Music in A Time of Transition at Saint Thomas Church

Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys 

"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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Coda: Michael Tilson Thomas Conducts His Final Concerts at the New World Symphony

Michael Tilson Thomas, New World Symphony, 3/29/25
Michael Tilson Thomas with the New World Symphony, 3/29/25

Photo: Alex Markow

"A 'coda' is a musical element at the end of a composition that brings the whole piece to a conclusion...My life’s coda is generous and rich." - Michael Tilson Thomas

MIAMI BEACH, FL - It feels like a big deal when a well-known musician announces their retirement. In rock, a band will often put on a farewell tour, culminating in a final concert that is more often than not captured for posterity. In opera, a star singer's departure is usually met with deep mourning and accelerated ticket prices. Same goes for popular singers such as Johnny Mathis, who just announced he'll be playing his final show next month out in Englewood, NJ. 

In orchestral music, where conductors tend to persist well into their 80's and beyond, the end isn't usually revealed in advance. When Leonard Bernstein conducted what turned out to be his final concert at Tanglewood in 1990, he hadn't yet announced his retirement, despite his obvious poor health. Only the ominous thunderstorms that day - almost unheard of when Lenny was at Tanglewood - offered any indication that this might be his last appearance. 

In the case of Bernstein's one-time mentee, Michael Tilson Thomas, we've known for some time that his conducting days were numbered, having been diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer back in 2022. For awhile, it seemed as if MTT would defy the dire odds, continuing to conduct orchestras across the U.S. and Europe with poise and finesse, including this season's opening night with the NY Phil where he seemed, "alert and ardent, even hopping a few inches into the air at one full-hearted moment" (NY Times). I last saw him conduct Beethoven's 9th at Tanglewood in 2022, and he seemed fully engaged, if perhaps a bit less energetic than in the past.

Then, in February, MTT published a note revealing that the brain tumor had returned and thus would be winding down his public appearances. But, not before honoring two final engagements with the orchestras that mean the most to him. On April 26, he'll lead his own 80th birthday concert in his adopted home of San Francisco with the SF Symphony and Chorus and a host of big-name singers.

As festive as I'm sure that event will be, I was more interested in Michael's concerts this past weekend with the New World Symphony, the post-conservatory orchestra he co-founded in Miami Beach in 1987 and led for 35 years, right up until his diagnosis. I got to spend several days with MTT and the talented New World fellows back in 2018, and came away deeply impressed not just by the high level of musicianship, but by the direct influence MTT has had on almost all aspects of New World's operations: from the curriculum, to the high-tech classrooms with remote learning capabilities, to the Frank Gehry-designed New World Center and its "Michael Tilson Thomas Performance Hall." Indeed, it's difficult to imagine a New World Symphony without him.

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Boulez @100

Boulez CSO 2009
Pierre Boulez with the Chicago Symphony, Carnegie Hall, March 2009

"When he first entered class, (Boulez) was very nice. But soon he became angry with the whole world. He thought everything was wrong with music...He was like a lion that had been flayed alive, he was terrible!" - Olivier Messiaen, 1944

Today would have been Pierre Boulez' 100th birthday, which I've been reminded of by more than a few panegyric posters today on social media. I do wonder how many of these admirers have spent serious time with Boulez' thorny, challenging music, or attended one of the countless concerts he conducted here in New York, either as music director of the NY Phil (1971-77) or as a guest conductor with a range of orchestras at Carnegie Hall. (The Phil has posted a selection of archival material on Google, in lieu of programming any of Boulez' actual music this season.)

Having heard Boulez' music and seen him conduct a few times in the twilight of his career, my impression was that he was a formidable, unsentimental character who always seemed to get exactly what he wanted, with the greatest economy of means. Which is more than can be said of most of today's podium dancers.

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