Wisconsin Chamber Choir was founded in 1998 by Music Director Dr. Gary McKercher.  The Madison, Wisconsin based ensemble has established a reputation for choral excellence in the performance of repertoire ranging from Renaissance madrigals to twentieth-century avant-garde.
The 24 to 40-voice ensemble performs 3-4 concerts per season of a wide repertoire from a cappella singing to orchestral accompanied major works. WCC has garnered praise for precision, beauty of tone, and vocal discipline.  In December of 2002, WCC inaugurated performances of J.S. Bach’s concerted works including the Christmas Oratorio (2002, 2003), the B minor Mass (2005), and the St. John Passion (2010) using period instrumental accompaniment.  Wisconsin State Journal staff writer Tom Alesias chose WCC's performance of the Christmas Oratorio as one

of the top twenty shows of 2003; music critic Jake Stockinger chose WCC's recording of the Christmas Oratorio as one of his top ten CDs of 2003; and Isthmus music critic John W. Barker described the St. John Passion performance as a "remarkably consistent, coherent, and artistically splendid achievement."
Active in the encouragement of newly composed music, WCC commissioned Cincinnati composer Howard Helvey to create new choral works on the poetry of nineteenth-century New England transcendentalist poet Jones Very. These works were premiered in 2002 in a concert at First Unitarian Society of Madison's Landmark Auditorium.  In 2006, the WCC commissioned and premiered a piece from Atlanta-based composer Ethan Amir Zaheri commemorating the victims of the December 2004 Asian tsunami.
WCC has show cased its talents in various special performances in Madison and in the Midwest region including the Wisconsin Choral Directors Association’s annual convention in Appleton, Wisconsin in 2000 and again in Madison in 2007;  a 2001 performance on Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Sunday Afternoon Live at the Elvehjem” series with a state-wide radio broadcast aired from the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Elvehjem Museum of Art; the September 29, 2001 “Voices in Remembrance” concert commemorating the victims of the September 11 terrorist tragedy held at the Madison Civic Center; 2002 performances in Rochester, Minnesota's "Festival of the Arts" and New Hampton, Iowa's Carnegie Cultural Center;  WCC was chosen to perform at the gala opening celebration of Madison's Overture Center for the Arts in September 2004 and invited back to the Overture Center in 2007 to lead Sam Hutchison's caroling sing-along.

The Wisconsin Chamber Choir appointed Robert Gehrenbeck Artistic Director in June 2008 after an extensive search for conductors. Director of Choral Activities at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, Dr. Gehrenbeck conducts the UW-Whitewater Chamber Singers, Concert Choir, Women’s Chorale, and opera and musical theatre productions. Dr. Gehrenbeck earned degrees at Macalester College (B.A.), Boston University (M.M.) and Indiana University (D.M.), with additional studies at the Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Conservatory in Leipzig. Most recently, Dr. Gehrenbeck's doctoral dissertation on contemporary British composer Giles Swayne received the 2007 Julius Herford Prize from the American Choral Directors Association. WCC's originating director, Dr. Gary McKercher, held college and university choral positions in Nebraska, California, Kentucky and Iowa for over twenty years before venturing to Wisconsin. Choirs under his direction were regularly recognized by American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) and Music Educators National Conference (MENC, and he remains an active guest clinician and conductor across the country. Besides conducting WCC while in Madison, McKercher conducted Madison Savoyards during his tenure in Madison. McKercher holds advanced degrees in choral music from University of Southern California (DMA), California State University, Fullerton (MA) and an undergraduate degree from Luther College, Decorah, Iowa after which he studied abroad at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge, England. He studied post-doctorally at the American Conservatory in Fontainbleau, France during the summer of 1987, and in 2004 with the Tallis Scholars in Oakham, England. In the summer of 2007, Dr. McKercher left Madison for the sunny shores of San Diego to conduct the San Diego Master Chorale. The Master Chorale, under Gary's direction, was awarded the prestigious Chorus America/ASCAP Alice Parker Award for "Adventurous Programming" in 2009.

Could the future of Wisconsin Chamber Choir include you or your organization?  Absolutely. 
Do you sponsor a musical festival or series where you need a fine choir to perform?
Do you want to sing choral music at a semi-professional level? Audition now.
Do you wish to contribute financially or volunteer your talents and skills to our organization?
Contact us:  info@wisconsinchamberchoir.org.

2010 WCC performed J.S. Bach's St. John Passion with period instruments.  John W. Barker, music critic for the Isthmus described the performance as a "remarkably consistent, coherent, and artistically splendid achievement."
2010 WCC was awarded a Dane County Cultural Arts Commission grant.
2009 WCC was selected to perform at the historic Richland County Performing Arts Center Auditorium.
2007 WCC was selected to lead "sing-along caroling" with Samuel Hutchison, Principal Organist and Curator of the Madison Symphony Orchestra” at Madison's Overture Center.
2007 WCC was the only Madison area choral ensemble chosen to appear at the Wisconsin Choral Director's Association (WCDA) convention in Madison at Bethel Lutheran Church.
2004 WCC performed on stage at the gala opening celebration of the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison, Wisconsin. Other participants included Dave Brubeck and Art Garfunkel.
2003 Wisconsin Newspapers staff writer Tom Alesias chose WCC's December performance of J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio as one of the top twenty concerts of 2003.
2003 Wisconsin Newspapers music critic, Jake Stockinger, chose WCC's recording of J.S. Bach's Christmas Oratorio as one of the top ten CDs of the year.
2002 WCC was the only Wisconsin choir to perform in Rochester, Minnesota's "A Festival of Music" and in New Hampton, Iowa's "Carnegie Cultural Center."
2001 WCC was selected to pay tribute in song to the victims of September 11, 2001 terrorist attack in a concert at the Madison Civic Center.