It Is Our Desire That...

Founded In 1937 by 21-year-old Gerhard Schroth, the choir was originally known as the Walther League A Cappella Choir. It was a choir for Lutheran young people in their teens and twenties. It soon built a solid reputation and, in the 1940s, performed Brahms' 

A German Requiem with Dr. Frederick Stock and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at Orchestra Hall.

Over the years, the choir has specialized in performing the finest sacred a cappella works of the great choral masters, as well as modern composers. In addition, the choir has sung major choral works such as Bach's St. John Passion and B Minor Mass, Mozart's Requiem Mass and Great Mass in C Minor, Haydn's Lord Nelson Mass and The Creation, and Brahms' A German Requiem. The choir has sung in all of the major venues in Milwaukee as well as dozens of local churches.

A variety of recordings and appearances on Milwaukee television and radio, as well as concert tours to Chicago, St. Louis, Fort Wayne, Madison, and throughout Wisconsin, have helped build the choir's reputation as one of the foremost Christian choral groups in the nation.

Thomas Ajack . . . is a magna cum laude graduate of Carroll College, having studied under Dr. Mark Aamot. He taught in the Waukesha (WI) Public Schools system from 

1987-2017, leading the Waukesha West Concert Choir and Vocal Jazz ensemble to numerous state and national conventions of the ACDA and MENC. He is enjoying his fourth year at Pius XI Catholic High School, leading an established, active program. 

At Pius, his choirs have performed at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, in concert with the Milwaukee Symphony on the Pius Campus, and with the band Foreigner at Summerfest.

A leader in educational theory and practice, he was a 2006 Kohl Fellowship Recipient. 

He has also received the WCDA Outstanding Church Musician Award and the WCDA Composition Award.

Mr. Ajack has been an active church musician throughout his entire career, directing chancel choir serving several congregations, and directed the Milwaukee Archdiocese Choir during the 2019 season. In 2020, he was appointed artistic director of the 

Lutheran A Cappella Choir of Milwaukee.

As a composer, Mr. Ajack has been commissioned by groups including the Waukesha Choral Union and many local schools and churches, and is published through 

Hal Leonard. An active adjudicator, he has served as the WMEA State Choral Chair, and held several leaderships in the WCDA. He has sung with the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus semi-regularly since 1983 and is an accomplished finger-style guitarist. 

Richard C. Ewert is Head Organist at Elm Grove Evangelical Lutheran Church, 

Elm Grove, WI. He studied under Professor Phyllis J. Stringham at Carroll College, Waukesha, WI, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Applied Music – Organ Performance.

During his college years, he was a finalist in the Bach-a-thon scholarship competition (receiving the Keyboard Award) and played for a number of master classes at the University of Wisconsin and regional conventions of the American Guild of Organists (AGO).

He has been a member of the Milwaukee Chapter of the AGO since 1976 and serves as guest organist on festival occasions in the Milwaukee area. In 1990 and 1992, he, together with Rev. Doctor Harold L. Senkbeil, led Hymn Heritage tours which included devotional services utilizing many of the historic organs of Europe.

Mr. Ewert is known for excellence in hymn improvisation and sensitive tonal interpretation of the nuances of the church’s song. He is currently enrolled at Concordia University, Wisconsin pursuing a Master of Church Music degree studying organ with 

Dr. John A. Behnke and Dr. James W. Freese.

In 2016, he taught organ, led worship, and played a recital at the Uhuru Highway Lutheran Cathedral of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kenya (ELCK), Luther Plaza in 

Nairobi, Kenya.