I’m sure a few of you caught my Facebook post noting the end of an era for the American Boychoir School. No, the school is not shutting down, in fact, the dawn of this new era for them represents a significant opportunity for them to grow and continue to be a world-class organization. ABS informed its alumni today that the school will be moving to a new campus at the former St. Joseph’s Seminary in Princeton, NJ. This is a 47 acre facility with 7 buildings, a gym, and a chapel for performances among other amenities. The mission of the school will remain the same but the atmosphere will significantly change with this move. I was both happy for the school because it has played a significant part in my past but I was also saddened a great deal because they will be leaving behind such a beautiful campus in the former home of Gerald Lambert (inventor of Listerine Mouthwash) which they have utilized since their official move from Columbus Ohio to become the American Boychoir School.
After reading the letter from the Alumni association, and learning about the bright future of the choir school, I have decided that it will be important to me to make a trip to New Jersey this summer to meet with my former boychoir classmates, camp cohorts, and the many, many staff and faculty that played such a big role not just in my own musical development but in my transition from a boy to a man. One last meeting at the place we all called home, the place we ate, drank, and slept, the place where we learned how to be a world-class ensemble. I know that I’m being melodramatic here but there is something very unique about Albemarle (the name given to the ABS campus). The history of that house could tell thousands of stories, both good and bad, with the countless number of people who have lived and worked there. It’s going to be a shame to lose such a wonderful place in the middle of Princeton but this move does not end the school, it doesn’t change their mission.
The mission of The American Boychoir is to sustain and move forward with a distinctively American voice the one-thousand-year-old boychoir school tradition. The American Boychoir is committed to being the finest choir of its kind in the nation and among the finest in the world. The American Boychoir achieves this each year by recruiting and training talented choristers from across the country.
The mission of The American Boychoir School is to combine the training program for mastery of choral music with a superior academic program in order to create a profoundly integrative educational experience which emphasizes creativity and such traditional values as self-discipline, self-reliance, hard work, teamwork and dedication to long-term goals.
It is a testimony to the vision of the institution’s founder, Herbert Huffman, that after sixty-nine years the objectives stated in the School’s original charter are as apt today as they were in 1937:
- To build character in young boys and prepare them for good citizenship.
- To provide an exceptional training program for musically talented boys, regardless of their religion, social background or financial circumstances.
- To make this unique opportunity the motivation for general educational attainment.
- To help enrich the cultural life of the nation and to produce a musical organization that is recognized throughout the country as the finest of its kind.
As today’s stewards of The American Boychoir School, the board, faculty, staff, parents and students affirm these objectives.
All of those things above remain intact and all of those currently working at the school fully support this mission and the boychoir’s continued success. This move will enhance not just the vocal opportunities of the students but it will allow ABS to grow and prosper for decades to come. All of us who have spent any amount of time at the school will cherish our memories of that old house, both the good memories and perhaps even the bad ones, and all of us recognize that in order to grow, we must be willing to let go of the past and embrace the future. I will make it a point this summer to reconnect one last time with Albemarle (how I’m going to do it, I have no idea), and I will make it a point to hold on to my memories while embracing a bright future for the school.
