History
Under the direction of Music Director Joseph P. Fitzmartin and Associate Music Director Steven M. Fisher, the Keystone State Boychoir (KSB) consists of more than 140 young men between the ages of 8 and 18, who perform songs from the classical to the contemporary.
Major choral works that KSB has performed include Orff’s Carmina Burana, Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Britten’s St. Nicolas, and Fauré’s Requiem. The Philadelphia Inquirer review declared KSB’s 2003 performance in Bach's St. Matthew Passion with the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia at Verizon Hall to be “excellent.”
KSB has sung with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Singers, and in such venues as the Perelman Theater at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, the Academy of Music, and the Mann Center for the Performing Arts. KSB has performed internationally at the Manaus Opera House in Brazil, the Hanoi Opera House in Vietnam, the Petronas Philharmonik Hall in Malaysia, La Madeline in France, Hall Bulgaria, and in venues throughout Alaska, Canada, South Africa, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Australia, Monaco, Germany, Austria, and Chile. The Boychoir has been the guest choir for July 4 celebrations in the US Embassies of Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Vienna, and Sofia.
The Keystone State Boychoir and its sister-choir, the Pennsylvania Girlchoir, are members of the Commonwealth Youthchoirs, founded in 2001 by Joseph P. Fitzmartin and Steven M. Fisher. Under the leadership of Executive Director Susan S. Ashbaker, this non-profit organization offers choral music education and performance opportunities to young people from diverse backgrounds. The organization promotes leadership, character, and self-discipline.
On December 23, 2009, the Keystone State Boychoir became the first choir to sing in Antarctica when they performed for a holiday party at Frei Base, King George Island. As a result, they are also the first choir ever to sing on all seven continents.
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