Brief History

 

The Grammy Award winning San Francisco Boys Chorus (SFBC) was founded in 1948 by Gaetano Merola (first General Director of the San Francisco Opera) and Madi Bacon to provide trained boy singers for the San Francisco Opera, and is today led by Artistic Director, Ian Robertson. Maestro Robertson – who also serves as Chorus Director for the San Francisco Opera – has since his 1996 appointment to the SFBC built the chorus to over 200 youngsters from 48 Bay Area cities and more than 115 schools at campuses in San Francisco, Oakland, and San Rafael. Since 1948, the Chorus has grown into a distinguished education and performance organization and has performed with the San Francisco Opera during every season in which parts for boy choristers have been required. For four decades, San Francisco mayors have recognized the San Francisco Boys Chorus as official “Singing Ambassadors of San Francisco.” 

 

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The SFBC Chorus has toured domestically and internationally singing in concert halls and cathedrals on four continents. Recent tours have included Hong Kong, Japan, China, Australia, Austria, Czechoslovakia, England, France, Greece, Hawaii, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Italy, New Zealand, and Russia. Choristers have sung for U.S. presidents, the Pope, H.M. Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain, and the President of the Soviet Union. In addition to appearances with the San Francisco Opera, the Chorus has appeared with the San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Ballet.

 

The Chorus also performs at Bay Area civic and sports events (SF Giants), conventions, and private business and social events. Experiences like these have for decades helped build confidence, musical aptitude, and self-discipline in boys. The SFBC opened an East Bay (Oakland) campus in 2003 and a Marin (San Rafael) campus in 2004. The Graduate Chorale, which now allows choristers with changed voices to continue studying and performing with the Boys Chorus, was founded in 2002.

 

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