The Bel Canto Chorus is a

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

-area community chorus, and one of the oldest musical organizations in

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

History

The choir was first founded in 1931 as the Festival Singers of Milwaukee. The group first consisted of four women and four men, who performed Hans Gruber's Festival Mass in the chapel of Milwaukee's St. Mary's Hospital. The choir soon increased to about 72 in the 1940s. After Thomas Stemper resigned as director of the Festival Singers in 1947 due to failing health, Father Francis Drabinowicz, pastor of Milwaukee's St. James Catholic Church became the director. The choir was renamed the Bel Canto Choir, and its numbers reduced to 60. Under Drabinowicz, the choir sang a mix of sacred music, folk tunes, comic ballads, and popular songs. They began to sing at least once a year in the Pabst Theater, one of the city's premier arts venues. In 1956, James Keeley took over the direction of the Bel Canto chorus. Keeley had previously served as a language teacher and organist at local Catholic churches. (While at the Bel Canto, Keeley also became the first music director of the Skylight Opera Theatre.) Under Keeley, the Bel Canto Chorus became known for performing Handel's

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

, performing it 15 times over his 32 years as director. Keeley grew the size of the chorus and the scale of its performances. The chorus grew to 180 members, often performing with the

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The orchestra performs primarily at the Bradley Symphony Center in Allen-Bradley Hall. The orchestra also serves as the orchestra for Florentine ...

. The chorus engaged the services of such renowned soloists as

Robert Merrill Robert Merrill (June 4, 1917 – October 23, 2004) was an American operatic baritone and actor, who was also active in the musical theatre circuit. He received the National Medal of Arts in 1993. Early life Merrill was born Moishe Miller, ...

Eileen Farrell Eileen Farrell (February 13, 1920 – March 23, 2002) was an American soprano who had a nearly 60-year-long career performing both classical and popular music in concerts, theatres, on radio and television, and on disc. NPR noted, "She possessed ...

and Jan Peerce. Keeley changed the repertoire of the chorus to focus on works such as

Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

's Requiem,

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Belshazzar's Feast Belshazzar's feast, or the story of the writing on the wall (chapter 5 in the Book of Daniel), tells how Belshazzar holds a great feast and drinks from the vessels that had been looted in the destruction of the First Temple. A hand appears and ...

, and Berlioz's Requiem. The chorus commissioned

Gian-Carlo Menotti Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian composer, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept ...

to write ''Landscapes and Remembrances'' for the United States' bicentennial. The work was also recorded and broadcast by

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

. Menotti also invited the chorus to perform at his

Spoleto Festival The ''Festival dei Due Mondi'' (Festival of the Two Worlds) is an annual summer music and opera festival held each June to early July in Spoleto, Italy, since its founding by composer Gian Carlo Menotti in 1958. It features a vast array of conce ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. While in Italy, Bel Canto also performed a mass for

Pope Paul VI Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...

on July 4, 1976. In the next several years, the chorus performed

Carmina Burana ''Carmina Burana'' (, Latin for "Songs from Benediktbeuern" 'Buria'' in Latin is a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces are mostly bawdy, irreverent ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

and Menotti's Missa O Pulchritudo at Spoleto and the

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

. In 1988, Richard Hynson was selected as director of the Bel Canto Chorus after Keeley's retirement. Hynson emphasized increased musicianship, and the chorus' size decreased to about 100 members. Hynson complemented well-known choral works such as

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions to musical form have led ...

's Creation and

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

' Requiem with new and less-known choral works, such as Penderecki's Agnus Dei and

Ariel Ramírez Ariel Ramírez (4 September 1921 – 18 February 2010) was an Argentine composer, pianist and music director. He was considered "a chief exponent of Argentine folk music" and noted for his "iconic" musical compositions. Ramírez is known primari ...

's Missa Criolla. Heather Leszczewicz. "Bel Canto still singing after 75 years." OnMilwaukee.com, April 24, 2006. http://www.onmilwaukee.com/music/articles/belcanto.html.

Director

References

External links

Bel Canto Chorus website
{{authority control American choirs Musical groups from Wisconsin Musical groups established in 1931 Culture of Milwaukee