Archdiocese of Philadelphia Boys Choir

The Archdiocesan Boy Choir of Philadelphia is a choir of sacred music, and is made up of boys, ages of 7 to 16. It was founded in 1969 by Peter LaManna at the request of John Cardinal Krol. During the 1970s and 1980s, the choir was directed by Rosemary Hudecheck. It is now directed by Thomas Windfelder. The choir represents the five county area of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia.Activities include participating in liturgies at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul and local parishes, and maintaining a concert schedule at events in the United States and Canada. In 1985, twenty members of the Choir traveled to Rome under the direction of Hudecheck, where they appeared on NBC's Today Show (NBC had helped to finance the trip) and sang at a private Mass with Pope John Paul II. In 1999, the choir also toured Rome, Italy. In 1995 the choir sang at the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Portugal, for processions and special masses in which over one-half million pilgrims participated. A copy of the choir's performance of "Ave verum corpus" for communion was sent to Pope John Paul II. The Boy Choir returned to Fatima, Portugal, in 2007 in order to celebrate the beatification of the two little shepherd children, Francisco and Jacinta Marto. They performed at a Mass that was televised on the National Portugal TV .