- Let's do flowers. Can we go on...
* Poppy, petunia, poppy, petunia, gladiola *
[singing in a higher pitch] - children: * Poppy, petunia, poppy, petunia, gladiola *
- Not too bad.
And for your last warm up, can I have--
Let's do "Danny Boy."
- At Jefferson Middle School in Madison,
Garrett Debbink leads the after-school choir.
- Here we go!
[plays piano accompaniment of "We Found Love"]
- Nice and loud.
- * Yellow diamonds in the light *
- I started it when I got here six years ago.
It's called Loud and Clear.
We always do the pop stuff, the newer stuff.
A cappella has a little bit more of a draw
and it's what the kids are into.
- From modern pop...
- * Can you feel that?
* We're playing with love tonight *
- ...to more old school.
[choir singing in German]
* Es wird schon gleich dunkel es wird ja schon Nacht *
- Lots of energy first tenors.
Don't lose that pitch.
- Garrett also directs the Madison Maennerchor.
[Choir singing "Ein Prosit" in German]
* Ein Prosit der Gemüatlichkeit *
- Being able to be a director
for a choir that's been around for 165 years
is really something special.
* Cool, that'll be good.
- A choir founded in 1852 to be exact
by German immigrants,
four years after Wisconsin became a state.
- They would go to work and then they would go to the bar.
And this was their entertainment.
They would have a couple drinks and sing songs.
I think it's a really interesting history
that we've kind of lost.
- The men's choir originally
came to the New World with Old World ways
and forged a rich tradition
around the state and in Madison.
- Most of it is four-part men's choral music.
So it's tenor one, tenor two, baritone, bass.
- When Grover Cleveland
visited Wisconsin in 1887,
it was the Madison Maennerchor
that serenaded the U.S. president...
...in German.
Today, the songs are still sung in German.
- Announcer: Please welcome Madison Maennerchor.
[applause]
* [tuning note]
* Ein prosit alle hier sind *
* That's you and you and you
* Lebe, Liebe, Lache
* Freu dich auf der Welt
- My German is actually very rough.
I've been learning, but it's not a prerequisite at all.
["O Tannenbaum"] * In dem Baum In dem Baum *
* Wo es schallt
So, I'm looking at measure five, second verse.
* Wie oft hat nicht zur Weihnachtszeit *
It was extremely intimidating.
Some of these guys have been singing these songs
longer than I've been alive.
And to then show up and be like,
"I know how these songs go."
Eventually, I did kind of step into the role
as someone with music and choral and directing background.
* [singing a sustained note]
Everyone take a seat.
We sang this one on Friday
and it sounded great.
So, same thing.
If you weren't--
If you weren't there on Friday,
don't muck it up for us.
[laughter]
- German choir culture in Wisconsin
has withstood the test of time.
* In der Wald mit Hiya und TraLa *
* Trinke Bier
[applause]
- I think it's one of the more unique things about this choir.
It was a tradition back in Germany.
As time has gone on,
this tradition,
a four-part male choir singing, has actually,
to my knowledge, mostly disappeared
and has really stayed alive
with the descendants of German immigrants here in the states.
- * Schon gleich dunkel
- Here in Madison, it could also disappear.
This is the oldest German men's choir
in the state.
Old in two ways.
* In a one-horse open sleigh Oh! *
Most of the guys are old enough
to be my grandpa's or at least my dad's age.
I'm pretty sure I'm actually the youngest person in the choir.
The choir's not getting younger.
[Choir singing in German]
- Garrett's goal is to grow the choir
and strike a chord in finding that balance
between the old and new
through singing, socializing, sausage, and Sheepshead.
- I think that's one of my favorite things.
No matter who you are, there's a place
on Thursdays from 8:00 to 9:30
that you can show up.
It is creating that sense of community
where people feel welcome,
where people have fun.
I get to do that for a living.
And I think that's one of the best things.
[Choir singing] * And du
[applause]