The Monteverdi Chorale took its name from the 16th-17th century Italian composer Claudio Monteverdi, whose compositions bridged the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The chorale gave its first performance in the spring of 1987 under the baton of founding Artistic Director Dr. Gary Bangstad, who held that position through the spring of 2001. Molly Petroff then served as Interim Director until the chorale’s current Artistic Director, James A. Carpenter, was appointed in January 2002.
Monteverdi currently presents three concerts each season, with traditional concert programs in December and April, plus a February Cabaret. This dinner concert and fund-raiser features a kaleidoscopic variety of popular music performed by individual choir members and small ensembles in addition to the full chorale. In addition, Monteverdi performs occasionally for community events, and smaller ensembles from the chorale are available to perform at private functions.
While we take pride in the quality and diversity of our own performances, we also collaborate with other local, regional, and sometimes international performing organizations. We have shared the stage with the Wausau Lyric Choir, the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra, and choral ensembles from Green Bay, Appleton, and Oshkosh. We have been invited multiple times to perform at Wisconsin Choral Directors Association state-wide conferences. While most of Monteverdi’s performances are in central Wisconsin, we have also traveled across the country and internationally, bringing our music to Washington DC, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and Ireland. Our most recent concert tour, in June 2016, took us to Montreal, Quebec City, and Burlington VT.
| Monteverdi Choral Highlights -- Tours, Major Works, and Special Performances | |
| April 1987 | Monteverdi's first concert, St. Stephen Church, Stevens Point, WI |
| January 1992 | WI Choral Directors Association conference, Fond du Lac, WI |
| April 1995 | Dvorak Te Deum with the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra |
| May 1997 | Represented the State of WI for the "States Day Series" at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC |
| January 1998 | WI Choral Directors Association conference, Appleton, WI |
| November 1998 | International Advent Choral Festival, Vienna, Austria |
| June 2000 | Concert tour of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy |
| February 2003 | Mozart Requiem with the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra |
| January 2004 | WI Choral Directors Association conference, Appleton, WI |
| April 2004 | Mozart Mass in c minor with the Wausau Lyric Choir |
| June 2005 | Concert tour of Ireland, with performances in Galway, Armagh, Belfast and Dublin |
| April 2006 | Combined concert with Bel Canto girl choir, Lawrence Arts Academy |
| December 2006 | Verdi Requiem with the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra and Wausau Lyric Choir |
| December 2008 | Charpentier Messe de Minuit pour Noël |
| April 2009 | Thompson Frostiana |
| April 2010 | Brahms Alto Rhapsody; Corigliano, Fern Hill |
| December 2010 | Britten A Ceremony of Carols |
| April 2011 | Combined concert with Badger State Girl Choir Vivace |
| April 2012 | 25th Anniversary Celebration, featuring the premiere of The Waking by Abbie Betinis, commissioned for the occasion |
| December 2012 | Vaughan Williams, Fantasia on Christmas Carols; Handel, Messiah (Part I) |
| January 2013 | Wisconsin Choral Directors Association conference, Milwaukee |
| April 2013 | Brahms Newe Liebeslieder Waltzes |
| April 2014 | Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem with the Central Wisconsin Symphony Orchestra and Wausau Lyric Choir |
| April 2015 | Bernstein Chichester Psalms |
| June 2016 | Concert tour to Montreal, Quebec, and Burlington Vermont |
| December 2016 | Bach Magnificat |
