Milford chronicle., 1962-10-19

/ ing autractlOn, DuUtne cdreIully
hand-picked and specially-trained
top-level group of permanent
choir organization and year-round
choir school headquantered in FIT.
Worth, where the Fort Worth Boys
Choir Foundation supports a facul-
ty and curriculum for choir train
ing unexcelled anywhere in h e
world. Some one-hundred and fifty
boys, chosen through additions
held twice yearly, constitute the
basic Texas Boys Choir, from
which the concert choir is chosen.
The boys are divided into three
groups-based on learning abil
ity, pitch and voice quality-an
are rehearsed as many as ten
hours a week around the calendar.
In addition to choral rehearsals,
there are classes in repertoire
languages, sight reading and sol
fege Each boy is given private
voice lessons and lessons in dane
ing and fencing to develop grace
and freedom of movement on
stage. Additional courses in travel
manners and table etiquette pre-
pare them for their world tours.
Many of the Texas choirboys are
also enrolled at the Trinity Valley
School for Boys, a private e
academic preparatory school run
in association with the Texas Boys
Choir and covering the third
through the eighth grades in an
accelerated curriculum.
Both the Texas Boys Choir and
the Trinity Valley School bring to
reality a lifelong dream of Geo.
Bragg, a young man from Missis-
sippi who was himself a member
for six years of the worldtouring
Apollo Boys Choir and who has
spent more than half of his thirty
odd years in study under t h e
worlds great choirmasters. When
he moved to Denton, Texas, in
1854 to attend North Texas State
College, the Dean encouraged him
to earn money towards his tuition
and living by teaching choral sing
ing to local schoolboys and to-
gether they persuaded the Denton
Chamber of Commerce to pay
Bragg the munificent sum of $40
a month to operate what became
known as the Denton Civic Boys
Choir. The reputation Of this
group, trained by George Bragg to
a miracle of ensemble, spre d
rapidly throughout the area and
before long several busloads of
youngsters were coming over each
week from Fort Worth to join the
Denton choir. When the Fort
Worth city fathers got word of
this, they persuaded Bragg to
transfer his base to the larger city
and, in 1852, some fifty citizens of
Fort Worth, representing all walks
of life, incorporated the Fort
Worth Boy Choir Foundation to in
sure the continuation of the Texas
Boys Choir, provide it with suit
able year-round headquarters and
training facilities, and made pos
sible its first tours as cultural
ambassadors for the Lone Star
State.
To date, the Texas Boys Choir
has travelled more than thirty
thousand miles through most of
the United States, Mexico and Eu-
rope, filling more than seven-hun-
dred major concert engagements;
has scored repeated hits on such
popular network radio and tele-
vision programs as the Dave Gar
roway, Pat Boone and Calendar"
Shows; and has recorded for the
Decca Gold Label. On their most
recent European tour, the boys
participated in the h istoric
Eisteddfod in Wales, and in the
Festival of Holland; performed at
Westminster Abbey in London;
and had the honor of singing High
Mass for Pope John XIII at st.
Peters in Rome. When they made
their New York debut at Town
Hall in November of 1861 = a
concert described by ''The New
York Times" as Irresistible" and
'corraling the hearts of the audi
ence" = Mayor Robert F. Wagner
declared Texas Day in New York"
in their honor. "These twenty-six
singing boys" said the Mayoral
proclamation, notably represent
wholesome American youth and its
dedication to the finer things of
life and personify the spread of
culture to the far corners of our
great land and the youngest men,
bers of our society"
In addition to singing many of
the great choral works of the past,
inspired by the famous boy choirs
of England, Germany, and Austria,
the Texas Boys Choir has been
honored by a number of new
works written especially for it.
Among these is a "Stabat Mater"
by the late eminent Hungarian
pianist and composer Ernest Won
Dohnanyi and Modern Texas
Roundup" delightful musical
spool of the present day cowboy
by Paul Peck, to which the Choir
gave world premiere in New
York.
The members Of the Texas Boys
Choir range in age from eight to
years. The average Texas
choirboy likes baseball, is above
average in his schoolwork, plays
musical instrument and con-
siders it the worst possible pun
ishment if he is forbidden attend
ance at choir practice.