Keystone State Boychoir (KSB): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 18:03, 8 December 2021

Channelling the Boundless Energy of Boys into Unforgettable Music Making

Founded in 2001 by Joseph P. Fitzmartin and Steven M. Fisher, Keystone State Boychoir (KSB) has enjoyed unprecedented success for an ensemble so young and is counted among the finest, most successful community-based boychoir choral programs in the world. Under the direction of Co-Artistic Director Frank J. Van Atta, the Boychoir sings a diverse enthralling repertoire from the classical to the contemporary. Major choral works that KSB has performed include Orff’s Carmina Burana, Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Britten’s Ceremony of Carols, Rejoice in the Lamb, and St. Nicolas Cantata, Fauré Requiem and Rutter’s Mass of the Children. The Philadelphia Inquirer review declared KSB’s performance in the Bach St. Matthew Passion “excellent.” Beyond the traditional choral canon, KSB prides itself in singing with authenticity and integrity world music from every corner of the globe, specializing of course in the American genres of folk music, spirituals, gospel, Broadway and jazz. Keystone State Boychoir has sung with the region’s most distinguished ensembles, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia (for which it serves as official boychoir), and the Philadelphia Singers, and at the region’s most prominent venues, including Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, the Academy of Music, the Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Broadway, and Carnegie Hall. Internationally the Boychoir has sung at the Manaus Opera House in Brazil, the Hanoi Opera House in Vietnam, and the Petronas Philharmonik Hall in Malaysia, as well as in venues throughout Alaska, Canada, South Africa, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Australia, Monaco, France, Germany, Austria, and Bulgaria, Norway, England, India, New Zealand, and Tasmania. In December 2009, KSB embarked on a concert tour of Chile as an official part of the country’s 200th-anniversary celebrations. While in Chile, the boys had the honor of presenting President Michelle Bachelet. The concert tour included an excursion to Chile’s Frei Base on King George Island, Antarctica. There the boys sang for scientists from five countries, giving KSB the distinction of bringing the choral arts to the seventh continent for the first time. In doing so, KSB made history as the first choir to have sung on every continent.

Note: The above descriptive information came from the organization's About Keystone State Boychoir page.

In The News

Choir Tour to Germany, Czech Republic Hits Educational Note, Jewish Exponent, July 12, 2017.
Keystone State Boys Choir Brings Home History Lesson From Abroad, CBS-3, July 5, 2017.

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 {{toplink|url=http://www.keystonestateboychoir.org|name=keystonestateboychoir.org}}[[File:KeystoneStateBoychoir.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Keystone State Boychoir in action.]]<blockquote>''Channelling the Boundless Energy of Boys into Unforgettable Music Making''</blockquote>
+Founded in 2001 by Joseph P. Fitzmartin and Steven M. Fisher, Keystone State Boychoir (KSB) has enjoyed unprecedented success for an ensemble so young and is counted among the finest, most successful community-based boychoir choral programs in the world. Under the direction of Co-Artistic Director Frank J. Van Atta,  the Boychoir sings a diverse enthralling repertoire from the classical to the contemporary. Major choral works that KSB has performed include Orff’s Carmina Burana, Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Britten’s Ceremony of Carols, Rejoice in the Lamb, and St. Nicolas Cantata, Fauré Requiem and Rutter’s Mass of the Children. The Philadelphia Inquirer review declared KSB’s performance in the Bach St. Matthew Passion “excellent.” Beyond the traditional choral canon, KSB prides itself in singing with authenticity and integrity world music from every corner of the globe, specializing of course in the American genres of folk music, spirituals, gospel, Broadway and jazz. Keystone State Boychoir has sung with the region’s most distinguished ensembles, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia (for which it serves as official boychoir), and the Philadelphia Singers, and at the region’s most prominent venues, including Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, the Academy of Music, the Mann Center for the Performing Arts, Broadway, and Carnegie Hall. Internationally the Boychoir has sung at the Manaus Opera House in Brazil, the Hanoi Opera House in Vietnam, and the Petronas Philharmonik Hall in Malaysia, as well as in venues throughout Alaska, Canada, South Africa, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Australia, Monaco, France, Germany, Austria, and Bulgaria, Norway, England, India, New Zealand, and Tasmania. In December 2009, KSB embarked on a concert tour of Chile as an official part of the country’s 200th-anniversary celebrations. While in Chile, the boys had the honor of presenting President Michelle Bachelet. The concert tour included an excursion to Chile’s Frei Base on King George Island, Antarctica. There the boys sang for scientists from five countries, giving KSB the distinction of bringing the choral arts to the seventh continent for the first time. In doing so, KSB made history as the first choir to have sung on every continent.
+''Note:''&nbsp;&nbsp;The above descriptive information came from the organization's [http://keystonestateboychoir.org/about/ About Keystone State Boychoir] page.
 ==In The News==