Sunday, June 19, 2005
You Go Girl! Away?
Pedophilia and the pompous behavior of Boy's Choir of Harlem director Dr. Walter Turnbull aside, did you even know that there is a Girl's Choir of Harlem, scandal-free, bursting with talent and largely ignored and overshadowed by its older "brother."
Complaining in the Ideas and Opinions section of the New York Daily News, LION CALANDRA wrote that the boys perform for U.S. Presidents, the Pope and Nelson Mandela. Sing at Yankee Stadium, appear on the "Late Show with David Letterman" and show up at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. You can buy t-shirts and CD's on a website. In short, the young men are a cultural and musical institution, touring the world before regular folk and royalty.
Not so with the girls says CALANDRA.
Personally, I never heard anything about a girl's choir. No friend or family member has so much as mentioned one word about them, while some know the boys 'bootstrap' story. This is because the girls are often relegated to upstate New York trips, and singing at a graduation here or there. Their CD's are not promoted, no international trips booked, according to CALANDRA.
I don't know if that is true or not, but if you visit the website the images and copy are virtually all-boy, with one link that says Girl's Choir. In fairness, there is a loop at the top of the webpage that promotes The Girl's and Boy's Choir of Harlem and God's by Design, The Album.
Interestingly, CALANDRA points to a trump card that could tip the situation in favor of the girls. Enter the NYC Department of Education, which has both choirs under its domain, due to a unique cultural-education partnership which includes a school, The Choir Academy. Specifically CALANDRA noted that the city's contract with the school is up at the end of the school year and that education officials should demand changes or threaten to close the school.
The Academy, Intermediate School/High School #469, is one of several small public academies created during the tenure of Schools Chancellor Joseph Fernandez. It has 560 students - 300 girls, the rest boys - in grades 4 through 12 attending classes (and rehearsals) from 8:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Girls compete for about 100 positions in the girls choir and 35 positions in the performing choir. Boys compete for a similar number of spots.
Last year, Frank Jones, an assistant choirmaster, was initially supported by Dr. Turnbull, the choir's founder and embattled director, when it was reported that Jones had initiated inappropriate sexual relationships with boys in the choir.
Jones was convicted in 2004 and is serving a two-year sentence for these charges.
As for the girls, it's time to shine a bright light on what was described as "... 35 talented, hardworking young ladies - whose singing was described in Vogue magazine in 1997 as what it might be like if a band of angels had floated down to Earth to raise their voices for a brief moment in time..."
Complaining in the Ideas and Opinions section of the New York Daily News, LION CALANDRA wrote that the boys perform for U.S. Presidents, the Pope and Nelson Mandela. Sing at Yankee Stadium, appear on the "Late Show with David Letterman" and show up at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. You can buy t-shirts and CD's on a website. In short, the young men are a cultural and musical institution, touring the world before regular folk and royalty.
Not so with the girls says CALANDRA.
Personally, I never heard anything about a girl's choir. No friend or family member has so much as mentioned one word about them, while some know the boys 'bootstrap' story. This is because the girls are often relegated to upstate New York trips, and singing at a graduation here or there. Their CD's are not promoted, no international trips booked, according to CALANDRA.
I don't know if that is true or not, but if you visit the website the images and copy are virtually all-boy, with one link that says Girl's Choir. In fairness, there is a loop at the top of the webpage that promotes The Girl's and Boy's Choir of Harlem and God's by Design, The Album.
Interestingly, CALANDRA points to a trump card that could tip the situation in favor of the girls. Enter the NYC Department of Education, which has both choirs under its domain, due to a unique cultural-education partnership which includes a school, The Choir Academy. Specifically CALANDRA noted that the city's contract with the school is up at the end of the school year and that education officials should demand changes or threaten to close the school.
The Academy, Intermediate School/High School #469, is one of several small public academies created during the tenure of Schools Chancellor Joseph Fernandez. It has 560 students - 300 girls, the rest boys - in grades 4 through 12 attending classes (and rehearsals) from 8:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Girls compete for about 100 positions in the girls choir and 35 positions in the performing choir. Boys compete for a similar number of spots.
Last year, Frank Jones, an assistant choirmaster, was initially supported by Dr. Turnbull, the choir's founder and embattled director, when it was reported that Jones had initiated inappropriate sexual relationships with boys in the choir.
Jones was convicted in 2004 and is serving a two-year sentence for these charges.
As for the girls, it's time to shine a bright light on what was described as "... 35 talented, hardworking young ladies - whose singing was described in Vogue magazine in 1997 as what it might be like if a band of angels had floated down to Earth to raise their voices for a brief moment in time..."
