ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — The Singing Boys of Pennsylvania and the Keystone Girls Choir will perform a holiday concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, at St. Bonaventure University’s Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts. It is the fifth concert of the 2012-13 Friends of Good Music season.
Acclaimed in America and throughout the world for its unique talent, discipline and youthful enthusiasm, Singing Boys of Pennsylvania, founded as the Pocono Boy Singers, is available throughout the year including Christmas and summers. The company consists of young artists — ages 10 to 14 — selected from the ranks of the organization’s training choir who have been rigorously prepared for two or more years.
Performing a demanding repertoire spanning centuries from chant to contemporary works, programs frequently include sacred and secular classics, selections from opera and musical theater, and a rich assortment of American folk music with choreography. This scrubbed family format is fast moving and has been enthusiastically received by audiences on both sides of the Atlantic, throughout Japan, as well as by critics who have applauded the choir’s imaginative and versatile programming. The remarkable proficiency that the choir brings to performances has been demonstrated in more than 3,000 recitals in 48 of the American states, as well as all the prefectures of England, Holland, Canada, Mexico and Wales.
The combined choir of 14 members will perform a selection from the perennial favorite “Sound of Music” and Christmas carols from around the world.
The choir is directed by Dr. K. Bernard Schade, who began his musical career as a chorister in Lebanon, Pa., and has conducted boy choirs, girl choirs, children’s choirs, church choirs and college choirs. His choral work has taken him to England, Wales, Hungary, Canada, Mexico and throughout the United States and Japan. An excellent conductor, organist, choral arranger, voice builder, and workshop leader, he has taught at East Stroudsburg University, Bucknell University, and the Pennsylvania College of Technology.
This performance is supported in part by the New York State Council on the Arts.
Single tickets for individual performances are $20 at full cost, $16 for senior citizens and St. Bonaventure staff, and $5 for students.
For tickets or more information, call The Quick Center for the Arts at (716) 375-2494.
For each Friends of Good Music performance, The Quick Center will open its galleries one hour before the concert begins and keep them open throughout the intermission. Regular gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Museum admission is free and open to the public year round. For more information, go to www.sbu.edu/quickcenter.
_____________
About the University: Inspired for more than 150 years by the Catholic Franciscan values of individual dignity, community inclusiveness, and service, St. Bonaventure University cultivates graduates who are confident and creative communicators, collaborative leaders and team members, and innovative problem solvers who are respectful of themselves, others, and the diverse world around them.