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A Quiet End for Boys Choir of Harlem
The New York Times ^ | December 22, 2009 | SHARON OTTERMAN

Posted on 12/29/2009 9:08:07 AM PST by sitetest

For more than three decades, they sang Mozart in Latin, Bach in German, and Cole Porter and Stevie Wonder in English, from Alice Tully Hall in New York to Royal Albert Hall in London.

For the audiences that marveled at the Boys Choir of Harlem, it was an additional wonder that the young performers with world-class voices had emerged from some of the most difficult neighborhoods of New York. December was always a busy month, as the choir toured the country’s premier concert halls and appeared on television Christmas specials.

But this year, the boys are nowhere to be found. Last week, Terrance Wright, a 39-year-old choir alumnus, picked up a microphone in front of the altar of Metropolitan Community United Methodist Church in Harlem, the choir’s last home, and delivered news that surprised few people but saddened many.

“Tell the people. Let it be known,” Mr. Wright said, glistening and exhausted after leading a Christmas concert by former singers in the choir. “There is no Boys and Girls Choir of Harlem.”

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: New York
KEYWORDS: boys; christianmusic; harlem; harlemboyschoir; music; urban
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To: sitetest
Where are the rich liberal bleeding hearts from Hollywood?

Enough said!!

21 posted on 12/29/2009 10:50:11 AM PST by PALIN SMITH (Show them our respectable contempt!)
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To: RFH

I’m almost done with the finale. Have just heard Bobby McFarrin conduct a “master class” in vocal percussion. Wow!


22 posted on 12/29/2009 11:13:47 AM PST by afraidfortherepublic
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To: sitetest

Harlem was one of the great incubators of American music until the kids all decided they wanted to emulate Snoop Dog


23 posted on 12/29/2009 11:15:29 AM PST by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Cicero

One more sign that the apocalypse is upon us. The Goths are at the gate.


24 posted on 12/29/2009 11:17:39 AM PST by Republic of Texas (Socialism Always Fails)
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To: sitetest
“Tell the people. Let it be known,” Mr. Wright said, glistening and exhausted after leading a Christmas concert by former singers in the choir. “There is no Boys and Girls Choir of Harlem.”

Well, as it is called the Boys Choir of Harlem, that is hardly surprising.

25 posted on 12/29/2009 11:24:59 AM PST by Moltke (DOPE will get you 4 to 8 in the Big House - HOPE will get you 4 to 8 in the White House.)
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To: RFH
Well, you are right. It was a great show and I recommend everyone who appreciates a cappella singing to take a look at this. Fantastic. It's just a shame that all three finalists couldn't have won. They are all different and all outstanding.

I was also intrigued by the choreography and costumes. They did a great job putting everything together.

Thanks for telling me where to find it.

Link

26 posted on 12/29/2009 11:44:18 AM PST by afraidfortherepublic
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To: sitetest

Since Clinton was the first ‘black president’ and has an office in Harlem—let him take up the cause.


27 posted on 12/29/2009 12:24:08 PM PST by ridesthemiles
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To: sitetest

The choir’s demise as a functional organization was a result of many factors, but everyone agrees it was set in motion by a single episode: an accusation by a 14-year-old boy in 2001 that a counselor on the choir’s staff had sexually abused him. The counselor eventually was sentenced to two years in prison.

The accusation and the scandal that followed — Dr. Turnbull did not report the claim to the authorities and allowed the counselor to continue working with children — set off a chain of events that led the city to oust the choir in 2006 from the Choir Academy of Harlem, the school building that had been its home. That, in turn, deepened the choir’s already serious financial problems.

Owing millions in payroll taxes and penalties, and immersed in a lawsuit stemming from the abuse accusations, the board of the Boys Choir gathered in the months after Dr. Turnbull’s death, said Howard Dodson, the leader of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library. Mr. Dodson was brought onto the board, along with former Mayor David N. Dinkins, in an effort to save the choir.


28 posted on 12/29/2009 3:46:36 PM PST by nmh (Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God).)
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To: fatnotlazy

Obama wouldn’t like them. They’d sing Gospel songs. That isn’t the “black” way.


29 posted on 12/29/2009 3:47:23 PM PST by nmh (Intelligent people recognize Intelligent Design (God).)
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To: nmh

Sadly, while politicians talk a lot about education and saving our youth from a life of drugs and crimes, when it comes time to support a positive program like the Boys Choir, these windbags are silent. The Obama administration is a prime example...particularly aftrer having allowed school vounchers in DC to expire, but to be fair, past administrations and past congresses haven’t exactly done anything for our youth. About all they do is throw millions of dollars at the schools which do nothing but enrich the administrators and the unions.


30 posted on 12/29/2009 5:00:49 PM PST by fatnotlazy
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To: sitetest

Hopefully this choir will come back, maybe in another name.


31 posted on 12/30/2009 10:37:29 AM PST by tellw
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