Les Petits Chanteurs de Sainte-Croix - The Paris Boys Choir

The Paris Boys Choir (Les Petits Chanteurs de Sainte-Croix de Neuilly) is a boys' choir created in 1956 at Collège Sainte-Croix de Neuilly in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. Louis Prudhomme founded the choir in 1956, as a revival to one of the Collège's oldest institutions: the Schola, an elite choir born at the same time as Sainte-Croix itself and much celebrated at the time by poet and alumnus

Henry de Montherlant Henry Marie Joseph Frédéric Expedite Millon de Montherlant (; 20 April 1895 – 21 September 1972) was a French essayist, novelist, and dramatist. He was elected to the Académie française in 1960. Biography Born in Paris, a descendant ...

. Prudhomme significantly developed the choir's activities and built strong ties with the nascent Pueri Cantores federation, instituted by Monseigneur Maillet – the founder of Les Petits Chanteurs à la Croix de Bois – making it one France's utmost children's choirs. In 1985,

François Polgár François Polgár (born 19 October 1946) is a contemporary French choral conductor, organist, composer and musicologist. Biography Family Polgár was born in Boulogne-Billancourt, the son of André Polgár, an engineer, CEO and Catherine Ga ...

– a Sainte-Croix alumnus who then successively became assistant director of Les Chœurs de l'

Opéra de Paris The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

and director of Le Chœur de

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– was asked by Prudhomme to succeed him. Faithful to his predecessor's philosophy and impetus, Polgár embarked the choir on a path of radical modernization. Les Petits Chanteurs de Sainte-Croix de Neuilly were redeployed into a "Maîtrise": a specially adapted curriculum was crafted at Sainte-Croix for boy pupils willing to practice intensive choir singing and live a unique experience based on music apprenticeship and teamwork, while pursuing regular academic studies. The choir contributes to the Collège's milestone ceremonies and is at the heart of the students' musical experience. It makes frequent appearances in world-class festivals (

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, Aix-en-Provence, Auvers-sur-Oise,

Wengen Wengen () is a mountain village in the Bernese Oberland of central Switzerland. Located in the canton of Bern at an elevation of above sea level, it is part of the Jungfrauregion and has approximately 1,300 year-round residents, which swells to ...

, etc.) and regularly performs great pieces with orchestra ( Mozart's Requiem, Fauré's Requiem, Handel's

Messiah In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; , ; , ; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of '' mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach ...

, etc.). Its repertoire also includes a variety of ''a cappella'' liturgical and profane songs. Every summer, The Paris Boys Choir go on tour, in France and around the world. They have performed in every region in France, and they have also sung including the US, the UK, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Canada, numerous Eastern European countries. François Polgár trained the actors of the movie Of Gods and Men who were to play monks in the Cistercian and

Gregorian chant Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainsong, plainchant, a form of monophony, monophonic, unaccompanied sacred song in Latin (and occasionally Greek (language), Greek) of the Roman Catholic Church. Gregorian chant developed ma ...

s. French DJ and producer

Martin Solveig Martin Laurent Picandet (; born 22 September 1976), better known by his stage name Martin Solveig (), is a French DJ, singer, songwriter and record producer. He hosts a weekly radio show called ''C'est La Vie'' on radio stations worldwide, incl ...

was a soprano soloist in The Paris Boys Choir as he was a child, under the direction of François Polgár.''C à vous'' programme, France 5, February 22nd, 2012 On its website, The Paris Boys Choir reassess the singer's mission statement: "Through our singing and our actions as 'Missionaries of Peace', we pledge to deepen our spiritual reflection and that of our public. Through our hard work, recordings and live performances, we seek ever improving musical quality and vow to contribute to the renewal of the French children's choir school."

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The Paris Boys Choir - Petits chanteurs de Sainte-Croix de Neuilly

Institution Notre-Dame-de-Sainte-Croix
{{DEFAULTSORT:Petits Chanteurs De Sainte-Croix De Neuilly French choirs Musical groups from Île-de-France Choirs of children Musical groups established in 1956 1956 establishments in France

See also

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