German Boy Choir to join Bel Canto Boy Choirs in Free Concert

June 27, 2011 - PRLog -- The Chorknaben Boy Choir of Uetersen, Germany, will visit the Milwaukee area from July 7 to July 10 as part of the Blue Lake International Exchange Program.

Members of the choir will stay in private homes while visiting, according to Marla Hahn, Executive Director of the Bel Canto Chorus and Boy Choirs, official hosts of the group.

While in the Milwaukee area, the Chorknaben Boy Choir and the Bel Canto Boy Choirs will perform a free concert on Saturday, July 9, 2011, starting at 7:00 PM at Mequon United Methodist Church, 11011 N. Oriole Ln., Mequon, Wis.

The Chorknaben Boy Choir was formed in 1965.  Currently there are 140 singers ages 6 to 21, with 59 of them in the tour group under the direction of Hans-Joachim Lustig.  The choir has a wide-ranging repertoire for their program “European Choral Music from Renaissance to Contemporary and Spirituals” with compositions by Schütz, Bach, Mendelssohn, Gounod, Britten, Praulins, Miskinis, and others.  The singers come from Uetersen, which is a small town near Hamburg, in the north of Germany.
http://www.chorknaben-uetersen.de

The Bel Canto Boy Choirs, Ellen M. Shuler, Director, were created as a music performance and education program for auditioned boys that emphasizes the development and understanding of singing skills.  The Bel Canto Boy Choirs perform several times throughout the year, and have shared the stage with the Vienna Boy Choir, Midwest Vocal Express, Vocal Arts Academy, and Bel Canto Chorus.
http://www.BelCanto.org

The Blue Lake International Exchange Program, based in Whitehall, Mich., began in 1969 when a 90-voice choir toured England, Belgium, and Germany.  Since then, more than 10,000 high school musicians wearing Blue Lake uniforms have visited 650 communities in England, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Hungary, and Liechtenstein.  In return, nearly 10,000 members of 500 European and Japanese bands, orchestras, choirs, and dance groups have come to perform in communities throughout the Midwest.
http://www.bluelake.org

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Bel Canto Chorus is Milwaukee’s premier choral organization. Founded in 1931, Bel
Canto is committed to enriching the lives of its audiences and singing members through
the outstanding live presentation of choral music.