Printer-Friendly Version
MCC tours locally, regionally, and internationally. Past tours include:
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 and 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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.
