choir divisions at each concert. All events are themed with musical selections guaranteed not only to educate and inspire audiences but also to motivate and develop the young musicians in the choir. Repertoire is challenging, diverse, rich, and rewarding. It is drawn from the classical masters, from more contemporary choral masters, and from diverse cultures and a wide variety of musical styles including classical, popular, folk, and patriotic music.
Milwaukee Children's Choir is a member of the United Performing Arts Fund. Our relationship with the area's finest performing arts organizations leads to once-in-a-lifetime performance opportunities for our singers. Recent examples include choristers providing the "lovely chorus of young voices" in Milwaukee Ballet's The Nutcracker (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel December 2009), and the opportunity to sing side by side with the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus in Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms, where our singers produced musical chords that "drifted through Uihlein Hall like glowing angels" (Third Coast Digest April 2010). During the 2011-2012 season MCC choirs will perform with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Ballet, Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra and others. You may also see them at sporting and community events around town, or caroling in the community in December!
Reviews like those quoted immediately above help us maintain MCC's reputation as the finest children’s choir in the area. But it is the performers' experiences and the learning that comes with them that matter most to us. Whether our singers are first graders thrilled to perform with "the big kids" at an MCC concert featuring all choir levels--or high school seniors singing with the esteemed Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra--or sixth graders in the pit with the Milwaukee Ballet Orchestra and a crocodile puppet during Peter Pan (April 2010 and May 2012)--or fourth graders singing Simple Gifts with the MSO for 2000 local school children--MCC educates through performances that thrill both audiences and choristers.
Read more about upcoming performances or prior year performances.
MCC is a tuition-based program dedicated to the community it serves. Tuition is set arbitrarily low in order to prevent it from becoming a barrier to participation. In addition, MCC's Harmony Program brings free music instruction and performance experiences to roughly 250 children who live in the City of Milwaukee and attend Milwaukee schools. The children receive weekly music classes for several months each year..
The work of Milwaukee Children's Choir is made possible through support from the United Performing Arts Fund, the Milwaukee Arts Board and the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts, the MPS Partnership for the Arts, the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, the Richard and Ethel Herzfeld Foundation, the Northwestern Mutual Foundation, the Baird Foundation, the Steigleder Foundation, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and many other generous corporate and individual donors.
Milwaukee Children's Choir represents the best Southeastern Wisconsin has to offer. Choir members represent 55 zip codes, 38 communities and seven counties. They represent grades K4-12 and more than 140 schools. More than 30% of the children served are non-Caucasian or of mixed race. And while participation in most MCC programming is tuition-based, we have a long-standing commitment to making our programs available to all. Tuition aid is available to qualified children, and no child has ever been turned away from membership because of money.
No doubt about it: We are Milwaukee's children's choir.
Do you know a child who loves to sing? Contact us today.
