Bel Canto Boy Choirs present Free Concert

MILWAUKEE - April 23, 2013 - PRLog -- Milwaukee, WI - Bel Canto Boy Choirs, Ellen Shuler, director, present Child's Play on Sunday, May 5. This free event is part of the First Congregational Church of Wauwatosa's 2013 4 O'clocks Free Concert Series. The performance begins at 4:00 PM at First Congregational Church, 1511 Church Street, Wauwatosa, WI.

Lee Jacobi, the church's long-time music director, invites everyone to "enjoy the music of Britten, Rutter, and others, performed by these wonderful young musicians of the Bel Canto Boy Choirs. Admission is free, donations will be gratefully accepted, and a reception will follow the concert for all."

Selections to be performed include Benjamin Britten's Friday Afternoons, a 12-song-cycle of boundless melodic and dramatic invention, John Rutter's inspirational Magical Kingdom, and other works.

"For more than a decade, First Church has presented the 4 O'clocks Free Concert Series," said Rev. William S. Trump Jr., Senior Minister. "These free musical presentations are another important way we reach out to our community. Music is a unifying language that can bring diverse cultures together."

LISTING INFORMATION

What
Bel Canto Boy Choirs present Child's Play

When
Sunday, May 5 at 4:00 PM

Where  
First Congregational Church, 1511 Church Street, Wauwatosa, WI 53213

Who
Bel Canto Boy Choirs, Ellen Shuler, director

Tickets
Free (donations accepted at the concert)

About Bel Canto Boy Choirs, Ellen Shuler, Director
Ellen Shuler holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Montana State University and a Master of Music Education with Choral Emphasis from Florida State University. In September 2009, Shuler helped establish the Bel Canto Boy Choirs. The choirs, composed of more than 20 auditioned boys, perform choral repertoire from classical to modern. Their first three seasons included concerts with Bel Canto Chorus, the Vienna Boys Choir, Vocal Arts Academy, and Midwest Vocal Express. Currently in their fourth season, the choirs were praised by music critic Elaine Schmidt Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as being "well-trained, nicely blended, [and] disciplined." http://www.belcanto.org

About First Congregational Church
First Congregational Church of Wauwatosa is, indeed, Wauwatosa's first church. It was gathered in 1842 by a group of settlers who had come to Wisconsin from New England and New York, bringing their Congregational faith with them. First meeting in homes, the congregation purchased a plot of land covered by a blackberry patch for $50 from Charles Hart in 1853. They began construction of its first sanctuary on the present site of the church, 1511 Church Street, Wauwatosa. It was dedicated on October 27, 1853. A bell was added later, in 1855, which continues to ring out from the steeple to this day. In 1870 a lecture hall was added to the rear (west) of the church. In 1888, the original church building was raised and a "good basement" constructed. A vestibule was added to the front (east side) of the church, and a space was provided for the eventual placement of an organ behind the pulpit. With the end of World War I, construction began on a new structure built on the same site. On May 20-23, 1921 the church dedicated its new sanctuary.

Contact information/interviews
For additional information, promotional photos, or interview requests, contact Kathy Pratscher, Executive Director, at (414) 481-8801.