Choir of Men & Boys and Girls

The oldest such choir remaining in the United States, the Choir of Men & Boys and Girls consists of 8 men and teenagers and no more than 16 boys and girls, ages 8-14, auditioned and selected from the New York metropolitan area, with diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds. The boys and girls rehearse several times each week and not only are paid but also receive incremental merit-based scholarships through the Anthony J. Mercede Scholarship Fund.

Want to sing with us?

The full Choir of Men & Boys and Girls sings once or twice a month at the 11:00 A.M. Mass. To arrange for an audition, contact Claudia Dumschat at 917-825-7504. Auditions are now open.

Special Opportunities

In the summers of 2013, 2019, and 2023 the choir sang concert tours of Barbados including Christ Church, St. Michael’s Cathedral, St. James Church, and the amazing Huntes Garden. Click here to see a video of highlights from their 2023 trip.

In the summer of 2018, the Boys' Choir traveled to England where they sang a week long choir residency at St. Albans Cathedral. See their performance of the Magnificat with our Girls' Choir here. Also that summer, Choir member Devin Coleman was the featured soloist in the Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular.

When not traveling in the summer, the boys and girls attend choir camps, where they prepare for the upcoming liturgical year and enjoy activities such as swimming, kayaking, games and campfires. The boys and girls attend Camp Incarnation in Ivoryton, Connecticut.

Other recent activities outside the church included making a commercial for the popular TV show, “The Big Bang Theory” and recording music for “Home Alone" star Macaulay Culkin’s “Pizza Project.” In 2015 the combined choirs were praised by The Washington Post for their outstanding performance in the International Serenade Festival there. In 2013, the choir toured Barbados. The Boys and Girls Choirs also performed in the Diocesan Treble Choir Festival at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and some of the boys were also in a performance art piece at the Gladstone Art Gallery in Chelsea, where they were seen and heard by thousands of visitors.

Some of the boys from our choir were also in a performance art piece at the Gladstone Art Gallery in Chelsea and MOMA, where they were seen and heard by thousands of visitors.

Grow with the Boys and Girls Choir

The Church of the Transfiguration invites boys and girls in the third grade and higher to join its Choir of Men and Boys. An audition is required, but the primary requirement to join is an interest in music.

Boys and girls rehearse twice a week and sing on Sunday at the 11:00 a.m. service. The Choirmaster will arrange rehearsals at a convenient location such as a school, for boys and girls cannot attend midweek rehearsals at the Church. In return for training in music, we ask each boy and girl to commit to regular attendance.

Boys and girls of all faiths or none are welcome in this nurturing, English-style Episcopal Church.

Some Opportunities for Growth

  • Discover and enhance talents
  • Join with others to create something beautiful and thrilling
  • Mature in self-discipline and group cooperation
  • Grow in self-confidence from public performance
  • Expand musical skills with free private tutoring
  • Associate with professional musicians
  • Share in a centuries-old tradition from England and Continental Europe
  • Experience the history of Western civilization through music
  • Celebrate with field trips and choir parties

Beginning in the second year of participation, scholarships are awarded for each successful year in the choir. Scholarships are made possible by the Anthony Mercede Scholarship Fund and annual fund raising.

Click here for a sample of a Sunday musical offering.
Click here for the choir performing a piece from the Mozart mass.
Click here for a performance of the Transfiguration Men and Teen Choir singing "O,O,O,O! Exsultet Mundus Gaudio" by David Yardley.

Christmas Eve 2019 Music:
Click here for a performance of The Gloria arranged by Charpentier.
Click here for a performance of "In the Bleak Midwinter" arranged by Harold Darke.
Click here for a performance of the French Carol "Nowell Nouvelet" arranged by John Rutter.
Click here for a performance of the Spanish Carol "Riu, riu chiu".

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