- Saint Thomas Choir School
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Coordinates: 40°45′58″N 73°58′48″W / 40.76616°N 73.98013°W
Saint Thomas Choir School 
Cantate DominoSing unto the LordAddress 202 West 58th Street
New York City, New York, United StatesInformation Type Private, church-affiliated boarding school Religious affiliation(s) Episcopalian Established 1919 Headmaster The Reverend Charles Wallace Faculty 17 Enrollment about 40 boys Campus Urban Tuition $12,989 (as of 2011[update][1]) Website choirschool.org 
Part of the school's facade. Saint Thomas Choir School is a church-affiliated boarding choir school in Manhattan, New York. It was founded in 1919 and is supported by the nearby Saint Thomas Church, an Episcopal church continuing the Anglican tradition of all-male choral ensembles. Other than Westminster Abbey Choir School, it is the only Choir School which exclusively educates boy trebles of the choir and where all boys are required to board at the school.[citation needed]
The students, boys ranging from ages 8 to 14, reside and study at the Choir School, located in a 14-story building at 202 West 58th Street in midtown Manhattan, between Broadway and Seventh Avenue, one block from Central Park South. Since 2005, the school has also offered a summer residential Girl Chorister Course.[2]
Contents
Student life
Students simultaneously participate in both a rigorous liturgical music program at Saint Thomas Church and a full range of academic subjects including English, science, history, mathematics, Latin, French, music theory, and theology. The school also engages in an athletic program, competing against local private schools in soccer, basketball, and softball.
Students are admitted on a rolling basis. The school schedules auditions three times a year for boys entering the third, fourth, and fifth grade. Third grade students must live within a proximity to New York that permits them to return home each weekend and return on Sunday evening; this restriction is eliminated for fourth and fifth graders.[3]
Tuition for the 2010–2011 school year is about $13,000, with over 65% of the student's families receiving financial aid.[1]
Staff
The current headmaster is Charles Wallace. The school has had five Organists during its history:
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- Organist and Master of Choristers
- T. Tertius Noble, 1913-1940
- T. Frederick Candlyn, 1940-1954
- William Self, 1954-1971
- Gerre Hancock, 1971-2004
- Organist and Director of Music[4]
- John Scott, 2004-present
History
The Choir School was founded in 1919 by T. Tertius Noble,[citation needed] an English born organist and composer, who had been appointed as the organist of Saint Thomas Church in 1913. It was formerly located in a four-story building at 123 West 55th Street;[5] the school sold that building to Fisher Brothers, who combined it with other acquisitions and sold it to Harry B. Macklowe, the developer of the Avenue of the Americas Plaza at 125 West 55th Street.[6]
In 1985, the Elysee Theater, which had been a television studio for ABC Entertainment since 1955,[7] was closed and demolished to make way for the school's new building. Prior to its use as a broadcast studio, the Elysee had been a theatre or a cinema since 1926, under various names that included the Golden Theatre, Cort's 58th Street Theatre, the Filmarte, the Fine Arts, and the Concert Theatre.[7] By September 1987, the new Choir School building, designed by archtects Buttrick White & Burtis, opened its doors.[5] The $18 million, 55,000-square-foot (5,100 m2) building was built on a lot about 75 feet (23 m) wide, using red bricks with trim in limestone and gray-brick, and rising six stories "before stepping back in a tower with a gabled roof that houses the chapel."[5] When it first opened, it housed 26 students, with tuition of $4,800 a year, though the majority of students attended on scholarship.[5]
Notable alumni
- Gunther Schuller, jazz and classical composer
- Chris Wylde, actor
- Steve Sandvoss, actor
See also
- American Boychoir School, a boarding school in Princeton, New Jersey
References and notes
- ^ a b "Frequently Asked Questions". Saint Thomas Choir School. http://www.choirschool.org/?page=FAQ. Retrieved 2011-10-23.
- ^ "About the Girl Chorister Course". Saint Thomas Choir School. http://www.choirschool.org/?page=GAbout. Retrieved 2011-10-23.
- ^ "About the Choir School". Saint Thomas Choir School. http://www.choirschool.org/?page=SchoolBio. Retrieved 2011-10-23.
- ^ The organist's title changed in 2005 to reflect the changes among other American and English cathedrals[citation needed]
- ^ a b c d Joseph Giovannini (September 17, 1987). "Young Voices Soar at the New St. Thomas Choir School". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1987/09/17/garden/young-voices-soar-at-the-new-st-thomas-choir-school.html?pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2011-10-23.
- ^ Thomas L. Waite (March 13, 1988). "Choir School Site; Offices by Macklowe". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/13/realestate/posting-choir-school-site-offices-by-macklowe.html. Retrieved 2011-10-23.
- ^ a b "Elysee Theatre, 202 West 58th Street, New York, NY". cinematreasures.org. http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/2931. Retrieved 2011-10-23.
External links
Categories:- Choir schools
- Episcopal Church in the United States of America
- Schools in Manhattan
- Middle schools in New York City
- Educational institutions established in 1919
- 1919 establishments in the United States
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