Boys Singing, Bunking in Barrington

One of the finest youth choirs in the world not only will perform a public concert at the Barrington Congregational Church on Saturday night, Feb. 18. The singers also will be bunking overnight with Barrington families.

The Keystone State Boychoir, which has peformed in every continent on Earth, sings at 7 pm in the White Church sanctuary, said the Rev. Jeff Larsen, senior pastor. No tickets are being sold but “donations will be accepted at the door.”

“It’s a fundraiser for our mission trip to Tucson, Arizona, this spring,” the Rev. Larsen said. "We're going to be working with an immigrant community during the spring break."

Some of the boys also were planning to sing Friday evening at Temple Habonim in Barrington as part of the Shabbat service, he said.

“One of the members is the nephew of Rabbi Andrew Klein,” the Rev. Larsen said. “They are taking the mission trip with us.”

The 54-member choir is swinging through Barrington partly because of its connection to Rabbi Klein. But it is in Rhode Island this weekend to also take part in a choral festival before heading back to Philadelphia by way of Radio City Music Hall in New York City.

The boys range in age from 8-18. Their repertoire is described as from the classical to the contemporary. Here is a profile from their website:

“Under the direction of Music Director Joseph P. Fitzmartin and Associate Music Director Steven M. Fisher, Keystone State Boychoir (KSB) consists of more than 150 young men between the ages of eight and 18 who sing an enthralling repertoire 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 the Fauré Requiem. The Philadelphia Inquirer review declared KSB's performance in the Bach St. Matthew Passion "excellent."

“In 2010, KSB made its debut with the American Choral Director's Association at the Eastern Division Conference in Philadelphia. The Boychoir's performance received rave reviews from some of the most respected choral personalities in the United States who were in attendance. Today, KSB is counted among the finest, most successful community-based boychoir choral programs in the country.

“KSB has sung with the region's most distinguished ensembles, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Singers, and at the region's most prominent venues, including Verizon Hall 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, and the Petronas Philharmonik Hall in Malaysia, as well as in venues throughout Alaska, Canada, South Africa, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Australia., Monaco, France, Germany, Austria, and Bulgaria. In December 2009, KSB embarked on a concert tour of Chile as an official part of the country's 200th anniversary celebrations. The concert tour included an excursion to Chile's Frei Base on King George Island, Antarctica.

“There the boys sang for scientists from five countries, giving KSB the distinction of bringing the choral arts to the seventh continent for the first time. In doing so, KSB made history as the first choir to have sung on every continent.”

The boychoir’s performance at the White Church will be its first in Barrington.