American Boychoir School
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The American Boychoir School is a music boarding school located in Princeton, New Jersey whose students make up the largest non-sectarian boys' choir in the United States, the American Boychoir . The school has grade 5-8 students from all over the United States.
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[edit] The Choir
The American Boychoir is regarded as one of the nation's premier choral groups, singing in many concerts across the United States and internationally. The choir makes over 200 appearances in four to five major tours annually. In its prolific history, the choir has performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, and several opera singers Jessye Norman, Frederica von Stade and Kathleen Battle. The choir has had numerous television appearances on NBC's Today show and is featured on 16 recordings.
In the 2004-2005 season, the boychoir performed at the 77th annual Academy Awards with pop diva Beyonce Knowles and with Jessye Norman before the United States Open (tennis) women's singles final. Other highlights included tours across the United States and into Canada, an appearance in Boston and at Carnegie Hall in celebration of James Levine’s inaugural season as Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, as well as six performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra.
The American Boychoir is separated into two choirs: the Concert Choir and the Resident Training Choir. The Concert Choir, conducted by Fernando Malvar- Ruiz, performs and tours regularly while Resident Training Choir is made up of first year students that receive training in order to move up to the Concert Choir. Boys join the choir by auditioning while visiting the school, or auditioning after Boychoir performances at concert sites or after school programs.
[edit] History
The choir and school were founded in Columbus, Ohio in 1937 by Herbert Huffman who believed that "the experience of performing the great choral literature – and performing it at the highest professional levels – could have a profound effect on the academic, social and moral development of boys".[5] Founded originally as the Columbus Boychoir, the group moved to Princeton in 1950. It changed its name to the American Boychoir in 1980.[1]
From 1985 to 2001, the choir was conducted by James Litton, an expert on children's choral techniques and vocal production. Regarded as one of America's prominent choral conductors, Litton led the boychoir in more than 2,000 concerts in 49 states and 12 nations. [6]
Recently, the school has suffered in reputation due to revelations of sexual abuse of students by former staff members, mainly in the early 1970s. In April, 2002, The New York Times uncovered sexual abuse which had taken place at the Boychoir School several decades earlier.[2] ABCNews' Nightline confronted John Ellis, the former school president with these charges and Ellis stood by the school's lawyers position that young children had "consented" to the abuse. In court documents, the American Boychoir claimed that it had no duty to protect children in their care from sexual abuse by staff and that children who were abused were themselves negligent for not bringing the abuse to light. One of the students victimized was constitutional scholar Lawrence Lessig, who has represented another student, John Hardwicke, in his lawsuit against the school.
On August 8, 2006, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled against the school's appeal of a lower court decision.[3][4] The school had contended that the state's charitable immunity act protected it from liability in sexual abuse lawsuits brought by former students. The court found that the Charitable Immunity Act immunizes charities for negligence only; it does not bar statutory or common-law claims that are based on willful, wanton or grossly negligent conduct.[5][6] The school's lawyers requested the New Jersey Supreme Court to reconsider the decision, claiming the ruling represented a major extension of vicarious liability.[7]
On January 5, 2006, Governor of New Jersey Richard Codey signed bill S540/A2512 into New Jersey law, ending the Boychoir's charitable immunity defense, and making New Jersey the 48th state to allow victims of childhood sex abuse to sue churches, schools and other non-profits for the actions of their staff.[8]
The allegations against the school have received great attention because they were exposed immediately after the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal.
[edit] The School
The American Boychoir School is located on a 17-acre campus in Princeton. Classes, rehearsals and meals all take place in a large brick Georgian mansion known as Albemarle. Three stories high, with 50-odd rooms, the mansion was once the summer home of Gerard Lambert, the founder of Warner-Lambert, a chemical company. On campus there are two dormitories, soccer field, outdoor swimming pool as well as a fenced, multipurpose tennis court with basketball hoops.
Students at the American Boychoir School receive both a normal, middle school education as well as extensive music training. Classes begin at 8:00 and continue until 12:35, lunch. The curriculum includes Language Arts, Math, Science, Social Studies, Technology and Spanish. In the afternoon, the boys take written and aural music theory classes, receive vocal technique training and attend physical education class. Rehearsals start later in the afternoon and end at 6:45, with a one-hour rest period in between. Then the boys eat dinner and attend study hall.
The school offers some intramural sports in which most boys participate, including soccer, basketball, cross-country running, tennis, flag football, and ultimate.
The school is a member of the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools
[edit] References
- ^ Princeton Patron article.
- ^ Diana Jean Schemo, "Decades of Sex Abuse Are Described at Choir School in New Jersey, New York Times, April 16, 2002.
- ^ Institutional Liability and Statutes of Limitation in Sexual Abuse cases, Hardwick v. American Boychoir School, 902 A. 2d 900 (N.J. 2006), School Law Reporter vol. 48 no. 11 (Nov. 2006).[1]
- ^ Text of NJ Supreme Court decision.
- ^ http://www.towntopics.com/aug1606/story1.html
- ^ High court clears way for school sex abuse suit ; Rules negligence protection law doesn't apply; BETH DeFALCO, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. The Record. Bergen County, N.J.: Aug 9, 2006. pg. A.04 [2]
- ^ New Jersey Lawyer Online, News Brief 2006-08-21, "Lawyer: Boychoir decision expands vicarious liability" [3]
- ^ Deborah Howlett, Newark Star-Ledger, January 6, 2006, "Charities lose sex-lawsuit -- Codey signs bill allowing legal action against pedophiles' employers", cite from here. Note that the linked citation's date is incorrectly stated as June 6. Correct date was retrieved from Star Ledger archive search.[4]
[edit] External links
- American Boychoir School
- Friends & Family of ABS Alumni
- Child Protection Statement - official policy of the American Boychoir School
- American Boychoir School - Decades of Sexual Abuse - advocacy site
- Lawrence Lessig and the American Boychoir School - May 2005 article
