Our mission
Our mission is to perform thematic concerts of artistically challenging choral music from around the world for listeners who enjoy traditional, modern, and eclectic works; for singers who enjoy developing their talents with others; and for both, by sharing uplifting musical experiences.
Our Team
Sergei Pavlov, Artistic Director
Sergei Pavlov is the Artistic Director of the Festival Choir of Madison and Director of Choral Activities at Edgewood College.
Born in Sofia, Bulgaria, he studied at the National Academy of Music of his home country and holds a doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Previous positions include resident conductor at Teatro Nacional Sucre in Quito, Ecuador, music director of the National Mixed Choir of Ecuador, associate conductor of the Opera Department at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, chorus master and assistant conductor of Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, France and assistant conductor at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC, among others. He has been a member of the faculty at Eastern Illinois University and State Academy of Music in Sofia, Bulgaria.
In the past few years, Pavlov has offered masterclasses at Conservatorio Superior de Música de Canarias (Spain), Universidad de las Américas and Universidad Católica (Ecuador), Lamar State University in Texas, and summer workshops for young conductors at the National School for Music and Dance in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Sergei Pavlov has collaborated with internationally renowned opera artists such as Grace Bumbry, Willard White, Barbara Dever, Maurizio Barbacini, Stefano Vizioli, and Daniel Catán.
Stephen Radtke, Accompanist
Stephen Radtke is a native of small town Shawano, WI and a 2007 Bachelor of Music graduate of UW Stevens Point where he studied piano performance with Dr. Molly Roseman. He has also studied composition with Dr. Charles Rochester Young during a semester abroad in London and piano performance with Douglas Weeks at Brevard Music Festival.
He is currently living and working in the Madison area in many capacities, having collaborated with Opera for the Young, Madison Youth Choirs, Festival Choir, Choral Arts Society Chorale, MATC's Choral Collective, the Savoyards, the Whoopensockers, and many many students through the UW system and indepedent area teachers.
Outside the classical and choral world he is an active member of several local jazz/funk/cover bands. He also enjoys coffee, bicycles, and cats.
Wayne Doverspike, Associate Conductor
Wayne Doverspike has been an educator and conductor of choral music for the last 60 years. He received his Bachelor of Music Education, Cum Laude, with an emphasis on choral conducting from North Central College, Naperville, IL in 1965.
After graduation, he accepted the position of Choral Music Director at Carl Sandburg High School in Orland Park, IL. During his fourteen-year tenure, his choirs toured throughout the United States and were invited several times to perform on Chicago TV programs. Wayne’s educational leadership earned him the “Outstanding Young Educator Award” presented by the local Jaycees.
After serving as music minister in several churches in Illinois, in 1979 he moved with his wife and two sons to Neshkoro, WI and from 1980 until the present he has maintained his service in church music ministry. From 1981 to 1995 Wayne served as the Artistic and Executive Director of the Waushara Civic Chorus in Wautoma, WI. The 65-member chorus gave annual performances of Handel’s “Messiah” in addition to other major choral works. In 2005 he was the co-founder and co-director of the Neshkoro, WI Community Chorus whose 45-50 members continue to present two major concerts each year. In Neshkoro, population 450, the concerts regularly draw audiences of 400-500 attendees.
Wayne has been a member of the Festival Choir of Madison since 1998. During this time, he has been a featured soloist and bass section leader and has served on the Board of Directors.
Our History
Founded in 1972 by Vernon Sell, Festival Choir was led by David Lewis Crosby from 1975 to 1993, Eric Townell from 1993 to 2006, Drew Collins from 2007 to 2008, Dr. Bruce Gladstone from 2009 through 2011, and Dr. Bryson Mortensen from 2011 through 2015. Since 2015 its Artistic Director has been Sergei Pavlov.
Festival Choir of Madison has long championed living composers by commissioning and performing new works, especially by composers of the Upper Midwest. Past Composers-in-Residence and commissioned composers have included Stephen Paulus, Elizabeth Alexander, Paul Carey, Eric Whitacre, Scott Gendel, Jean Belmont, Brent Michael Davids and Yónatan Sánchez-Santianes.
As one of Madison’s oldest continuous independent choral organizations, the Choir has a distinguished history in the area musical community. It has performed live broadcasts from the Chazen Museum for Wisconsin Public Radio, appeared as part of Overture Center’s Grand Opening Festival, and toured across the state and abroad. In 1999, the Choir traveled by invitation to Austria as the first choral ensemble ever asked to participate in the prestigious Ost-West Musikfest. The choir has brought to Madison the Finnish choir Cantinovum and the University of Michigan-Flint Chamber Singers, and collaborated with guest conductors such as Joseph Flummerfelt and Nikoleta Popova.
Music Brings Us Together
Sharing uplifting musical experiences is essential to Festival Choir’s mission. Through choral music, we give voice to people’s stories, celebrate cultural differences, and unite and grow as a community by remembering that we are all partners in the human condition. We welcome singers and audiences of all backgrounds, ethnicities, orientations, and world-views. We work to ensure that our programming showcases the beauty of musical traditions across times and cultures, and that we use our voices to amplify messages that need to be heard. Singing allows us to express love, hope, rage, anguish, despair, and reconciliation. Singing is a healing art that unites, and we dedicate ourselves to the healing it may bring.
Choral singers must cultivate the skill of listening. It is only through listening that each of us can understand the tune of our times and ensure that we are contributing in a way that fosters harmony. Festival Choir is committed to listening, and we welcome ideas on how our organization can lift up our community through music. Together, we can make a beautiful new harmony.