Resurrected more than a decade after it disbanded, the Wilmington Boys Choir is once again helping young boys develop skills important in both life and music.
Reminders of the original boys choir sat forgotten in a closet at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church until Ronnie Wise, director of music, stumbled upon the boxes of old photographs, concert booklets and other memorabilia on Christmas Eve 2013. The wheels started turning, and Wise shared his findings and interest in reviving the choir with the previous director and the leadership at St. Paul’s.
“We looked at it and thought, gosh, we ought to see if we can get this going again,” Wise said.
Two committees formed and met early in 2014, one to explore the feasibility of a revival and another to plan and rally community support. That fall, the Wilmington Boys Choir welcomed its first group in 15 years: 22 boys, ages 7 years and older. A lot can change in 15 years, Wise noted, leading him to tweak the program to suit the times.
“It’s been a learning process over the semester. Any time something disappeared for 15 years and then you try to bring it back, times have changed. The same things that worked then don’t work now, so it’s a lot of adapting,” Wise said.
Holding the boys’ attention requires a different approach in the age of cell phones and social media, Wise said, but the principles and traditions of boys choirs remain unchanged.
“Learning how to respect each other, how to work hard and learning that hard work can be a joy, that the end result can really be something wonderful when you’ve put a lot of hard work into it: all of those are things that haven’t changed over a couple centuries, as far as boys choirs go,” Wise said.
Boys ages 7 years and older whose voices have not changed are eligible to participate. No religious affiliation is required; while the choir is facilitated by St. Paul’s, it functions as a civic organization. No prior music experience is needed, and a voice instructor new to the program this spring will provide each boy one-on-one voice lessons.
“Some of the guys will go on to have careers in music. Some of them, of course, won’t. It’s still the same result,” Wise said. “Just being able to watch these guys grow and gain confidence, it’s really wonderful.”
Boys interested in joining the choir and their families are invited to an open house at St. Paul’s 6 p.m. Jan. 13. After dinner and a short rehearsal, families and boys can mingle and talk over hot chocolate and dessert.
Tuition for the first semester is $175, a figure Wise said might change according to donations, but scholarships can offset the cost when necessary.
“We won’t ever deny a boy membership because of financial need,” Wise said.
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