The Concert Series of the First Presbyterian Church of Boca Raton presents the Florida's Singing Sons Boychoir. The choir was formed in 1975 with the vision of providing a "well-trained" boychoir for the community. Beginning with only 85 members, the choir has since grown to include over 200 boys from the South Florida area who enjoy the musical opportunity of being a Singing Son. The choir consists of boys ages nine through fourteen. Each autumn, over 3,000 third and fourth-grade boys from area public and private elementary schools are auditioned for membership in the entry-level Training Choir. Up to 125 boys are accepted yearly as new members. Each choir boy spends the first year of musical and vocal study in the Training Choir before being tested and advanced to the Residence Choir. After further study and broadened performance experiences, boys are again tested and advanced. Most boys moving to the prestigious Concert Choir are afforded the greatest diversity of performance opportunities and musical experiences.

The mission of Florida's Singing Sons Boychoir is to foster the musical knowledge, education and vocal training of its members through performances and community events, and to provide the community with a source of pride in the talent and professional achievement of its youth. Support of Florida's Singing Sons Boychoir comes through public, private, corporate and foundation funding, as well as ticket revenue and a small tuition fee. The choir has recently included participation in international choral competitions to their list of achievements. In July of 2000, the Concert Choir was awarded a Silver Medal in the Children's Choir Division at the Choral Olympiad in Linz, Austria. For ticket to performances and other information for the Florida's Singing Sons Boychoir you may contact them at 954.563.2697, or on line at www.singingsons.org.

Conducted by the company's Artistic Director, Craig Denison, this concert included both the Boychoir and the Concert Choir, which features voices of boys grades 9 through 12. The diverse program featured sacred, secular and contemporary music, with songs from Italy, Hungary, Moravia, Scotland and the United States. The choir did a fine job with a John Rudder arrangement of "Personent Hodie." An unusual "Hoj Hura Hoj" by Otmar Macha was haunting. The Moravian tune features voices of boys calling to one another as though across hilltops. A Jonathan Quick arrangement of "Loch Lomond" was lovely, and showed good use of soloists and dynamics. Certainly, audience favorites were a comically staged and sung "Liver" by James Mulholland, and the Athabascan fishing song "Oolichan" by Stephen Hatfield. The only troubled piece in the performance was Billy Joel's "The Longest Time," which suffered from some pitch problems for half of the song. It is evident that the young men of this choir conduct themselves with refreshing maturity and focus. It is no doubt that this attitude, combined with their hard work and talent, have made them one of the top boy choirs in the country.

This performance of the Florida's Singing Sons Boychoir was held on March 4, 2007 at the First Presbyterian Church of Boca Raton. The church campus is located at 600 W. Camino Real, Boca Raton, FL. For more information on their concert series, you may contact them by phone at 561-395-2811, or on line at www.firstpresboca.org.

See the current theatre season schedule for southern Florida.

-- John Lariviere