Bel Canto Mines History For Season Opener

Since its origins in 1931 as the eight-member Festival Singers of Milwaukee, the Bel Canto Chorus has strived to present choral music that connects singers, audiences, and the greater community. Community Voices, Bel Canto’s first performance of the 2022-23 season on Sunday, Oct. 16, will advance that mission by presenting musical highlights of the group’s 92-year history.

The program will feature favorite works performed by the chorus during the 30-year conducting tenure (1956–1986) of James Keeley. Performances will include highlights from the Music Under the Stars series of outdoor concerts held at Milwaukee’s Washington Park for 40 years, and compositions from more recent “story concerts” programmed by current Music Director Richard Hynson.

The story concerts reflect the impulse of musicians to “turn to their art” in times of turbulence, Hynson says. Recognizing the powerful role of choral music in speaking to “the emotional state of the community,” Bel Canto has presented themed concerts that interpret and commemorate events that require healing, understanding, and perspective.

Community Voices will include music from several such programs. These include a concert that explored Wisconsin’s role in the Civil War; a program that traced the heritage and experiences of immigrants who came to the U.S.; performances honoring the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and memorial concerts on the second and tenth anniversaries of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

The historic Irish Cultural and Heritage Center in Milwaukee’s Avenues West neighborhood will provide wonderful acoustics in an intimate setting for the concert, according to Hynson. Mary Alice Tierney will provide narration throughout the performance; Alesia Miller and Victor Montanez are featured soloists.

The musical anthology recounting Bel Canto’s history will be presented as the chorus contemplates its future, in light of plans announced by Hynson and Assistant Conductor/Accompanist Michelle Hynson to retire at the end of the 2023-24 season. A succession committee is now evaluating how the chorus can continue to serve the community in even more potent ways as musical leadership transitions.

Community Voices will be performed at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 16, at the Irish Cultural and Heritage Center of Wisconsin, 2133 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee.  The performance also will be livestreamed. Tickets for both the live and streamed formats are available online or by phone at 414-481-8801, ext. 1.  The box office is open for calls Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.