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.

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.