The Newark Boys Chorus is a boys' choir based in Newark, New Jersey. The choir was founded as the New Jersey Symphony Boys Choir in 1966. In 1969, the choir led to the establishment of the Newark Boys Chorus School. The group tours regularly in the United States and abroad.
The chorus was formed with the New Jersey Symphony who needed “angels’ voices” for the “Dance of the Snowflakes” in their production of Tchaikowsky’s “The Nutcracker”. It was James R. McCarthy who undertook the task and found 66 “angels” for use in the production. On December 26, 1966, the chorus finally joined the New Jersey Symphony and the Garden State Ballet in a complete production of the Nutcracker. [1]
The chorus’s debut performance at Newark Symphony Hall was so successful and received such critical acclaim, that additional performances were demanded, which ultimately led to the opening of the Newark Boys Choir School on September 15, 1969. In September 1972, the school adopted the name Newark Boys Choir, which later became the Newark Boys Chorus School. [1]
Known as Newark’s “Musical Ambassadors”, the chorus has been heard throughout the world with a diversified repertoire that includes traditional classical music, spirituals, folk music, and jazz. [2] Since its founding the boys choir has toured nationally and internationally including to such countries as Japan, [3] Latvia, Finland, [2] France, Switzerland, the Caribbean, Russia, Australia, [4] Spain and Portugal. [5] The Newark Boys Chorus has performed in prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, [6] Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, [2] Lincoln Center, and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. The chorus is also involved in many boychoir festivals across the east coast including The Georgia Boy Choir Festival, the Maryland State Boychoir Festival, and Keystone State Boy choir's B1K (Boy choir of One-thousand), a boychoir festival which consist of one thousand male singers, most of whom are a part of boy choirs throughout the United States.
In the 1970s the group commissioned works by Gian Carlo Menotti and Peter Mennin which premiered at Alice Tully Hall. [7] and recorded the Blue Öyster Cult song, "The Golden Age of Leather", on their album Spectres . In October 2007, the Chorus sang in the first public performance at the new Prudential Center. The chorus accompanied the musician Sting in singing a lullaby in his 2009 appearance at Cathedral of St. John the Divine. [8] In December 2011, the group appeared on Fox News with its repertoire of holiday classics. [9]
The Newark Boys Chorus School, founded in 1969, is a private school fully accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools providing academic and musical education for young urban men from the greater Newark area." [2] The school's accreditation status was extended for ten years in Fall 2018. [10]
The War Requiem, Op. 66, is a large-scale setting of the Requiem composed by Benjamin Britten mostly in 1961 and completed in January 1962. The War Requiem was performed for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, which was built after the original fourteenth-century structure was destroyed in a World War II bombing raid. The traditional Latin texts are interspersed, in telling juxtaposition, with extra-liturgical poems by Wilfred Owen, written during World War I.
Westminster Choir College (WCC) is a historic conservatory of music currently operating on the campus of Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Rider's Westminster College of the Arts, the college under which the historic institution has been reorganized, consists of Westminster Choir College as well as Rider's own School of Fine and Performing Art.
The American Boychoir School was a boarding/day middle school located in Princeton, New Jersey, and the home of the American Boychoir. The school originated as the Columbus Boychoir in Columbus, Ohio. In 1950, the school relocated after receiving property in Princeton, New Jersey from the Lambert estate. The relocated school was renamed the American Boychoir School. It remained in this location until the sale of Albemarle in 2012. The school served boys in grades 4–8, many of whom came from across the United States and from many countries. It was one of only two boychoir boarding schools in the United States, the other being Saint Thomas Choir School in New York City. The school provided opportunity to boys from across the world to experience the rich world of music. The Boychoir toured across the contiguous United States, allowing students to gain diverse cultural perspective while performing at the professional level. The American Boychoir performed with numerous orchestras, frequently including the New York Philharmonic as well as the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra.
James Litton is an American musician, who directed the American Boychoir from 1985 to 2001, and is widely recognized as one of the leading choral conductors of the day.
The Pacific Boychoir was formed in 1998 with 6 boys, and it now includes more than 175 singers from ages 4 to 18. The New York Times said the PBA goes “beyond the reach of most youth choirs” and the Los Angeles Times described the PBA quality of sound and musicianship as “astonishing.”
The Raleigh Boychoir is a 70-member choral group based in Raleigh, North Carolina, that trains school-aged boys in singing and performing choral music in the boychoir tradition.
Robert "Bob" Chilcott is a British choral composer, conductor, and singer, based in Oxfordshire, England. He was a member of the King's Singers from 1985 to 1997, singing tenor. He has been a composer since 1997.
Dr. Greg Lyne was an American choral director, arranger, composer and vocal educator. Lyne worked full-time as a coach for choruses and quartets and as a clinician for musical ensembles of all types. He conducted over 300 Festival and All-State Choirs throughout the US, including Alaska and Hawaii, and in Canada, England, Scotland and Russia. In Russia, he presented master classes at the St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music to European musicians. Lyne is the only American listed in the Russian version of Who's Who. He also served as a guest conductor of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.
St. Paul's Choir School is a Catholic choir school located at the Church of St. Paul, Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1963, by Dr. Theodore Marier (1912-2001), the middle school for boys in third through eighth grades is the only boys' choir school in the United States of America affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church, and one of the few church-affiliated choir schools in the United States. The Choir School educates and trains the choirboys who sing soprano in the choir of St. Paul's, a choir of boys and men. The choir sings for liturgical services at St. Paul's Church and performs primarily in and around the Boston area. It is located within the Archdiocese of Boston.
The Maryland State Boychoir is an internationally touring American boys' choir based in Baltimore, Maryland. It was founded in 1987 by Frank Cimino, and was designated by Maryland Governor William Donald Schaefer as "Maryland's Official Goodwill Ambassadors". The choir is a donor-supported 501(c)3 organization that provides talented boys an opportunity to sing at a professional level while developing their self-esteem, self-discipline, and character.
Philadelphia Boys Choir & Chorale is a boys' choir and men's chorale based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, currently under the direction of Jeffrey R. Smith. They are known as "America's Ambassadors of Song" and are considered to be one of the best boys choirs in the world. They have performed in concert venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, the Kimmel Center, Notre Dame de Paris, King's College Cathedral, and Philadelphia's Academy of Music.
The Ragazzi Boys Chorus is a boys' and young men's chorus in the San Francisco Bay Area. The chorus was formed in 1987 with 6 boys, and it now includes more than 250 singers from 100 schools in 30 Bay Area communities including San Mateo, Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties. The chorus participated in San Francisco Symphony's recording of Perséphone, which was included in the Symphony's album that won a Grammy Award for Best Classical Album in 2000. The choir has placed highly in numerous international competitions. It also auditions the most singers to either national or state American Choral Directors Association honor choirs each year.
The Choral Arts Society of Washington is a major choral organization based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1965 by Norman Scribner, it is regarded as one of the premier symphonic choruses in the United States. The Choral Arts Society of Washington consists of three vocal ensembles; the Choral Arts Chorus, the Choral Arts Chamber Singers, and the Choral Arts Youth Choir.
The Houston Boychoir (HBC) is a non-profit, independent vocal training and music education organization in Greater Houston, Texas, US.
John Morris Russell, also known as JMR, is an American orchestral conductor best known for his association with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. He lives in Cincinnati with his wife and two children.
Monmouth Civic Chorus is a community chorus in Monmouth County, New Jersey, USA. The Monmouth Civic Chorus was established in 1949 and draws its members primarily from the Monmouth County community. Its performances encompass choral classics; premieres; rare and contemporary music; musical theater, opera, and operetta. The annual December concert features selections from Handel's Messiah and well-known holiday music; Christmas carols and small-ensemble performances around the community; and collaborations with arts partners. Monmouth Civic Chorus has performed on tour in many European countries, and at numerous performance venues in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
Fernando Malvar-Ruiz is a musician.
The Texas Boys Choir is a mixed-voice boychoir located in Fort Worth, Texas. Since its founding in 1946 by George Washington Bragg, the Texas Boys Choir has grown from a mere twenty-six voices to a choral program consisting of close to eighty boys.
Herbert Brown Huffman (1905–1968) was a prominent American choral director during the mid 20th century who founded the Columbus Boychoir School, now the American Boychoir School. For over 75 years, this internationally acclaimed choral group has performed in venues across the United States and in overseas locations.
The GRAMMY Award-winning National Children's Chorus of the United States of America (NCC) is a private, non-profit organization, and one of the largest children's choruses in the world. It has 1,000 choristers and its members are between the ages of five and eighteen, and divided into Junior Division and Senior Division across its seven chapter cities - Los Angeles, New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Austin, Dallas and Boston.