Music in A Time of Transition at Saint Thomas Church
"The boy’s voice is so compelling to us because it’s like the caterpillar, the butterfly or it’s like the rainbow. Why are we fascinated by those things? Because we know they’re about to change into something else." - Jeremy Filsell (from Gramophone Magazine)
Music is a continuum. It spans time and place. And nowhere is that more evident than St. Thomas Church, where I've been attending concerts, recitals and choral evensong services for more than two decades. For those who aren't familiar, St. Thomas - situated just up Fifth Avenue from the far-more-famous (yet musically inferior) St. Patrick's Cathedral, is one of New York's musical crown jewels, thanks largely to the Choir of Men and Boys, widely regarded as the leading Anglican choral ensemble in the U.S., and one of the finest in the world. (St. Thomas also possesses New York's best pipe organ, the Miller-Scott Organ, whose design was overseen by the late St. Thomas (and former St. Paul's Cathedral) Organist and Director of Music John Scott.)
Integral to the sustained excellence of the boys choir has been its residential choir school, which offers a fully immersive education combining rigorous academic, liturgical and musical training. Founded in 1919 by St. Thomas' (and former York Minster) choirmaster T. Tertius Noble, it is one of only three such institutions remaining in the world, along with the Westminster Abbey Choir School in London and Escolania de Montserrat in Barcelona. Alongside a live-in faculty, the 28 choristers are provided with full room and board - not to mention all of the cultural amenities NYC has to offer - at a fraction of the actual cost.
But apparently, the school has long been a financial drain for the church, consuming nearly a third of its $14 million operating budget; long gone are the days when an Astor or Vanderbilt could open up their prodigious wallets and just write a check to cover the cost. After considering a number of undesirable options - up to and including closing the choir school - the vestry, St. Thomas' governing body, decided to outsource the academic component to the Professional Children’s School (PCS) while continuing to offer musical and religious instruction in a residential setting.
Which begs the question: how much will outsourcing the choristers' education to a private day school actually save? Some have gone so far as to claim that the change isn't about finances at all, but rather an attempt to deprioritize the boys choir - St. Thomas' flagship ensemble - in order to make the music program more diverse and inclusive, in line with the rest of contemporary society.
"As we transition to a new collaborative Choir School model," Rector Carl F. Turner wrote in January, "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 through an outreach project to local children."
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