Author Archives: Joe

June Gatherings

We typically don’t rehearse over the summer months – we stop sometime after Memorial Day and resume rehearsals after Labor Day. But we do try to get together over the summer, if only to have a beer (or perhaps two) and catch up on things. And sometimes we’re asked to sing the national anthem(s) at a sporting event. As always, click on the gallery thumbnails to see the larger photo.

On June 16th we sang both the German and US national anthems at a friendly match between Forward Madison FC and Paderborn. It was a beautiful evening at Breese Stevens field, and we sang both anthems and then enjoyed the match.

: Warming up before taking the field.

: A good warm up is essential before singing the national anthem.

: Enjoying the match after singing

We were invited to sing the national anthem (US only) at the WTC track meet at Middleton High School. After the singing was over we decided to stop at the Capital Brewery Biergarten to replenish fluids.

At Capital Brewery after singing the national anthem at the WTC track meet

On June 30th we decided to meet for a beer or two at the Biergarten at Olbrich Park. It was a bit windy but we had a good time.

: It was a beautiful evening at Olbrich Park.

: We had a pretty good turn out.

: A great view of downtown Madison across Lake Monona

: It was nice to get together on a Thursday when we didn’t all have to wear the blue shirts!

Kommers 2022

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The WSB Kommers competition was held in Kenosha on April 23, 2022; this was the first Kommers since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The event was hosted by MGV Harmonia and was held at the Holy Rosary Parish in the school gym.

It was a beautiful day and it was great to see all of the choirs together again! MGV Harmonia, who had won the last competition in 2019, came in first again this year. Gesangverein Concordia was second and Madison Maennerchor was third.

Here are some photos of the Madison Maennerchor performing at Kommers. Thanks to Geoff for sending the photos! As always, click on the thumbnail to see the larger photo.

: Madison Maennerchor at Kommers 2022 – 1

: Madison Maennerchor at Kommers 2022 – 2

: Madison Maennerchor at Kommers 2022 – 3

: Madison Maennerchor at Kommers 2022 – 4

: Madison Maennerchor at Kommers 2022 – 5

: Madison Maennerchor at Kommers 2022 – 6

Here are some more photos from Kommers:

: MGV Harmonia (Kenosha)

: Schwaben Maennerchor (Milwaukee)

: Milwaukee Damenchor

: Gesangverein Concordia (Sheboygan)

: Milwaukee DANK Chor

: Milwaukee Liederkranz

: Madison Maennerchor preparing to perform.

: Waiting to hear the results of the competition

: Holy Rosary Parish

: Holy Rosary Parish

: MGV Harmonia (Kenosha) singing their encore song.

: The seven choirs getting ready to sing together.

: The combined choirs singing “Heimat”

160th Anniversary Concert video

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On May 6, 2012 we sang at the Wisconsin State Capitol in celebration of the 160th anniversary of the Madison Maennerchor. We had a video recording made of the concert which was available on DVD. We’ve converted the DVD to MP4 format and posted the video of the concert on YouTube. The link is below:

MMC 160th Anniversary concert

Enjoy!

UW Volleyball Match – National Anthem

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The UW Athletic Department invited us to sing the national anthem at the volleyball match against Penn State on Saturday October 23rd. We were happy to accept and about fifteen of us were able to be at the UW Field House for the event. We had a sound check around 4:15 and then we just hung out until we we sang at 6:00. Everything went pretty well, and most of us stayed for at least part of the match, which Wisconsin won in 5 sets – it was a close one!

There are a few photos below; as always click on the thumbnail to see a larger image. Thanks again to Ryan and all the folks at UW for inviting us and making us feel welcome – we had a great time!

: It was a beautiful day to be on campus!

: We had to be at the Field House early for the sound check at 4:15. The acoustics in the Field House are pretty good!

: After the sound check we got to relax a bit and watch both Penn State and Wisconsin warm up.

: The Star Spangled Banner is not the easiest piece of music to sing, but we did pretty well

: The view from the second balcony during the first set. Penn State won the first set, but UW won the match 3 to 2.

: The group of people in the white shirts in the first couple of rows is the Maennerchor watching the action during the first set.

Essen Haus Oktoberfest 2021

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The Essen Haus held its Oktoberfest on September 18th this year and we were invited to sing a few songs during the break between the two bands in the afternoon. It was good to be back at the Essen Haus after Oktoberfest was canceled last year due to the pandemic. This was our first performance since February 2020, so it was good to singing together again in the friendly confines of the Essen Haus parking lot. It was a beautiful day, and I think we all had a good time.

Here are a few photos of the choir in action. As always, click on the thumbnail to see the larger image.

: Getting ready to sing; or at least that’s the theory…

: We decided to sing at a couple of different places around the parking lot instead of singing from the stage.

: There was a good crowd and it was fun to sing at Oktoberfest again.

: It had been a while since our last public performance, but things went ok.

: The leaves are already starting to turn – we’re just not ready for fall yet.

: Replenishing fluids after the performance…

: And, yes, there was some Asbach Uralt available as well.

At the Biergarten in Olbrich Park

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On Thursday September 2, we met at the Biergarten in Olbrich Park. We had a brief meeting to discuss our fall schedule and resuming rehearsals, and then we had some time to talk and relax and have a beer or two.

We are planning on resuming rehearsals on Thursday September 9th, but we will be singing outside in the Turner Hall parking lot. We’ll begin at 6:30 to make the best use of the available daylight. We also decided that all choir members should be vaccinated to take part in rehearsals.

Here are some photos from Olbrich Park:

: View of the Capitol and downtown Madison

: Choir meeting at the Biergarten in Olbrich Park

: Choir meeting at the Biergarten in Olbrich Park

: Choir meeting at the Biergarten in Olbrich Park

: View of the Capitol and downtown Madison

Middleton Good Neighbor Fest 2021

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Replenishing fluids after running the Middleton GNF 5 K, August 28, 2021

It’s been quite a while since we last sang at the Middleton Good Neighbor Festival, but pretty much every year a few of us take part in the Middleton GNF 5 K race. As always, we’re just a second tenor away from having a quartet, but somehow it always turns out ok.

It was a hot and humid morning this year, but we did the best we could, and then of course had to replenish fluids after the race!

Fall 2021 Schedule

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It’s been quite a while (since March 12, 2020), but we are planning to resume rehearsals and we already have a few events on our Fall calendar. We haven’t planned out the entire Fall schedule yet, but this is what we have so far:

September 2, 2021: We are planning on having our last summer biweekly meeting at the Biergarten in Olbrich Park at 6:30 pm. There may also be a Vorstand meeting here as well.

September 9: We are tentatively planning on having our first rehearsal on Thursday September 9th. But with the Dane County mask mandate and the air flow issues in Turner Hall we are thinking about have the rehearsal out doors, either at the Turner Hall parking lot or else at a city park shelter. The rehearsal would probably begin around 6:30 pm to take advantage of the daylight. This is all very tentative; there will be email updates as we get closer.

September 18: We will be singing at the Essen Haus Oktoberfest once again! We’ll probably be singing later in the afternoon as we usually do. We’ll discuss the timing at one of our rehearsals.

October 9: We’ve been invited to sing at the Strassenfest in Plain Wisconsin on Saturday October 9. The details, including transportation to Plain, are still pending.

Singing at the Biergarten in Olbrich Park

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We’ve been meeting informally every two weeks or so this summer, and on July 8th we met at the Biergarten at Olbrich Park. If you’ve never been there, you really should visit sometime – it’s a great place to sit and relax and enjoy the view on Lake Monona. Oh, and perhaps drink a beer or two.

We met there at 6:30 or so and after we had warmed up, Paul Essert led us through a few songs. It was a beautiful evening, with very few mosquitos, and it was good to sing together again. I’m sure it’s only a coincidence that soon after we began to sing, several of the tables near us suddenly became empty 🙂

As always, click on the thumbnail image to see the larger image.

: A little cool tonight, but Paul thinks that singing will help us keep warm.

: And…Paul was right. It didn’t seem quite as cold once we started to sing.

: Thankfully the cool weather kept the mosquitos away.

: As the sun sets in the west we bid you aloha from Olbrich Park!

Singing in the parking lot

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On Thursdays June 3rd we had one of our biweekly parking lot meetings at Turner Hall. We had about ten members in attendance, and after replenishing fluids on such a warm day, we warmed up and sang a few songs. After a Bierpause, we saw a few more songs. It was good to sing together again!

: Singing in the parking lot at Turner Hall on June 3, 2021

: Singing in the parking lot at Turner Hall on June 3, 2021

Click on the thumbnail image to see the larger photo.