ABOUT US
Summary
About
Mission
Statement
Performing
Philosophy
Values
Brief History
Recent
Biography
Curriculum
Touring
Advancement and Promotion
Auditions
Faculty
Rehearsals
Rehearsal locations
Board of Directors
About us...
The San Francisco Boys Chorus (SFBC) is an
internationally acclaimed Grammy-award winning not-for-profit music
education and performing arts organization at the heart of San Francisco’s
cultural center. The chorus serves over 240 singers from 50 Bay Area cities
and more than 120 schools at three Bay Area campuses. SFBC’s goals are to:
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train musically gifted youngsters, ages
kindergarten through age 18, to perform choral music at the highest
level of artistic merit;
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provide local, domestic, and
international choral concert opportunities;
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and foster the choral music tradition.
The Boys
Chorus legacy began in
1948,
pictured here in 1954.
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Mission Statement
The mission of the San Francisco Boys Chorus (SFBC) is to provide music
education, vocal training, and performance experience at the highest artistic level to Bay Area boys
from all cultural, ethnic, and economic backgrounds. The Chorus experience encourages appreciation of
music, self-discipline,
confidence, commitment, teamwork, and respect for others.
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Performing
Philosophy
Concerts and other performing opportunities are the end-result of countless
classes, camps, and rehearsals. Performing helps choristers advance
musically and mature as young men while gaining appreciation for diverse
people and experiences. Public appearances also help ensure the
sustainability of choral music in the Bay Area and worldwide.
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Values
The San Francisco
Boys Chorus exists to discover, develop and encourage boys with unchanged
voices through its music programs. Its heritage of more than fifty years of
training young performers for the opera and other major musical institutions
has established the highest standards of excellence with which our boys are
trained for today and prepared for tomorrow.
We believe that
the lives of all people are enriched and strengthened by a love of music.
The quality of life in our communities is enhanced when there is a wide
variety of opportunities for participation in musical activities and other
artistic pursuits. Beyond its deep commitment to quality music education,
the Chorus experience builds a boy’s character as well as his talent. All of
our programs reflect an instructional approach designed to nurture
self-esteem, leadership, independence, discipline, and responsibility, as
well as a life-long love of music.
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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.”
 
The Boys 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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Recent Biography
In 2006, the SFBC’s Concert Chorus sang Liszt’s Dante
Symphony with the San Francisco Symphony and Mahler’s Third Symphony as well
as a featured “Spotlight Concert” at the Grand Teton Music Festival, in
Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The Chorus also sang for the Boy Scouts of America’s
Annual Gala with special guest, the King of Sweden. The Chorus has appeared
in the San Francisco Opera’s production of Georges Bizet’s opera, Carmen.
In 2005, the SFBC performed important works including
Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem, Op. 48, Henry Purcell’s Come, ye sons of
art, and Franz Joseph Haydn’s Missa Brevis, as well as a variety
of lighter choral favorites for over 76,000 audience members. The Chorus
also embarked on a four-city, thirteen-day concert tour of Hong Kong,
Shanghai, Tokyo, and Nagoya (Japan), where it appeared at the Aichi World
Expo 2005 and performed for the governor of Tokyo. When the tour started,
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom proclaimed July 22, 2005, as “San Francisco
Boys Chorus Day in San Francisco,” in honor of the Sister City relationship
between Shanghai and San Francisco.
  
Appearances closer to home have included the royal visit
of England’s Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall; Bay
Area Nobel Laureate’s Recognition Ceremony at the San Francisco
Exploratorium; the San Francisco Opera’s productions of Pique Dame (The
Queen of Spades) and Mozart’s The Magic Flute for Kids; and
broadcasts on KQED-TV, Channel 9. Additional highlights from the 2005-06
season include guest artist concerts at the Orinda Performances Series,
Orinda, California; St. John’s Episcopal Church, Ross, California; and The
National Anthem at a San Francisco Giants baseball game. The Chorus toured
domestically to The Heritage Music Festival in Anaheim, California, and
participated in the 10th Annual HNU Children’s Choral Festival in Oakland.
Finally, in early 2005 the SFBC raised funds for UNICEF by presenting a
benefit concert to help the victims of the Asian Tsunami with featured guest
artist and internationally acclaimed mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade.
Inspired by Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr. and Judge Marilyn
Patel, the SFBC in 2005 spearheaded efforts to diversify chorus enrollment.
During its first year, The Willie L. Brown Jr. Music Scholarship for Boys
allowed talented youngsters from San Francisco’s Bay View Hunters Point and
Western Addition neighborhoods to begin choral training. The scholarship
aims within five years to train 40 boys in choral music. Under Maestro
Robertson’s direction, the SFBC has recorded two CDs: We’re on Our Way
(2000) and Moving On (2003). Ongoing recording efforts are always part of
the SFBC's activities.
As the SFBC prepares for its 60th Anniversary in 2008,
the Chorus reflects on past achievements, including tours for more than
thirty years to cities including Venice, Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Osaka,
Taipei, Seoul, Assisi, Sydney, and countries including England, France,
Italy, Hungary, Austria, Romania, Israel, Scotland, Wales, China, Japan,
and the former Soviet Union. Other distinguished audience members over the years
include U.S. General Colin Powell; Queen Elizabeth II of England; Pope
John Paul II; Mikhail Gorbachev, President of the Former Soviet Union; and
Tipper Gore; as well as local politicians such as California Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, and former San
Francisco Mayor Willie L. Brown, Jr. The San Francisco Boys Chorus has
also been featured at the White House Christmas Tree Lighting.
The San Francisco Boys Chorus’ close ties to the San
Francisco Bay Area allows the Chorus to appear not only with well-known
arts organizations like the San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Ballet, and
San Francisco Symphony, but also for local civic and community events,
including the annual Macy’s Union Square Christmas Tree Lighting, and the
2004 U.S. premiere of the popular French independent film, Les Choristes.
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TOURING
The Chorus’s talent has also been internationally acclaimed
during its many national and international tours. In 1975 the Chorus made its
premier appearance in Romania and has since performed in Alaska, Australia,
Israel, England, Scotland, Wales , Russia and the Far East. The year 1998 marked
the SFBC’s fiftieth anniversary and featured celebrations which included the
Chorus’s debut concert at New York’s Carnegie Hall and a summer concert tour
to England in which it performed at the Chichester Cathedral Festival, St. George’s
Chapel in Windsor Castle, the Henley Arts Festival and the City of Birmingham
Choral Festival. In the summer of 2000, the Chorus took a forty-member contingent
on its “European Tour 2000,” visiting and performing at high profile venues,
including St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, Seckau Monastery in Austria, Matthias
Cathedral In Budapest, Vienna’s St. Augustiner Kirche and St. Nicolas Church
in Prague.
In July of 2003 the Concert Chorus and the newly formed Graduate
Chorale totaling fifty choristers, embarked on a concert tour of Europe for
performances at revered locations such as St. Peter’s Basilica and the Pantheon,
Rome: Santa Maria Maggiore in Ferentino; Chartres Cathedral; Paris' Notre Dame
Cathedral and the Church of the Madeleine and St Margaret's Church, Lothbury
in London. The SFBC continues to promote the spirit of music through discipline,
hard work and artistic talent, thus furthering its influence on the local and
international scene through a tradition whose roots go back over half a century.
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REHEARSALS
Regular Weekly
Rehearsals
SF Campus Concert, Intermediate:
Mon/Wed, 4:30-6:30
Apprentice Chorus: Mon/Wed 4:15-6:15 JA: Mon/Wed, 4:00-5:00
P: Wed, 4:00-5:00
G: Mon, 6:00-7:00
YB: Wed, 6:45-8:00
B: Fri, 6:30-8:00
East Bay Campus
I, A: Tues/Thurs, 4:30-6:30
JA: Tues/Thurs, 4:00-5:00
P: Thurs, 4:00-5:00
Marin Campus
I, A: Tues/Thurs, 4:00-6:00
Legend
C = Concerts
I = Intermediates
A = Apprentices
JA = Jr. Apprentices
P = Preps
G = Grads
YB = Young Bells
B = SFBC Bells
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Rehearsal Locations Our San Francisco campus is at Jones Memorial United Methodist Church,
1975 Post
St, San Francisco.
Our East Bay
campus is at Mormon Interstake Center, 4780 Lincoln Ave, Oakland. Our Marin campus is at the St Paul's Episcopal Church,
1123 Court Street, San Rafael
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ADVANCEMENT AND PROMOTION Promotions from one group to the next may take place at the end of each semester.
Advancement of each chorister depends on his musical achievement, behavior, general
maturity, and the musical needs of the Chorus. The chorister is promoted at the
discretion of the Artistic Director and the music staff, when they believe a boy
is ready. A boy who is musically advanced but lacks maturity may not be promoted
as rapidly.
Written progress reports are sent to parents twice yearly.
Parents may discuss their chorister’s progress throughout the year with his
director. Parents are also encouraged to give the Chorus feedback throughout
the year and especially via the Year-End Evaluation survey. This tool is
used to help us improve the program, as well as to help us secure funding
from foundations.
Promotion into the Concert Chorus of the San Francisco Boys Chorus includes the
following considerations:
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Recommendation of the Intermediate Chorus Director
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Audition with the Artistic Director and Concert Chorus representatives
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Interview discussing responsibility and understanding of expectations for artistic
excellence
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Signing and meeting the behavioral standards agreement
General criteria include:
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Continued vocal and musical growth
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Continued growth in music reading skills
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Ability to sing and hold a part
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Achievement of the appropriate level of theory
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Readiness to achieve in the next chorus level
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Good conduct, regular attendance and punctuality
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Good attitude and willingness to work hard in rehearsal and at home
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Personal responsibility and leadership in and out of rehearsals
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Openings in the higher group, and the overall needs of the Chorus
All boys (except Preparatory Group) attend two practices a week - Monday and Wednesday
from 4:30 to 6:30. As a rule, parents form car pools to get boys to practice. There
are car pools from virtually every part of the Bay Area. There are two public concerts
a year at which all the boys perform - one in December and one in June. In addition,
the Concert Chorus performs a couple of times a month at special civic events, for
visiting dignitaries, for private parties and meetings, and of course at the San
Francisco Opera. The San Francisco Boys Chorus has been an institution at the opera
since the Chorus' founding in 1948.The boys also sing regularly at the San Francisco
Giants and the Oakland Raiders Games.
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AUDITIONS Auditions are held in September, January and April. Auditions are informal and last
ten minutes. Boys are asked to sing a song of their choice, clap in time to rhythm, and match a pitch
played on the piano. Boys are invited to join the Chorus on a three-month probationary period.
Please call 415-861-7464 (x306) or email auditions@sfbc.org for an appointment. Audition requests outside regular
audition times are granted under certain circumstances. top |
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FACULTY IAN ROBERTSON
Artistic Director
Awarded the Olivier Messiaen Foundation Prize for his artistic
contribution to the preparation of San Francisco Opera’s (SFO) North
American premiere of Saint François d’Assise, Ian Robertson
has been Chorus Director and conductor with this Company since 1987
and has prepared more than 200 productions. He has served as Artistic
Director of the San Francisco Boys Chorus (SFBC) where he has been
responsible for the phenomenal growth in the organization’s musical
stature and reputation. He recently prepared the SFBC and the
newly-created San Francisco Festival Chorale for performances of Mahler’s
3rd Symphony at the Grand Teton Music Festival in Wyoming.
Robertson made his SFO conducting debut with the 1988 production of
Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk and has since led performances of Falstaff,
Lohengrin, Rigoletto, La Traviata, Don Carlo,
Turandot,Il trovatore and La Bohème. In addition to his highly
praised work with the Opera Chorus, he has led the Opera Orchestra and
Chorus in many concerts.
Additional conducting assignments include the San Francisco Opera Center’s
The Italian Girl in Algiers, Cosi fan tutte, La Perichole, The Elixir
of Love, La Boheme and he conducted the Merola Opera Program’s Grand Finale
Concert for eight consecutive years. He has led Don Giovanni for
Sarasota Opera, The Magic Flute and Rigoletto for Edmonton
Opera and has conducted La Rondine, Iolanta, Eugene Onegin, The Rape of
Lucretia, Don Giovanni, Vanessa and The Rake’s Progress for
Curtis Opera Theatre
in Philadelphia. He recently conducted a concert of “Greatest Opera
Choruses” with the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh
Opera Orchestra.
Before joining San Francisco Opera, Robertson was Head of Music and Chorus Director of
Scottish Opera, where he conducted The Barber of Seville and led The Secret of Susanna for Scottish Television’s award-winning film. He went on to conduct several productions for that company, including
The Pearl Fishers, Rigoletto, My Fair Lady, The Abduction from the Seraglio, Die
Meistersinger von Nürnberg and The Magic Flute, as well as concerts with the Scottish Opera
Orchestra. He worked as Assistant Director with the Edinburgh International Festival Chorus and the Scottish National Orchestra Chorus. He was Music Director of the Scottish Youth Theatre.
A native of Scotland, the maestro trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and the
University of Glasgow. He has appeared as pianist at the Edinburgh International Festival and the Wigmore Hall and Purcell Room in London. He recorded recitals for the BBC and appeared as pianist with the New Music Group of Scotland in contemporary works and with Cantilena as harpsichordist.
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MARGARET NOMURA CLARK
Director of Training Chorus, the Intermediate Chorus
and
East Bay Campus
Margaret Clark has been a part of the San Francisco Boys Chorus since 1996. She
has conducted the Apprentice and Intermediate Groups and directs the Training Chorus
program for all boys in the Preparatory through Intermediate choruses. She also
directs the East Bay Division of the San Francisco Boys Chorus. She earned her Bachelor
and Master degrees in Music Education from the Oberlin Conservatory. Her choral
aspirations began as a student in the music program at San Francisco University
High School and in choral workshops with Robert Shaw. She has worked exclusively
with children’s choirs in Ohio, New York and Japan. Margaret has also directed the
preparatory choral divisions of the San Francisco Conservatory In addition to her
work with SFBC, she teaches general music to preschool through middle school at
the Pacific Academy of Nomura School in Richmond
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KATHERINE McKEE
Director of Apprentice Chorus and
Marin Campus 
Katherine McKee began her conducting career as director of the choirs at the Protestant Chapel of Hanscom Air Force Base near Lexington, Massachusetts. Subsequent positions include direction of the music program at St. John's, Westwood, Mass., and an assistant's position at St. Bartholomew's Church in New York City. She also served for several years as assistant director of the Gregg Smith Singers. A former violist, she directed orchestras in the public schools of Somerset, Mass., and was assistant conductor of the Jamaica Plain Symphony. In the Bay Area she has served as an assistant conductor for the San Francisco Boy's Chorus, and asmusic director for San Francisco Lyric Opera's 1999 production of Verdi's Otello. She also served prompter and chorus master for the S. F. Lyric's productions of Norma, Werther, & Tosca.
She is active as a vocal soloist and chorister throughout the Bay Area, performing regularly with the San Francisco Opera Chorus, American Bach Soloists, and the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. Twice a graduate of New England Conservatory of Music, she holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education and a Master of Music degree, (with honors) in Choral Conducting.
A singer as well as a conductor, she is active as a soloist both in concert work and on the opera stage throughout the Bay Area. She has performed as a soloist with the American Bach Soloists under the baton of Jeffrey Thomas, Philharmonia Baroque Chorale under the direction of Nicolas McGegan, the San Francisco Symphony under the direction of Michael Tilson Thomas, Emil de Cou, and Vance George, as well as in performances with the San Francisco Choral Society, Oakland Symphony Chorus, Camerata Singers of Monterey, St. Luke's Oratorio Choir, and the Sanford Dole Ensemble. During the summer of 2000 she was a featured soloist with the San Francisco Boy's Chorus on a two week tour of Europe under the direction of Ian Robertson, and is honored to have been asked back for their upcoming 2003 tour. Opera credits include performances with Berkeley Opera, San Francisco Lyric Opera, Spellbound Productions and the Bay Area Summer Opera Theater Institute in such roles as Azucena in Il Trovatore, the title role in Carmen, Principessa in Suor Angelica, and Madame Flora in The Medium. Ms. McKee performs regularly with the San Francisco Opera Chorus, American Bach Soloists Choir, and the Philharmonia Baroque Chorale. She is music director at Holy Innocents' Episcopal Church and alto soloist at Congregation Emanu-El, both in San Francisco, and maintains a busy vocal studio. She has recently become the director of the Apprentice level boys for the San Francisco Boys Chorus.
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JENNIFER MAXWELL COOPER
Theory Director, Prep Director (SF), Jr. Apprentice & Prep Director (EB)
Jennifer Maxwell Cooper is an active member of the Bay Area’s
music teaching community. She has taught voice in her home studio and
choral and classroom music in middle and elementary schools. She has
performed in church and community choirs including Cantare Con Vivo
Chamber Ensemble. Ms. Cooper served as the Assistant Director of Music
Ministries at First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley and is currently the
music specialist at the Pacific Academy lower school in Richmond. Ms.
Cooper received her early training at the Baldwin-Wallace College
Conservatory of Music in Ohio and her master of music in music education
at Holy Names College in Oakland. She joined the faculty of the San
Francisco Boys Chorus in the Fall of 2005.
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CAROLYN SPITZ
Junior Apprentice Director in San Francisco and Sight Singing
Instructor
Carolyn Spitz began working with the SFBC in the summer
of 2005 as Acting
Intermediate Chorus Director and Theory Instructor. She did her undergraduate
music studies at San Francisco State University and is a Candidate for a
Master’s in Music Education with a Kodály emphasis at Holy Names University (May
2007). She currently sings
with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and has sung with San Francisco Concert
Chorale, San Francisco Bach Society, and the California Bach Society. She is a
National Association of Teachers of Singing award winner. Carolyn is also a
Vocal Coach and Guest Conductor at Lick-Wilmerding High School in San Francisco.
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CHARLES CALHOUN
Concert Chorus Accompanist and Associate Conductor
Charles Calhoun's work as accompanist, coach, and instructor has taken place on
four continents. His credits include the Edinburgh Festival, BBC Television, the
Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, and the Instituto Superior de Arte
of the Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires . Locally, he has served on the Music Staff of
Opera San Jose and the Sacramento Opera Association, and has assisted in the preparation
of performances of the San Francisco, Berkeley and San Jose symphony orchestras
and the Philharmonic Baroque Orchestra. A respected educator, he has served as coach
and lecturer to university and conservatory students at several Bay Area institutions.
In addition to his work with SFBC, his present appointments include those of Music
Director of the Swedenborgian Church , San Francisco , and Organist at Peninsula
Temple Sholom, Burlingame.
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RICHARD MEYER
Bellringers Co-Director
A native of La Crosse , Wisconsin , Dick Meyer has been co-directing the San Francisco
Boys Chorus’ Bellringers since 1994. He is also the director of the Oakland Municipal
Employees Chorus as well as Director and soloist of the Oakland Fruitvale Presbyterian
Church Choir. The SFBC Bellringers have performed in renowned venues including Grace
Cathedral, St. Dominic’s Church, Calvary Presbyterian, Ghirardelli Square, and Pier
39. Dick has been with the SFBC since 1963.
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BETSY MARVIT
Theory Instructor
Betsy Marvit first started working for the San Francisco Boys. Chorus in 1998. An
award winning composer, Betsy graduated from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music,
where she is now a professor. At The Crowden School, she directs the lower school
choir, and is also part of the composition/piano faculty. On weekends she directs
the Crowden Community Music Center choir, and composes music at a level appropriate
for her students to perform.
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DAVID KNIGHT
Bellringers Co-Director
Born and raised in Porterville ,California, Dave Knight received a BA in Music from
California State University , Hayward in 1981. He was a counselor at his first San
Francisco Boys Chorus Camp that summer, and also began ringing handbells in the
staff choir. He has been through eleven camps since then, the last four as a part
of the music staff. David is also currently assisting in the start-up of Music Theater
of the Redwoods, a summer camp in Sonoma County top BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President
Geoffrey Quinn, MD
Treasurer
Myrna Hymans
Secretary
Chris Weicher
Parent Representative
Elizabeth Porter
Directors
Fred Dorey
Michael Fujimoto
Stephen Hester
Gary Jones
Michael Kopec
Lorraine Massa
Richard Thomas
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