INTRODUCING OUR  MUSICAL DIRECTOR, BRAD CHARLES! Brad may look young and display megawatts of youthful energy on stage, but he is not new to the barbershop experience.  He has been a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society for over 25 years!  He first joined the Menomonee Falls chapter and later became their director as well as the Ozaukee County chapter’s director concurrently in the late 80’s.  Later he also sang with the Northbrook New Tradition Chorus and then became a charter member of the Greendale Midwest Vocal Express chapter.  From the chapter’s inceptions Brad served on the MVE ‘s Performance Team as the person who was responsible for what he calls “quality control” of the MVE sound. Brad’s complete barbershop quartet experience goes back to high school where he  received a 1st in the State Solo & Ensemble Barbershop Contest singing in a quartet for the first time.  Since then he has been Division One Quartet Champion 6 times with three different quartets (Four Star Event, Center of Attention  and Checkmate), a Land O’Lakes District Quartet Champion with Checkmate in 1996 and an International Quartet Contest Competitor with Checkmate in 2000.

With MVE, Brad has enjoyed two District Chorus Championships and six International Competitions, collecting two 5^th Place International Chorus Champion medals in 2002 and 2003.  Through chorus and quartet experiences, he has enjoyed working with some of the finest coaches in our hobby and he helps the chorus assimilate this wealth of knowledge he has collected with what we fondly call “Bradisms”.   .

As an educator, Brad has been on the faculty of the Land O’Lakes District Mini-HEP School several times, the Cardinal District Mini-HEP once, the SPEBSQSA sponsored Saturday Sing for high school boys twice, and the Division One Quartet School many times which was created by his former quartet Checkmate.

In his other life, Brad is the Director of Recruiting for MetLife Financial Services’ Greater Wisconsin office in Milwaukee.  He also sings with his wife Nancy in an outstanding mixed quartet called Heart to Heart.  Brad is the father of  twin 14-year old daughters (Patti and Alyssa) and he and Nancy reside in the Bayview area.

The Festival City Chorus is pleased and excited to have Brad as our Director.  We hope you will enjoy his enthusiasm and love for vocal music as much as we do each and every week.

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Last modified: 01/20/08