History

ABOUT MILWAUKEE CHILDREN'S CHOIR

Building Noteworthy Character

Artistic Director Emily Crocker founded the Milwaukee Children’s Choir (MCC) in 1994. She envisioned a choir that would serve Milwaukee youth through quality music education and please Milwaukee audiences through artistic excellence. MCC’s mission—to provide exceptional choral music instruction and performance opportunities that foster creativity, personal expression and social growth—has taken MCC from a group of 35 musical novices simply wanting to sing to what it is today: a musical ensemble comprised of 400 singers, grades 1-12, singing in five distinct choir levels. Members come from the six-county area. They come from family farms and dense urban areas and everything in between, and they represent more than 150 schools.

The Milwaukee Children’s Choir is Southeastern Wisconsin’s premiere children’s choir. Its commitment to excellence leads to strong performance demand. During the 06-07 Season MCC had more than 40 performances, most of them as guest artist. MCC’s senior choirs perform regularly with the area’s finest musical ensembles. It is the children’s choir of choice for the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, considered one of the finest orchestras in the United States and Wisconsin’s largest cultural organization. Each November MCC is featured in a world premiere with Milwaukee’s internationally proclaimed Present Music. Other recent guest appearances include Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (National Tour performances at Uihlein Hall), The Nutcracker (with Milwaukee Ballet), Festival City Symphony’s Holiday Pajama Jamboree, and Mequon’s Gathering on the Green (Main Stage Guest Artist).

The Milwaukee Children’s Choir also presents several concerts of its own each year. Each concert has a theme carried out with musical selections guaranteed not only to please audiences but also to teach choir members. Repertoire is challenging, diverse, rich and rewarding. It is drawn from the classical masters (Bach, Mozart, Schubert), from more contemporary choral masters (Rutter, Hogan, Parker, Crocker), and from diverse cultures and a wide variety of musical styles including classical, popular, folk, and patriotic music.

The Milwaukee Children’s Choir records on a regular basis. It is featured in Macmillan McGraw-Hill’s Spotlight on Music school series, performing songs from around the world (in native tongue) on over 100 tracks of vocal music.

The Milwaukee Children’s Choir has demonstrated a strong commitment to urban at-risk youth and diversity. It has choir sites throughout the Milwaukee Metropolitan area, including underserved urban areas. MCC’s diversity adds richness to its programming, enhances its educational value, and has led Wisconsin’s arts community to recognize MCC as an institution leading the way to diversification.

Milwaukee Children's Choir is thankful to the many individuals, corporations, foundations and government entities supporting its work. Major foundation support comes from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, the Herzfeld Foundation, the Bader Foundation and the Lakeview Foundation. Corporate donors include Hal Leonard Corporation, Northwestern Mutual and Robert W. Baird. Government support comes from the Milwaukee Arts Board, Milwaukee County (CAMPAC), and the Wisconsin Arts Board.

MCC has an active and engaged board, made up of the following members: President Peter Gardner (private investor); Vice President Christine Burgener (Associate Director of Operations, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra); Treasurer Patrick Murphy (Godfrey & Kahn); Secretary Kathryn Kaminsky (HR Audit Resource Consultant, Deloitte & Touche LLP); Priya Barnes (President, Creatonomy Inc.); Beth Berger (Assistant Counsel, Northwestern Mutual); Walt Boyer (Music Specialist, Shorewood Schools); Marilyn Bugenhagen (Assistant Professor, Marion College); David Dorgan (Controller, Rockwell Automation); Donna Mitchell (retired educator and community volunteer); Tom Mitchell (retired educator and community volunteer); Verona Morgan (retired executive and community volunteer); Robert Sholl (Reinhart Boerner S.C.); and Robert Venable (Managing Director, Robert W. Baird & Co.).

Milwaukee Children's Choir also benefits from a strong base of parent volunteers, who contribute to the organization through not only donated dollars but also thousands of volunteer hours each year.

MCC tours locally, regionally, and internationally:.

• 1999 Japan – Wisconsin Cultural Delegation Trip to Chiba to participate in the Chiba People’s Day Festival: A cultural delegation of almost 40 Wisconsinites visited Wisconsin’s sister state Chiba, Japan. The trip was part of a series of cultural exchanges facilitated by Wisconsin-Chiba Inc. and the Chiba Prefecture Planning Department’s Cultural and International Affairs Division. The Wisconsin delegation included members of the Milwaukee Children’s Choir and outstanding traditional and ethnic artists from Wisconsin’s Folklife Festival. The goal of Wisconsin-Chiba Inc. was to promote and facilitate educational, cultural, scientific, and technological exchanges to create awareness, understanding and friendship among the people of Chiba Prefecture and the State of Wisconsin. The final performance was held at the Matsuri no Hiroba and was conducted by Emily Crocker, MCC Artistic Director. Repertoire was selected primarily from musical classics by Berlin, Rogers and Hammerstein, and Lloyd Webber, as well as modern Disney musicals, including a Crocker arrangement of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” from The Lion King. Other participants included The Chiba Prefecture Youth Orchestra and the Kotori Youth Choir.

• 2001 England – Fifth Annual International Children’s Choir Festival, Canterbury and London. The tour was presented as part of the 1,400th anniversary celebration of St. Augustine’s bringing Christianity to Britain. Members of MCC’s Cantorei choir were housed at King’s School (Canterbury) and Imperial College (London). Cantorei performed separately and as part of a Festival Choir. Evensong and Evening Concerts were held at Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, England and Westminster Central Hall, London, England. The Festival Choir was composed of the Milwaukee Children’s Choir, the Austin Children’s Choir (Austin, TX), the Blair Children’s Chorus (Nashville, TN), the St. John the Divine Children’s Choir (Houston, TX), and the Children’s Choir of Waukesha (Waukesha, WI). Festival guest conductors included David Flood, Master of the Choristers at Canterbury Cathedral and Henry Leck, Artistic Director of the Indianapolis Children’s Choir. The Choir was accompanied by the Virtuosi of London Orchestra (Westminster) and Philip Stopford, Assistant Organist of Chester Cathedral (Canterbury). Repertoire featured works by English composers Parry, Purcell, Rutter, and Willcocks, as well as a Crocker arrangement of “When in Our Music God is Glorified.”

• 2004 Italy – Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome. Following a request by St. Peter’s Basilica for MCC to perform at Mass, Cantorei Choir and Milwaukee Youth Chorale traveled to Italy and spent time in both Rome and Sorrento. While in Rome, the combined choir sang during Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, performed an Evensong at All Saints Church, performed during Mass at Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, and performed at St. Paul’s Within the Walls. Emily Crocker (Cantorei) and Dr. Christopher Peterson (Youth Chorale) conducted all concerts. Repertoire featured religious and inspirational works by Praetorius, Mozart, Durufle, Vaughan Williams and Rutter. African-American Spirituals and African folksongs were also included at several venues, as were works from modern American composers Hogan, Crocker, Eilers, and Hierholzer.

• 2005 Ames, Iowa – Midwest Children’s Choir Festival. MCC's Cantorei was the featured Guest Choir at this bi-annual choir festival involving hundreds of Iowa’s children. MCC’s Cantorei performed a series of opera choruses, receiving a standing ovation from a wildly enthusiastic audience.

• 2005 New York City – Carnegie Hall. Members of Cantorei, Milwaukee Youth Chorale and Concert Choir traveled to New York to be part of a choir festival at Carnegie Hall. Featured on the program was Mark Brymer’s The Christmas Suite. MCC Artistic Director Emily Crocker was the Festival’s conductor.

• 2007 Toronto International Choral Festival. In the spring of 2007, members of MCC's Youth Chorale traveled to Canada, where they performed at the Toronto International Choral Festival. They also saw the sites of Toronto and enjoyed a day witnessing the wonder of Niagara Falls.

• 2007 Rhapsody International Children' Music Festival - Prague, Vienna and Salzburg. On August 6, 2007, MCC's Tour Choir returned from a 12-day trip to Vienna, Salzburg and Prague and performances with the Rhapsody International Children's Music Festival under the direction of Joan Gregoryk. Other groups participating in the festival included the Hong Kong Children's Choir, Red Rose Children's Choir from Lake County in Illinois, and Le Vocalise from Singapore. Performances were given at St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, Smetana Hall in Prague and several other venues. Repertoire included the St. Leopold Mass by Johann Michael Haydn and music of Mozart, Bernstein, Dvorak and Smetana. The Prague Children's Chorus joined the festival choir on the Czech language works. The singers also enjoyed a workshop with Gerald Wirth, director of the famed Vienna Boys Choir. What did our kids think of this experience? “It was cool to visit other places in the world and to sing in different cathedrals & concert halls. Singing in one voice with other children from around the world (Hong Kong, Singapore, Czech Republic) was very amazing.” --14 year old male singer. “The trip was amazing--one I'll never forget.” --14 year old female singer. "This trip was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. Visiting the sites where Mozart, Strauss, Haydn, Smetana, Dvorak and other genius musicians once strode was a profound and life-changing event; it was like visiting the home of music itself." -- 15 year old female singer.