AUBURN - Like their album title suggests, the American Boychoir truly has “Voices of Angels.”
Glenn Gaston / The Citizen
The American Boychoir performs at St. Mary's Church in Auburn, Monday evening.
The American Boychoir performs at St. Mary's Church in Auburn, Monday evening.
The ensemble, which is part of the American Boychoir School in Princeton, N.J., is celebrating its 70th anniversary.
Since the choir was first founded in 1937, in Columbus, Ohio, the group has performed on national television, sung for U.S. presidents and has had numerous appearances worldwide.
In essence, the ensemble is the most well-known boys' choir in the nation.
On Monday night, area music lovers were treated to the group's heavenly voices when they presented a concert at St. Mary's Church, in Auburn.
The performance, which was sponsored in part by First Niagara Bank, featured 25 holiday-themed songs both sacred and contemporary by the 30-member ensemble.
“We received an e-mail from (the group) requesting that they let us perform here,” said the Rev. Frank E. Lioi, St. Mary's pastor, before the concert began.
Their current tour of the Northeast is concentrated in New York, he continued, so the group looked at different areas before deciding on St. Mary's.
After the choir finalized its tour stop here, Lioi said that because of the group's requirements, such as providing a pre-concert meal and housing for choir members after the performance, the church decided to form a committee just for such events.
“This type of concert is quite different from the ones we usually host ... we formed a cultural art committee who will organize (events) like this in the future.”
For example, on Sunday, December 16, St. Mary's will host a return engagement of Madrigalia, a Rochester-based chamber ensemble that will also perform a holiday concert.
The American Boychoir, and in turn the school, consists of adolescents from fourth through eighth grades, and the school currently has pupils from 30 states and two foreign countries.
The choir has released more than 20 albums and concert videos, one of which is “Voices of Angels,” a collection of Christmas music.
“That CD, and our program tonight, tries to capture the true spirit of the holidays,” said Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, ensemble conductor, prior to the concert.
“This is such a special time of the year in so many different places ... we want to contribute with music.”
That contribution was enormous Monday night, as the choir began the concert standing in a line at the rear of the sanctuary. As the audience, which filled every pew, craned its collective neck to watch, a boy sang the first bars of the contemporary Christmas hymn, “Jesus Christ the Apple Tree.”
When the rest of the ensemble joined the soloist, music as pure as the snowflakes falling outside filled the church.
The rest of the concert featured holiday songs both old and new, with standards like “Carol of the Bells” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” interspersed with sacred works such as “In the Bleak Midwinter.”
“Like most people, (our choir) loves Christmas, and we're happy to share some of the joys of the season,” Malvar-Ruiz said.
If You Go
Who: Madrigalia
Where: St. Mary's Church, 15 Clark St., Auburn
When: 3:30 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 16
Cost: Adults, $10; Students, $5; Families, $25
For more information, call 252-9545.
Since the choir was first founded in 1937, in Columbus, Ohio, the group has performed on national television, sung for U.S. presidents and has had numerous appearances worldwide.
In essence, the ensemble is the most well-known boys' choir in the nation.
On Monday night, area music lovers were treated to the group's heavenly voices when they presented a concert at St. Mary's Church, in Auburn.
The performance, which was sponsored in part by First Niagara Bank, featured 25 holiday-themed songs both sacred and contemporary by the 30-member ensemble.
“We received an e-mail from (the group) requesting that they let us perform here,” said the Rev. Frank E. Lioi, St. Mary's pastor, before the concert began.
Their current tour of the Northeast is concentrated in New York, he continued, so the group looked at different areas before deciding on St. Mary's.
After the choir finalized its tour stop here, Lioi said that because of the group's requirements, such as providing a pre-concert meal and housing for choir members after the performance, the church decided to form a committee just for such events.
“This type of concert is quite different from the ones we usually host ... we formed a cultural art committee who will organize (events) like this in the future.”
For example, on Sunday, December 16, St. Mary's will host a return engagement of Madrigalia, a Rochester-based chamber ensemble that will also perform a holiday concert.
The American Boychoir, and in turn the school, consists of adolescents from fourth through eighth grades, and the school currently has pupils from 30 states and two foreign countries.
The choir has released more than 20 albums and concert videos, one of which is “Voices of Angels,” a collection of Christmas music.
“That CD, and our program tonight, tries to capture the true spirit of the holidays,” said Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, ensemble conductor, prior to the concert.
“This is such a special time of the year in so many different places ... we want to contribute with music.”
That contribution was enormous Monday night, as the choir began the concert standing in a line at the rear of the sanctuary. As the audience, which filled every pew, craned its collective neck to watch, a boy sang the first bars of the contemporary Christmas hymn, “Jesus Christ the Apple Tree.”
When the rest of the ensemble joined the soloist, music as pure as the snowflakes falling outside filled the church.
The rest of the concert featured holiday songs both old and new, with standards like “Carol of the Bells” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” interspersed with sacred works such as “In the Bleak Midwinter.”
“Like most people, (our choir) loves Christmas, and we're happy to share some of the joys of the season,” Malvar-Ruiz said.
If You Go
Who: Madrigalia
Where: St. Mary's Church, 15 Clark St., Auburn
When: 3:30 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 16
Cost: Adults, $10; Students, $5; Families, $25
For more information, call 252-9545.
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