20th Century
Today, church traditions with strong roots in the Middle Ages (in particular, Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox and Lutheran churches) continue to host many boys' choirs. The Anglican church is particularly well known for its contributions to choral works and arrangements for boys' voices. However, the general inclusion of female voices in church music since the mid-1800s has significantly reduced the importance of boys' choirs as church institutions. Many present boys' choirs were either founded or reconstituted during the first half of the 20th century as independent concert choirs. In 1917 an article in the The Musical Quarterly identified - and criticized - a trend toward the foundation of many boys' choirs in the USA, which the author derided as the "boy choir fad."
Palm Sunday Concert Program, Apollo Boys' Choir, The Shamrock Hotel, Houston, Texas (April 10, 1949)Read more about this topic: Boys' Choir