Chordsmen Score Success in Music Education Fundraiser
Wisconsin chapter makes a big impact on local music education.
The Clipper City Chordsmen of Manitowoc Wisconsin held a fundraiser concert entitled “Teach the World to Sing” on Saturday September 20th at the Franciscan Center for Music Education and Performance. This effort raised nearly $16,000 which will be shared equally with all high school vocal music programs in Manitowoc County as well as the Franciscan Center music program.
Ten years ago, the Chordsmen updated their mission statement to reflect a desire to do more for their community. As a part of the Mission Statement, the Chordsmen “…strive to improve the quality of life for (their) members and (their) communities through music education and family-friendly musical entertainment.” This revision inspired the members to get more involved with their local music educators by volunteering to assist as door monitors and helpers for solo and ensemble contests, attending local high school musical productions and concerts, and by offering help directly to local educators with musical charts, learning tracks, coaching of student quartets, offering scholarships for summer music programs, and inviting the choruses to participate on their annual Christmas Show.
Anthony Schreiter, who serves as the treasurer for the Chordsmen, pointed out that “Our educators are always under substantial budgetary restrictions. The cost of musical charts and tracks has gone up, the cost of transportation for enrichment experiences has risen, and the cost of show outfits has also climbed. If we could help in some way to make vocal music education affordable to more kids, we wanted to do that.”
In 2023, the Chordsmen put on a fundraiser show at Woodland Dunes Nature Center titled “Tunes at the Dunes.” Despite the limited seating of only 120, they raised over $1,000 with donations and revenue from raffle baskets. This money was donated directly to two local high schools.
In 2024, a larger fundraiser show was held at the Franciscan Center for Music Education and Performance in Manitowoc with seating of over 450. With the chorus from Two Rivers High School and instrumental music students from the Franciscan Center performing alongside the Chordsmen, nearly $7,000 was raised. Checks for $650 were delivered to eight school districts in Manitowoc County as well as to the Franciscan Center.
The 2025 show included the Valders High School Concert and Treble Choirs with their director Tami Witter and the Lutheran High School Lancer Singers under the direction of Joel Ungemach. Recently retired WBAY-TV News anchor celebrity Bill Jartz was the MC for the program.
Chapter quartets Lake Effect, Quandary, Barberpops, Late Expectations, Pass the Buck, and the Harmony To Go ensemble also performed. To make this day even more special, the Chordsmen reached out to men in their community who were willing to learn three songs along with the chorus and to sing with them on stage at the end of the show. Over a dozen volunteers attended the first special rehearsal as an indication of the level of community support for music.
The song “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” was the inspiration for this year’s fundraiser. Performed by all 85 participants on stage as a finale, the reception by the 350 supporters in attendance was overwhelming.
In addition to musical performances, there was a raffle of multiple gift baskets. Admission was free, but a donation to help support the music programs was encouraged. Every dollar donated went directly to area school music departments since all overhead for the program was already covered by donations.
Supporting Music Education is a key mission of the Clipper City Chordsmen. According to a variety of experts, musical training has been shown to lead to improvements in a wide variety of different skills including memory and spacial learning as well as verbal memory, the ability to focus attention, and emotional control. Music in our schools is essential to the production of well-rounded students.
Chordsman Jon Cisewski said “On stage I was taken back to singing in high school some 45 years ago and it occurred to me that this is something that these students could remember all their lives. Some things like participation in sports may end after high school or college, but music follows you through your entire life.”
This thought was echoed by Gary Neustadter who commented “As a past music educator it was especially magical to reconnect with high school level students and to share music with them as equal performers together rather than as their director. It was a great opportunity to have youthful singers and guys up to five times their age on stage together.”
Chordsman President Bill Fricke was thankful. “The generosity of the lakeshore community was amazing. We even received some very substantial donations that were given in memory of recently deceased family members who had loved music in all its forms. That those families wanted to support music education as part of their legacy was inspiring.”
When presenting the checks to the educators and their choruses, the gratitude was clearly evident. Stephanie Maertz of Reedsville commented “Now we can not only afford the cost of transportation to take our kids to the Singing in Wisconsin festival choir experience, but ALL our kids can attend without individual costs holding them back.” In addition to affording new music and transportation to events, other uses for the funds will include helping buy new risers for concerts and replacing show choir outfits..
The Clipper City Chordsmen is an all-male cappella barbershop chorus of 34 members in a county with a population of only 81,000. They are located between Milwaukee and Green Bay on the shore of Lake Michigan. Formed in 1945,The Chordsmen are singing in their 80th year.