Saint Thomas Choir of Men & Boys

[Surpinto]

They sound great as always and the first soloist is excellent!

[Luckdragon]

They sound great as always and the first soloist is excellent!

You have a good ear. I got schooled about that kid when I posted this elsewhere. Here's what they said:

I see in the chorus (as a young man and first soloist), the boy soprano RICHARD PITTSINGER (born 1999), son of the famous opera bass-baritone David Pittsinger.
Apart from other great solos, he was one of the principal soloists (left) in Auerbach's "Dresden Requiem" and "Ode to peace", sung in Dresden on 14 February 2012 (commemorating the destruction of Dresden in 1945).

Stunning, modernist and vocally challenging works, sung by the choristers of St Thomas choir of New York and St Paul's Cathedral choir in London and senior soloists.

As boy sopranos they sang Richard Pittsinger and his partner Jack Keller.

If anyone wants to listen to and enjoy these great works (full length) they can be found on YT. You can listen to the "Ode to Peace" at minute 53:00:

This prompted me to look up his bio (https://www.richardpittsinger.com/biography - now an operatic and concert tenor) and found this about his treble career:

As a young treble, Pittsinger received early training at New York’s prestigious St. Thomas Choir School, recording or performing with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s under the baton of John Scott, the Dresden Symphony with Vladimir Jurowski and, alongside his father David Pittsinger, the Pittsburgh Symphony with Leonard Slatkin. He made his operatic debut at age 11 at the Castleton Festival, subsequently appearing at the Glimmerglass Festival.

He then went on to attend Juilliard and become a professional singer.

[Surpinto]

Wow that's amazing! I know that the choir produces a number of alumni who then go on to become professional musicians themselves. They have done a lot to encourage boys to even compose or arrange their own music, and then have the choir sing the piece during the service.

Currently they have an organ scholar who was just a few years ago a chorister in the choir.

[Yorkie]

Excellent singing, no doubt about that, but that is a horrible dirge of a Christmas Carol. Nearly sent me to sleep and not in a good way. There is a reason I've never heard that one before despite having dozens of carol CDs!

[Luckdragon]

There's still time to get your streaming tickets (USD 20) for the Saturday performance of Christmas on Fifth Avenue, presented by the Boys of Saint Thomas. The Thursday performance was very nice, with a really cute moment where the twins performed a duet.

Tickets: https://www.saintthomaschurch.org/event ... 024-12-21/

2024-12-20_13-36-28.jpg (484.36 KiB) Viewed 18788 times

2024-12-20_13-36-28.jpg (484.36 KiB) Viewed 18788 times

[Surpinto]

Another message from the church. This time I'm not sure what to think. As per earlier in this discussion, the church announced that it would be outsourcing the academic education of the choristers to an outside school due to financial constraints. At the same time the children would be receiving their religious and musical education at the choir school and continue on in a boarding environment. That sounded pretty good at the time from a musical point of view but now we have more information from the church.

Saint Thomas Church has decided to enter into collaboration with Professional Children's School, New York, which, beginning September 2025, will provide the academic education for the choristers of Saint Thomas Church. As we transition to a new collaborative Choir School model, the Vestry of Saint Thomas Church will be making changes to its musical program, including the provision for a separate girls' choir, a choir of professional men and women, and an expanded form of the Noble Singers (a program initiated under Rebecca Kellerman-Filsell) through an outreach project to local children. To implement these broader musical ambitions, both the Vestry and Dr. Filsell feel that fresh musical vision is required, and Jeremy and Rebecca will thus move on from Saint Thomas during the summer of 2025. The Vestry thanks Jeremy for his exemplary musical leadership in the rebuilding of the Choir of Men and Boys following the death of John Scott and the tenure of Daniel Hyde, particularly in light of the difficulties experienced during the pandemic. Over the past six years, Jeremy's expansion of the choir's repertoire, the raising of its profile, and the broadening of the church's concert provision has been quite extraordinary; the standard of singing by the choir of men and boys under Jeremy's leadership has been exceptional. The Vestry is grateful that Jeremy is allowing sufficient time for a search for his successor who will take on these new initiatives and the new model of the Choir School to build on Dr. Filsell's legacy, and develop it still further. The Vestry wishes Jeremy and Rebecca every success in the next stage of their respective careers.

What’s really happening here? If the only change is outsourcing academics to a nearby school, why add two new choir lines – a mixed adult line and a girls’ line?

Since no girls are being recruited into the choir school, the girls’ choir seems separate. Will they add additional choral services to the church worship schedule to accommodate the girls, or will they simply take 1-2 services per week away from the boys? Given trends in other churches I'm speculating the latter.

The mixed adult choir might simply expand the current music selection when the men of the choir fill in when choristers are absent – say during summer or other school vacations. Adult women would definitely round out the sound of the choir during such services, allowing for more diverse musical repertoire, so I think this could be a welcome addition. However, could there be more to it? Might adult women sing with the girls or boys too?

With new choir lines and the musical director’s departure, this raises more questions than answers. My fear is that this opens the door to the choir school model being eventually phased out in favor of a glorified community choir, eroding a century of musical tradition.

And perhaps I’m overanalyzing, but the director’s exit doesn’t seem as mutual as claimed. His reasoning only makes sense if major choir model changes were coming – ones he doesn't support.

[Surpinto]

Interesting that nearly 24 hours later the church feels compelled to send a clarification after (I'm assuming) being bombarded with messages from concerned parishioners and donors.

Since yesterday’s Vestry message, I’ve received a few follow-up questions that prompt me to share more about the future of music-making at Saint Thomas Church Fifth Avenue. The Choir of Men and Boys remains central to our unique choral tradition. Our collaboration with Professional Children's School aims to keep a residential choir school for boys, preserving a tradition that has nearly vanished in the U.S. and faces challenges even in Great Britain. The Vestry is committed to this tradition, and our efforts to expand musical offerings are meant to enrich, not diminish, our mission.



In the 21st century, a Church with our resources should nurture musical formation for many, while also honoring the unique sound of a boys' choir. The boy choristers will continue singing the same number of services as they do now. Sopranos will occasionally join the Gentlemen, especially in the summer, to perform SATB repertoire, while the Gentlemen will also sing independently, as they currently do.



The development of a girls’ choir is in its early stages, inspired by the success of the annual Girl Chorister Course. Ultimately, our recent efforts have been dedicated to preserving the Choir of Men and Boys while exploring ways to share our music with even more people in the future.

hmmmm...so I was right about the mixed adult choir but not about the girls' one that is yet to be formed. Though that still leaves the question of just where the girls will fit into the churches service timetable. Because of the use of professional singers for the back row it's not as simple as just scheduling another service, and costs money. But it's likely they haven't even thought this problem all the way through based on this update.

Some positive news at least!

[Yorkie]

That's good that they have stated their commitment to the traditional choir and no reduction in the number of services song by the boys. Quite frankly that is better than most Cathedrals & colleges in the UK are doing.

I think the big selling point of St Thomas is that Anglican (Episcopalian) choir. Yes, it is expensive but without it they are just another church amongst hundreds of others; the choir is what makes St Thomas almost unique in North America. Lose it and they lose their heart and core and very soon the congregation will start to dwindled.

[Surpinto]

That's good that they have stated their commitment to the traditional choir and no reduction in the number of services song by the boys. Quite frankly that is better than most Cathedrals & colleges in the UK are doing.

I think the big selling point of St Thomas is that Anglican (Episcopalian) choir. Yes, it is expensive but without it they are just another church amongst hundreds of others; the choir is what makes St Thomas almost unique in North America. Lose it and they lose their heart and core and very soon the congregation will start to dwindled.

Very well put!

The Episcopal Church is in precipitous decline and would do well to preserve these cultural gems which would draw people into the door. I was looking this up the other day out of curiosity, and the prediction is that by about 2050 the number of Episcopalians in the United States will be effectively zero, going from a major mainline protestant denomination in the middle of the 20th century to basically a non-entity no one has ever heard of like the Christadelphians.

Sadly even at Saint Thomas the congregation has already started to dwindle and financial intake is also down. I didn't quote the entirety of the email but they mentioned that their annual fundraiser is only at the same level now as in 2017 and 2018. Some of that was an outpouring of support specifically to "save" the choir school (when one donates to the church they can specify how much of the donation goes to the church and how much to the choir school, with most people presumably donating some money to both).

The fact that donations are only barely back up to pre-pandemic levels, while the entire Episcopal Church is in decline overall, doesn't necessarily bode well for the future of the church regardless of the choir school. Nevertheless, it does point to the fact that a revitalization is possible.

They are currently at a crossroads where they could use the choir in a more strategic manner to gain new donors and parishioners. This is something they were bad at doing even in better financial times but they seem much more aware of the reality now based on statements put out by the church the last few years.

I think that some (though not all) of those in charge are keenly aware that if they give up the choir then they may as well shutter the doors tomorrow because then there will be absolutely no hope of revitalizing the church, and at that point they would simply be in the mode of managing decline for the next 20 or so years before the maintenance of the grand Gothic building itself, nevermind the choir, becomes too great.

[Luckdragon]

I refrained from commenting about the original letter because I couldn't fathom the vestry doing anything to affect the Choir of Men and Boys after they recently worked so hard to preserve it.

I'm glad I waited because it now sounds like the changes are mainly for the summer when the boys are on vacation, and it appears that their main goal is to enhance their musical opportunities and offerings during that time.

Saint Thomas has always been very loyal to Anglican tradition, more so than some Anglican churches. I'm relieved to hear that this will continue to be the case.

However, a lot will depend on who they get to replace Dr. Filsell as choir director and the new "musical vision" they bring with them.

[Yorkie]

Oh dear....

https://slippedisc.com/2025/01/discord- ... O7I_1uMNFA

[Surpinto]

Oh dear....

https://slippedisc.com/2025/01/discord- ... O7I_1uMNFA

"A Slippedisc churmouse reports: ‘Jeremy Filsell told the rector and others that he would leave if they took apart the Choir School tradition. He has done the honourable thing. The Rector now has a mega-Church without people in the pews and perhaps not in the choir stalls either.’"

Not exactly the reason that I suspected he would leave but I guess that makes sense, if true. My additional guess is that the increased workload of running so many more groups may also play a part in this.

[Luckdragon]

Oh dear....

https://slippedisc.com/2025/01/discord- ... O7I_1uMNFA

"A Slippedisc churmouse reports: ‘Jeremy Filsell told the rector and others that he would leave if they took apart the Choir School tradition. He has done the honourable thing. The Rector now has a mega-Church without people in the pews and perhaps not in the choir stalls either.’"

Not exactly the reason that I suspected he would leave but I guess that makes sense, if true. My additional guess is that the increased workload of running so many more groups may also play a part in this.

Even in England, the number of churches that can meet his requirements is quickly shrinking (unless he's open to choirs with girls). I wish him luck in finding one.

[Luckdragon]

Newly posted concert from 2016 in Houston, Texas.

[Luckdragon]

Former Saint Thomas chorister Donald Hugh MacBride (1893-1957), sings "Angels Ever Bright and Fair" in 1907 at the age of 14. This is the first known recording of an American treble -- or boy soprano, as we say in America.