Raleigh Boychoir expands to include girls and gender-neutral auditions
The Raleigh Boychoir announced this week that, for the first time in the organization’s 55-year history, it will expand its programming to include girls and will offer gender-neutral auditions.
But that doesn’t mean the choir’s popular boys-only programming is going away.
In a Facebook post, the organization explained that “boys will continue” in the group’s current ensembles and training programs, while two additional “treble choirs” will be added, which can include girls. The choir said that the groups “will perform together in some concerts and events during the season and will have separate performances as well.”
The choir said the change to add girls’ programming “was informed by our constituents, a full organizational assessment, and our recent strategic planning process.”
“All our members will benefit from the added value of more collaborative ensemble, repertoire, and performance experiences which will make them stronger musicians,” the choir’s Facebook post read. The group’s “individualized vocal education for each unique voice is naturally aligned with including any child’s voice, so the transition to include girls will be natural and seamless.”
The new model of gender-neutral auditions, which will begin this week, will make sure that any voice “can be placed in the appropriate choir for them.”
The new treble choirs will be led by two new staff members for the organization — Emily Turner will be the choir’s associate artistic director and lead the high school treble choir, while Amy Davis will be the middle school treble choir director. They join the choir’s head artistic director, Jeremy Tucker, who conducts the boys’ ensembles and has been with the organization since 2014.
Responding to a Facebook comment, the group said it hopes to have a new name for the group established “in the start of our upcoming season.”
Tuition rates also lowered, scholarships offered
In announcing the expansion to include girls in its programming, the choir also announced that they will lower annual tuition rates — in some cases by more than 50%, the announcement said — “to be more accessible to more families.”
Tuition fees are not provided on the choir’s website. The organization will continue to offer “robust need-based scholarships,” it said.
The choir was able to reduce its tuition using an endowment it established using the funds from the sale of the organization’s former property on Ridge Road in Raleigh, the group said in its Facebook post.
Auditions for the choir’s upcoming 2022-2023 season will be held July 25 at 6 p.m., August 15 at 6 p.m. and at open rehearsals on Monday evenings throughout the season. The choir practices at Church of the Good Shepherd, 121 Hillsborough St. in Raleigh.
More information about the choir, its recent changes, auditions and more can be found at the choir’s website: raleighboychoir.org.
