N.C. Boys Choir to perform at Shallotte Presbyterian Church

The North Carolina Boys Choir will present a concert at 4 p.m. Sunday, May 11 at Shallotte Presbyterian Church, 5070 Main St., Shallotte.

The North Carolina Boys Choir is one of the relatively few existing boy choirs in the country, perpetuating a centuries-old art form, according to a news release.

The 75-plus members of the organization have a strenuous rehearsal and performance schedule. They sing every thing from classical music by Bach and Mozart to simple ballads and polkas, and their music is sung in several languages.

The boys range in age from 9 to 15 and are selected through several auditions. They each go through the ranks of the training choir as well as an accelerated training unit of the boy choir education process.

The organization also has a chamber choir of tenors and basses, comprised of young men and adults high school ages and up.

The choir’s present music director, William Graham, founded the choir in 1972 as the Durham Boys Choir. Gov. Jim Hunt later designed it the official State of North Carolina Boys Choir as a result of its many performances in the state and throughout the country, as well as for its excellence.

It is the only full-time choir in the Southeast and one of only two boy choirs in the nation to be named as a state boy choir by a gubernatorial designation.

The choir exists as a private musical organization, and the boys attend their own elementary and middle schools in a five-city area. The choir is based in Durham, and through the years, has enjoyed a close relationship with Duke University Chapel, where the choir often performs.

The choir maintains its own summer music camp in the mountains, where the boys spend a week enjoying sports and activities of all kinds coupled with five intensive rehearsal hours daily. Recruitment for the choir is held in area schools throughout the year.

Past major performances have included parts in Britten’s “Noye’s Fludd,” Bernstein’s “Mass, Bach’s “Saint Matthew Passion, Bizet’s “Carmen” and more.

The choir has performed with the N.C. Symphony and two university choirs in Britten’s “War Requiem.” They present two major performances each year at Duke Chapel and traditionally sing in the Duke Chapel Service of Worship the Sunday Before Christmas.

Each year, the choir sings concerts in various parts of North Carolina and surrounding states. In June, the choir embarks on a two-week tour that takes the boys into many parts of the United States, Canada and, most recently, the U.K., with concerts in different cities daily.

The N.C. Boys choir is now under the full-time direction of William Graham. Scott Mann serves as the assistant to the director and proctor. Patricia Gibson is the organization’s staff assistant.

For more information, call (919) 489-0291 or visit www.ncboyschoir.org.