Concerts this weekend will take place:

Saturday, May 1, 7:30 pm – Memorial Hall
Sunday, May 2, 4:00 pm – St. Mary Church Hyde Park

Click to download flyer .pdf.

45th Anniversary Event!

One If By Land, Two If By Sea

Folksongs, hymns, and know-it-by-heart arrangements from the American colonial period through today. Come celebrate the Boychoir’s 45th anniversary with this gala concert event! Featuring all four choirs of the Cincinnati Boychoir – Tour, Resident, Training, and Alumni.

Repertoire includes:

Stephen Foster Songs
Spirituals and Hymn Arrangments
Patriotic Americana

Buy Tickets

Saturday, May 1st, 7:30 pm
Memorial Hall
1225 Elm St. Cincinnati, OH 45202 [Map]

Sunday, May 2nd, 4:00 pm
St Mary Church Hyde Park
2853 Erie Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45208 [Map]

The audition will take place during a regular rehearsal of the Training Choir, and parents are welcome to stay and observe. Boys will be auditioned in small groups during the rehearsal (apart from the large group). Each boy will be asked to match a pitch on the piano, repeat short pitch patterns, and to sing a familiar song like “Happy Birthday”.

Families will be notified of acceptance by mail or email within one week of the audition.

Auditions are open to any boy entering the third through sixth grades; it is encouraged to obtain a teacher recommendation and to call ahead to make an appointment.

For more information, call (513) 396-7664 or email sing@cincinnatiboychoir.org.

Landscape Mural by Robert S. Duncanson. Property of the Taft Museum of Art.

On Sunday, March 28, the Cincinnati Boychoir will appear in a short performance in the Music Room of the Taft Museum of Art. The program, entitled Art | Song will pair music with the works of art in the museum; listeners are invited to sit and enjoy the concert, or wander and look at the artworks. A ‘menu’ of pairings will be provided.

The concert was recently featured in The Voice, the magazine of Chorus America, as part of a series on innovative programming.

Initially inspired by the Duncanson murals at the Taft (which will be paired with the music of Harry T. Burleigh), the concert will also feature music of Bach and Delibes.

Taft Museum of Art
316 Pike Street Cincinnati, OH 45202-4293
Sunday, March 28, 2010, 3:30 pm
Regular museum admission: $8 adults, $6 seniors, youth free. No children under 10.
Call for reservations: (513) 684-4515

Because the Cincinnati Boychoir has a particular interest in promoting male choral ensembles, we want you to know about the following event taking place on March 20th. Have worked with these gentleman several times in the past, I can promise you will be in for loads of fun! – Christopher Eanes

“The premier men’s vocal ensemble in the United States.”  Fanfare Magazine

Come hear CANTUS male vocal ensemble live at NKU’s Greaves Hall on March 20th, at 8pm.Tickets $20 Adult/$10 Student  859-572-5464

— Renowned male vocal ensemble CANTUS makes its Northern Kentucky debut this March 20^th with Elemental, an eclectic concert with music about the elements:  Earth, Wind, Fire, and Water, and the things that are “elemental” to our lives.  Included are Lerner and Loewe’s They Call the Wind Maria, Eric Whitacre’s beautiful Lux Aurumque, favorites Loch Lomond and Been in the Storm, Veljo Tormis’ Songs of the Ancient Sea, and The Eagles’ Seven Bridges Road.

About Cantus

Recognized as one of America’s finest vocal ensembles, Cantus enjoys a vigorous schedule of international touring, concerts in its home of Minneapolis/St. Paul, educational outreach programs, and recording. Fanfare Magazine recently named the group the “premier men’s vocal ensemble in the United States.” Rehearsing and performing without a conductor or music director, the nine members of Cantus are renowned for adventurous programming, spanning many periods and genres, including work created by its members or commissioned by the group.

One of the few full-time ensembles in the world, Cantus gives around 70 concerts annually, with performances ranging from tours with major orchestras (Boston Pops, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra), to intimate concerts in small chapels and recital halls.

Experience the ethereal sound of boys’ voices in a program of music from the sacred to the insane! All three treble choirs from the Cincinnati Boychoir will perform. Enjoy meditative music in two of Cincinnati’s most beautiful churches – Christ Church Cathedral, and St. Mary Church Hyde Park. Receptions will follow each concert.
Artistic Director Chris Eanes will talk about the Boychoir, changing voices, and the Mystics & Madmen concert Thursday, March 11, between 9:45 and 10:00 am on WGUC 90.9.

Repertoire includes:

Messe Breve – Lèo Delibes
Knee Play 5 from Einstein on the Beach – Philip Glass
Nigra Sum – Pablo Casals

Click here to buy tickets

Saturday, March 13th, 7:30 pm
Christ Church Cathedral
318 E 4th St, Cincinnati, OH 45202 [Map]

Sunday, March 14th, 4:00 pm
St Mary Church Hyde Park
2853 Erie Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45208 [Map]

Join our Facebook fan page for photos, videos, and upcoming special events!

Robert McSpadden, a Music Supervisor in the Cincinnati Public School, founded the group in 1965 as the All City Boys’ Choir; three boys from each public school were recommended to the choir, “chosen on the basis of citizenship and character as well as musicianship.” The group was limited to forty boys, and made regular appearances with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Cincinnati May Festival.

Concert at St. John’s Unitarian Universalist

Sunday, March 7th, 3:00 pm
320 Resor Avenue, Clifton, Cincinnati, 45220

Mystics & Madmen

Saturday, March 13th, 7:30 pm
Sunday, March 14th, 4:00 pm
[Click for Details & Tickets]

Track Of The Week

This week’s selection is a setting of “Amazing Grace” arranged and directed by Randall Wolfe, and comes from the Boychoir’s first America Sings! album. If you can’t access the selection, please visit our blog page directly.

The Boychoir will begin the celebration of its anniversary season with a program entitled “Mystics & Madmen” on Saturday, March 13th, at Christ Church Cathedral, and Sunday, March 14, at St. Mary Church Hyde Park. The program will feature all three choirs in works that highlight the ethereal nature of boys’ voices; selections by Delibes, Glass, Faurè, and Casals range from the intimate and sacred to the just plain bizarre.

Can you tell us what year this newspaper clipping appeared? Let us know if you can!

As a prelude to the anniversary, we will be posting a ‘track of the week’ here on our blog. This week’s selection, the Shaker Tune “Welcome Here” comes from the Boychoir’s first album, The Cincinnati All-City Boys’ Choir 1969-1970, conducted by the founding director, Bob McSpadden.

In an attempt to create a more complete history of the Boychoir, the staff encourages any former Boychoir singer (particularly those from the ‘60s and ‘70s) to get in touch with the Boychoir office, or to fill out the Alumni Information form.

Stay tuned for more historic recordings and more information about our Anniversary celebration!

Additionally, on Sunday, May 16th, Boychoir member Julien Thomas (New Vienna, OH) will be singing the treble solo in Benjamin Britten’s Festival Te Deum at the May Festival’s Chorus’ annual concert at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington, KY. May Festival Music Director James Conlon will conduct the concert.

Read more about the May Festival’s Season.

In July of 2010, boys from the Cincinnati Boychoir will appear in the Cincinnati Opera’s production of Puccini’s La Bohème. The Boychoir and the Opera are both celebrating anniversaries this year: 90 for the Opera, and 45 for the Boychoir. John Keenan conducts. Read more about the Cincinnati Opera’s production.

The season began with the Cincinnati May Festival’s annual Carolfest celebration at Music Hall; the choir was introduced by the May Festival Chorus’s music Director Robert Porco, and performed a short set for an audience of nearly 3,500. It was a long day for the boys – the first rehearsal was at 9:00 am, the last performance finished at 5:00 pm, and down time was spent playing cards, munching on pizza, and rehearsing for the upcoming subscription concerts.

The following day, after a private concert at Deupree House in Hyde Park, the Boychoir appeared as special guests on the Blue Ash-Montgomery Symphony Orchestra’s Holiday Program (Michael Chertock, conductor), joining together for carols and a beautiful rendition of “God Bless America.” Plans are already in the works for future appearances with this top-notch orchestra for upcoming seasons.

Missed the Boychoir in concert this December? Use the player below to listen to a medley of carols (Randall Wolfe, conductor), from the album “Gift,” now available for purchase.

To cap off the season, the Christmas With The Cincinnati Boychoir subscription concerts filled both venues – Saturday night at the First United Church of Christ in College Hill, and Sunday afternoon at St. Mary Church in Hyde Park. Audiences turned out for a program of readings and carols, from the traditional (“Ding Dong, Merrily on High”) to the contemporary (“O magnum mysterium” by Morten Lauridsen). The readings loosely traced the nativity story, with interpolated poetry by Langston Hughes, Robert Frost, and others. Additionally, the newly formed Alumni Chorus made their debut with a setting of “Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming” and American composer Randall Thompson’s “Stopping By The Woods” from his Frostiana. The Alumni Chorus is made up of men ages 15 and up who are graduates of the Boychoir program; they will begin regular rehearsals in late January.

If you spend time downtown, you may have caught a glimpse of the Cincinnati Boychoir at several locations this December; on a Friday afternoon early in the month, the boys participated in a carol-a-thon, wandering between building lobbies to bring a bit of holiday cheer to the hustle and bustle of business life downtown. The finale of the season came in an unlikely place, as well: on the big screen in Fountain Square! This past Saturday evening, all three of the treble choirs caroled next to the fountain, preceding the arrival of Santa and a fantastic fireworks display. Despite the light rain falling, the boys joined together to sing favorite holiday hits.

And so the season is off and running! Aside from the subscription concerts taking place in March and May, the boys will perform upwards of twenty concerts between January and July, including appearances with the May Festival and the Cincinnati Opera. If you attended any of the December concerts, we welcome you to leave a comment here!