Saint Thomas Choir School is a church-affiliated boarding choir school in

Manhattan, New York Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. stat ...

, founded in 1919. The school is supported by the nearby Saint Thomas Church, an Episcopal church, continuing the Anglican tradition of all-male choral ensembles. Saint Thomas is one of three choir schools that exclusively educate boy trebles of the choir, and where all boys are required to board at the school (

Westminster Abbey Choir School Westminster Abbey Choir School is a boarding preparatory school for boys in Westminster, London and the only remaining choir school in the United Kingdom which exclusively educates choristers (i.e. only choirboys attend the school). It is loca ...

in England and Escolania de Montserrat in Spain being the other two). Students ranging from age 8 to 14 reside and study at the choir school, a 14-story building located at 202 West 58th Street in

midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...

, one block south of

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

. Since 2005, the school has offered a summer residential Girl Chorister Course.

History

Saint Thomas Choir School was founded in 1919 by the vestry of Saint Thomas Church at the urging of T. Tertius Noble, an English-born organist and composer, who had been the organist of Saint Thomas Church since 1913. The school officially opened on March 3, 1919 at its first location, a four-story building at 123 West 55th Street. In 1985, the church sold the West 55th Street school to Fisher Brothers, property developers, who in turn agreed to build a new choir school designed by the architecture firm

Buttrick White & Burtis Buttrick White & Burtis (also known as BWB) was an architecture firm established in New York City in 1981 by the architects Harold Buttrick, Samuel G. White, and Theodore A. Burtis III. The firm remained active until 2002. Harold Buttrick left the ...

. Fisher Brothers built the new school on a wide lot on West 58th Street, having demolished the Elysee Theater (a television studio since 1955, and a theatre or a cinema since 1926). The $18 million, school building was clad with red brick on a granite base, with a central three-story window trimmed in Indiana limestone. It rises six stories "before stepping back twenty feet to an eight-story tower with a gabled roof that houses a chapel." The new school opened in September 1987.

Student life

Students participate in a liturgical music program while studying academic subjects such as English, science, history, mathematics, Latin, French, music theory, and theology. Students also participate in an athletic program, competing against local private schools in soccer, basketball, and track. Students are admitted on a rolling basis. The school schedules auditions three times a year for boys entering the third, fourth, and fifth grade. Third grade students must live close enough to New York City to return home each weekend and return on Sunday evening, a requirement waived for fourth and fifth graders.

Other opportunities

The Choir School offers employment to students taking a year out between high school and college. They assist in classroom and sports programs, and help in the preparation of the choristers’ instrumental practice. Most gap students have a choral background and an understanding of the daily routine and needs of a choir school. Acceptance is competitive.

Saint Thomas Choir

Currently (2022) directed by Jeremy Filsell, the choir performs regularly with the period instrument ensemble Concert Royal, and with the Orchestra of St. Luke's as part of its own concert series. The choir's primary raison d'être, however, is to provide music for five choral services each week at St. Thomas Church. Whereas the men of the Saint Thomas Choir are professional singers, the boy choristers are students of the Saint Thomas Choir School. In addition to annual performances of Handel's Messiah, concerts at Saint Thomas Church have included requiems by Fauré, Brahms, Mozart, Duruflé, and Howells; Bach's Passions and Mass in B Minor; the Monteverdi Vespers of 1610; a Henry Purcell anniversary concert; Rachmaninoff Vespers; the U.S. premiere of John Tavener's Mass; a concert of American composers featuring works by

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

and

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later a conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as "the Dean of American Com ...

; a composition by Saint Thomas chorister Daniel Castellanos; the world premiere of Scott Eyerly's Spires; and a concert of works by Benjamin Britten. The choir has toured throughout the U.S. and Europe, performing at Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral in London; Kings College, Cambridge; Windsor; Edinburgh; St. Albans; and at the Aldeburgh Festival. In 2004, the choir toured Italy and performed at a Papal Mass at the Vatican. In 2007, the choir performed Bach's Saint Matthew Passion for the opening concert of the Mexico Festival in Mexico City as well as at Saint Thomas Church. In February 2012, the boys of the choir traveled to Dresden to give the premiere of Lera Auerbach's Dresden Requiem with the Dresden Staatskapelle at the Frauenkirche and at the

Semperoper The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the ...

. Later in 2012, the choir performed in the Thomaskirche at the Bachfest Leipzig, a highlight of their tour to Germany and Copenhagen.

Head staff

:;Headmasters of the Choir School :*Clarence Jack Smith, 1919 :*Raymond Wallace Gauger, 1920–1922 :*Herbert H. Hannan, 1923–1925 :*Clair J. Smith, 1926–1927 :*Charles Mead Benham, 1928–1942 :*The Rev. James O. Carson Jr, 1943–1944 :*Leon D. Phillips, 1945–1949 :*Henry B. Roney Jr, 1950–1955 :*Robert Porter, 1955–1966 :*Gordon H. Clem, 1967–1995 :*Murray Lawrence, 1995–1997 :*Gordon Roland-Adams, 1997–2004 :*The Rev. Charles Wallace, 2004-2019 :*Amalia Francisco (Interim), 2020-2021 :*Christopher Seeley, 2021-present :;Organists and Choirmasters :* T. Tertius Noble, 1913–1940 :* T. Frederick Candlyn, 1940–1954 :* William Self, 1954–1971 :* Gerre Hancock, 1971–2004 :;Organists and Directors of MusicThe organist's title changed in 2005 to reflect the changes among other American and English cathedrals :*

John Scott John Scott may refer to: Academics * John Scott (1639–1695), English clergyman and devotional writer * John Witherspoon Scott (1800–1892), American minister, college president, and father of First Lady Caroline Harrison * John Work Scott (180 ...

, 2004–2015 :* Daniel Hyde, 2016–2019 :* Jeremy Filsell, 2019–present

Notable alumni

* Kit Culkin, actor *

John Hine Mundy John Hine Mundy (December 29, 1917 – April 13, 2004) was a British-American medievalist. He was professor of history emeritus at Columbia University, where he taught for more than forty years. Biography Mundy was born on December 29, 1917, in ...

, British-American medievalist, professor at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

* Steve Sandvoss, actor * Gunther Schuller, jazz and classical composer * Chris Wylde, actor

References

External links

Saint Thomas Choir SchoolSaint Thomas ChurchLive webcasts of all choral services and further information, including recordings of the choir
{{Boys' schools in New York City Choir schools Episcopal schools in the United States Private middle schools in Manhattan Private elementary schools in Manhattan Educational institutions established in 1919 1919 establishments in New York City Boys' schools in New York City Buildings and structures in Manhattan Postmodern architecture in New York City Midtown Manhattan