United States Boy Choirs: Choir Types


Figure 1.--Here are the choir boys from the Grace Espiscopal Church on a July 1908 visit to Coney Island, an important beach an amusement park. The Church was located in Madison, New Jersey.

There are several different types of children's choirs in the United States. Here we are referring to both the composition and the groups sponsioring the choits. There are boy, girl, and mixed choirs. The groups sponsoring choirs of course affected the nature and music on which the choies worked. Many churches have children's choirs. This began as boy choirs, but now are mostly children's choirs. Choirs have been organized by a variety of groups including church groups, municipalities, schools, the Boy Scouts, and various private groups. The greatest number of choirs is of course church choirs. The most accomplished choirs are some of the other choirs with deeper funding and larger recruitment areas. There have been few residential choirs in the United States.

Composition

There are several different types of children's choirs in the United States. One important aspect was the composition of the choirs. There are boy, girl, and mixed choirs. Most of the early choirs were boy choirs. Many churches have children's choirs. This was affected in part by the denomination. We see the first children's choirs in the early 20th century, although our information is still quite limited. This began as boy choirs, but now are mostly children's choirs. American choirs were mostly boy choirs in the 19th and early 20th century. After World War II, childrens choirs and even girl choirs began to appear. It is difficult to know which type of choir is the most common, prminarily because choirs vary so much in their organization and permanence.

Sponsors

The groups sponsoring choirs of course affected the nature and music on which the choirs worked. Choirs have been organized by a variety of groups including the Boy Scouts, charity groups, church groups, municipalities, performance choirs, schools, and various private groups. The greatest number of choirs is of course church choirs. Quite a number of individual churches sponsor choirs. Here both Catholic and Protestant churches sponsored choirs. The most accomplished choirs are some of the other choirs with deeper funding and larger recruitment areas. Some local church and school groups probably do not reach a level of accomplishmenr beyond singing in local services or performances. Other more accomplished choirs are in demand and perform widely, sometimes even international venues.

Living Arrangements

Most children participating in choirs live at home with their parents. They then meet periodically to pravtice their music. The amount of time involves varies from choir to choir. There have been few residential choirs in the United States.







HBC





Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web Site:
[Introduction] [Activities] [Bibliographies] [Biographies] [Chronologies] [Countries] [Theatricals] [Style Index]
[Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration]
[Boys' Clothing Home]



Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web choir costume pages:
[Return to the Main American choir page]
[Return to the Main choir page]
[Return to the Main national choir page]
[Australia] [Austria] [Belgium] [Bulgaria] [Canada] [Denmark] [England] [France] [Finland] [Germany] [Japan]
[Netherlands] [Poland] [South Africa] [Spain]



Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web style pages:
[Short pants suits] [Blazers] [Collars] [Lace collars]
[Ruffled collars] [Eton collar] [Fauntleroy suits]
[Sailor suits] [Ring bearer/page costumes] [First Communion suits]



Created: 4:47 AM 6/16/2007
Last updated: 8:44 PM 6/23/2007