Weekend of Music to celebrate Oktoberfest at St. Joseph, one of Detroit's Oldest Catholic Churches

DETROIT, Mich. (WXYZ) - St. Joseph Catholic Church in Detroit is celebrating Oktoberfest with a weekend packed with music.  The fun runs Saturday from 1pm-10pm and Sunday From 11am-7pm at 1828 Jay Street near Detroit's Eastern Market.

The music includes instrumental American Pop, German Tunes, Jazz, Big Band, Carpathian Club Folk Dancers, a Choral Festival and members of the 60's band "The Liras."

"The Liras" are once again highlighting the festival on a mission to help the struggling church with finances.

Michael Soranno and his cousin Sonny Cingolani began "The Liras"  in Soranno's mother's basement back in the 60's.  They reunited three years ago to help raise money for the Church  music program.  St. Joseph  has a longstanding tradition of liturgical music. But lack of funding has been jeopardizing that music program.

So the two original members of "The Liras" dusted of their oldies tunes and brought  in fresh faces to their band:   Soranno's daughters Leslie Karr and Allison Boufford, their brother Paul Soranno and also family friend Jason Wilhoite .

The group will cap off the weekend with a long list of oldies Sunday September 23rd from 5-7pm.

WHERE: St. Joseph Catholic Church
               1828 Jay St.  Detroit (Located at Orleans St. Near I-75 and Gratiot)

 

Rundown of Oktoberfest Events At St. Joseph

Saturday: Sept. 22, 2012: 1pm-10pm

Sunday Sept. 23 11am-7pm

Enjoy authentic German food, beer, & wine

FREE ADMISSION!

Live music:
Saturday
1-4 pm Max Effort at the Keyboard, instrumental American popular music
4-8 pm The Martin Bros. Standards, German tunes
8-10 pm Notre Dame Prep Jazz Band, Big Band sounds

Sunday
11 am -3 pm The Rheinlanders German favorites, pop standards
1:30 pm Carpathian Club Folk Dancers
3-5 pm Choral festival
5-7 pm The Liras

Tours of the church at 5:00 both days.

Sunday Choral Concert:
Choirs Include: The White Pine Glee Club ~ St. Joseph Cappella ~ and more!

Sunday Mass Schedule:
10:00 a.m. German
12:00 noon English

Click here to learn more about St. Joseph Church and Oktoberfest.