The Madrigal Chorale, One Of Detroit's Artistic Jewels
Detroit, MI (CBS Detroit) - For more than a century, Madrigal Chorale has served the community and enriched the cultural climate of Southeast Michigan. MC, termed "one of Metro Detroit's artistic jewels," is comprised of approximately forty men and women, all competitively auditioned, who share an unequaled commitment to excellence in vocal music performance."
"The Madrigal Chorale is a community choir that's based in Detroit, a group that's been around for 105 years," explains Artistic Director Brandon Ulrich " I was recently appointed the Artistic Director 3 years ago, so this is my 3rd season with the Madrigal Chorale."
"I think a lot of people grow up singing in school groups or playing in school ensembles and high school band or high school choir," says Ulrich. "And for a lot of people, being a part of a musical ensemble is a really valuable thing because it provides a community for them. Also I think it feeds their soul, in a way that other activities might not."
"We're in our 105th year," says President Rich Blauvelt. "But prior to that, the beginnings of it was a small group that started singing in 1900, with their first formal concert in 1901."
"We also do a lot of charitable work and give back to the community," continues Blauvelt. "So every year, we host a benefit for scholarships for high school students. These originally started out as individual scholarships for students that wanted to study music, but then we found out as the economy was changing and choirs in high schools were losing their funding."
"We wanted to shift our scholarships and benefit individual choirs than individual students. So now we've opened the scholarship up to choir groups of high schools in the tri-county area and beyond."
"We are always looking for opportunities," explains Associate Director Betsy Marsh. "We sing for the Veterans, we have sung for the retired nuns and we're doing that again this year. We're always looking for groups that would benefit from hearing us sing."
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