Bel Canto Chorus concert – Cathedral Music – happening Friday, May 20 at 7:30 pm in the St. Josaphat Basilica

Summary: The final 2021-22 season performance of Bel Canto Chorus will take place on Friday, May 20 at 7:30 pm, at the Basilica of St. Josaphat in Milwaukee. Cathedral Music will feature music written for the acoustics of large cathedrals, by composers from the early 1600s through the present. This ticketed event is open to the public, and attendees are invited to stay for a guided tour of the Basilica following the concert.

The concert features eight works written from the early 1600s to the present. Each piece will be sung in its original language, including Latin, Church Slavonic, Old Norse, and English. Some of the compositions include Earth, Teach Me Quiet by Eriks Esenvalds, Miserere Mei by Gregorio Allegri, Rúnatal (Hymn to Odin) by Martin Romberg, and Three Funeral Motets, by Bel Canto’s own music director, Richard Hynson.

“The experience of hearing this music in such a large, resonant space – as it was meant to be heard – makes this concert unique,” shares Hynson. “The Basilica itself becomes a part of the performance. Audience members will find themselves immersed in the sounds of choral music enhanced and enriched by the acoustics.”

The Basilica of St. Josaphat plays an important role in Polish immigrant history in Milwaukee. The first Polish immigrants arrived in the 1840s. By the 1870s, their numbers were second only to German immigrants. The original Parish of Saint Josaphat was established in 1888, and its location went through a couple of iterations before the current building was constructed to meet the needs of a faith community that had grown to over 12,000 people. Construction was completed in 1901, and in 1929, the building became the third Catholic Church in the country to be designated a Basilica, or receive the Papal status should the Pope visit Milwaukee. This designation, which honors the building’s grandeur, beauty, and historical importance, has been assigned to only 89 of the over 17,000 Catholic parishes in the United States.

Concert tickets can be purchased at the door or in advance at belcanto.org. A tour of the Basilica will follow the concert, guided by Colleen P. Cheney-Trawinski, Executive Director of the St. Josaphat Basilica Foundation.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.