National Boys Choir

The National Boys Choir is a boys choir founded in Scotland in 2002 with financial support from the Scottish Arts Council Lottery Fund. The inaugural course was held in April 2002 for boys with unchanged voices culminating in a concert in Stirling. In 2003 a Changed Voice section was added and the choirs, along with guest boys choirs from Manchester and Hungary, took part in an International Boys Voice Conference hosted by NYCoS in Glasgow.

Organization

It is part of the National Youth Choir of Scotland. The patron of the boys choir is Scottish actor Billy Boyd. The National Boys Choir currently comprises three sections:

• The Junior Corps which provides a training ground for NBC and takes part in the end of course concert.
• NBC Changed Voice Section which provides an enjoyable singing opportunity for boys whose voices are currently changing. The section has a vocal coach with specialist knowledge of boys’ voices and the repertoire is chosen to accommodate the various stages of change.
• The National Boys Choir numbers about 70 members and gives a concert at the end of the residential course. In 2004 the choir was invited to take part in a performance of Britten’s War Requiem at the Edinburgh International Festival and BBC’s Proms in the Park in Glasgow.