Keystone State Boychoir - Commonwealth Youthchoirs

Keystone State Boychoir
“Pennsylvania’s Boychoir”
we are the BOYS...
...and we SING!
Keystone State Boychoir 35 W. Chelten Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19144 215.849.1762 www.keystonestateboychoir.org
Keystone State Boychoir channels the unique energy of boys
into joyful music-making of the highest level, creating
unforgettable choral experiences for
both performers and audiences.
In a Philadelphia Inquirer review of Bach’s
St. Matthew Passion, music critic David
Patrick Stearns summed up the Boychoir
in a word —
“excellent.”
Keystone State Boychoir (KSB), founded in 2001,
has enjoyed unprecedented success during its ten years and
has become recognized as one of the finest community-based
boychoir programs in the world. Under the direction of Music
Director Joseph P. Fitzmartin and Associate Music Director
Steven M. Fisher, KSB consists of more than 150 young
men between the ages of eight and eighteen who sing an
enthralling repertoire from the classical to the contemporary.
Major choral works that KSB has performed include Bach’s St.
Matthew’s Passion, Orff ’s Carmina Burana, Handel’s Messiah,
Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Britten’s St. Nicolas, and the Fauré
Requiem.
KSB has sung with the region’s most distinguished ensembles,
including the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the Opera
Company of Philadelphia, for which it serves as its official
boychoir. KSB has appeared in the area’s most prominent
venues including the Perelman Theater and Verizon Hall in
the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, the Academy of
Music, and the Mann Music Center. The choir has performed
by invitation at conferences of the American Choral Director’s
Association, the Australian Music Educators Society, and the
International Society of Music Educators.
Internationally, KSB has performed in major concert halls,
including the Manus Opera House in Brazil, the Petronas
Philharmonik Hall in Malaysia, and the Hanoi Opera House
in Vietnam, as well as in venues throughout Canada, Brazil,
Chile, South Africa, Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam,
Malaysia, Australia, Monaco, France, Germany, Austria, and
Bulgaria. Having sung in Antarctica, KSB is the only choir to
have sung on every continent. In July of 2012, KSB will embark
on a concert tour of Norway and the Arctic Circle.
The KSB experience centers on its truly joyful music-making.
The vibrant sound of the choir is enhanced by its compelling
stage presence. The music directors believe that today’s choral
music should be felt, as well as heard, if the art form is to
thrive. They have found that when the unique energy of boys is
channeled into choral singing of the highest standard, the result
is unforgettable performances for audiences and singers alike.
Keystone State Boychoir and its sister-choir, Pennsylvania
Girlchoir, are member-choirs of Commonwealth Youthchoirs,
founded by Joseph P. Fitzmartin and Steven M. Fisher. Under
the leadership of Executive Director Susan S. Ashbaker, this
non-profit organization is committed to providing superior
choral music education and performance opportunities for young
people from diverse economic, racial, and ethnic backgrounds.
Anchored in deep caring and respect for each individual singer,
our choral programs will promote camaraderie and self-discipline
and nurture leadership skills, in the pursuit of artistic excellence
that uplifts and inspires performers and audiences alike.
To learn more about the Keystone State Boychoir,
visit: www.keystonestateboychoir.org
Keystone State Boychoir CONCERT TOURS
Keystone State Boychoir
Founded in 2001, Keystone State Boychoir (KSB) has enjoyed unprecedented success for
an ensemble so young. Today KSB is counted among the the finest community-based
boychoir programs in the world.
Under the direction of Music Director Joseph P. Fitzmartin and Associate Music Director
Steven M. Fisher, KSB consists of more than 150 young men between the ages of eight
and eighteen who sing an enthralling repertoire from the classical to the contemporary.
Major choral works that KSB has performed include Bach’s St. Matthew’s Passion,
Orff’s Carmina Burana, Handel’s Messiah, Mendelssohn’s Elijah, Britten’s St.Nicolas,
and the Fauré Requiem.
KSB has sung with the region’s most distinguished ensembles, including the Philadelphia
Orchestra, and the Opera Company of Philadelphia, for which it serves as its official
boychoir. KSB has appeared in the area’s most prominent venues including the Perelman
Theatre, Verizon Hall, the Academy of Music, and the Mann Music Center. It has
performed by invitation at conferences of the American Choral Director’s Association,
the Australian Music Educators Society, and the International Society of Music
Educators.
Internationally, KSB has sung in major concert halls around the world, including the
Manaus Opera House, the Petronas Philharmonik Hall, and the Hanoi Opera House, as
well as in venues throughout the United States, Canada, Brazil, Chile, South Africa,
Japan, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Australia, Monaco, France, Germany,
Austria, and Bulgaria. KSB is the only choir to have sung on every continent, including
Antarctica. In June of 2012, KSB will embark on a concert tour of Norway and the Arctic
Circle.
The KSB experience centers on its truly joyful music-making. The vibrant sound of the
choir is enhanced by its compelling stage presence. The music directors believe that
today’s choral music should be felt, as well as heard, if the art form is to thrive. They
have found that when the unique energy of boys is channeled into choral singing of the
highest standard, the result is unforgettable performances for audiences and singers alike.
Keystone State Boychoir and its sister-choir, Pennsylvania Girlchoir, are member-choirs
of Commonwealth Youthchoirs, founded by Joseph P. Fitzmartin and Steven M. Fisher.
Under the leadership of Executive Director Susan S. Ashbaker, this non-profit
organization is committed to offering exemplary choral music education and performance
opportunities to young people from diverse economic, racial, and ethnic backgrounds,
while nurturing leadership skills, building character and encouraging self-discipline.
To learn more about Keystone State Boychoir, visit www.keystonestateboychoir.org.
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Music Directors
Joseph P. Fitzmartin
Music Director, Keystone State Boychoir
A co-founder of Commonwealth Youthchoirs, Joseph P. Fitzmartin has served since 2001 as Music
Director of member-choir Keystone State Boychoir. His role with Keystone State Boychoir combines Mr.
Fitzmartin’s long dedication to music education, conducting, and composing. A distinguished composer,
he has written and arranged extensively for choirs and orchestras, including A Fantasy of Carols,
performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra. Additionally, Mr. Fitzmartin’s Concert Mass, a major work for
symphony orchestra and choir, made its world premiere at Carnegie Hall and has since been performed at
the Sydney Opera House in Australia, in Berlin, and by the Novgorod Symphony in Russia.
A native of Philadelphia and graduate of Catholic University in Washington, DC, Mr. Fitzmartin is also
choral director for the middle and upper schools at the William Penn Charter School. Previous positions
include organist and choir director at Collenbrook United Church in Drexel Hill for twenty-four years,
organist and choir director at Girard College, and associate director and accompanist for the Philadelphia
Boys Choir and Chorale, a post he held for twenty-one years.
Steven M. Fisher
Associate Music Director, Keystone State Boychoir
Steven Fisher is co-founder of Commonwealth Youthchoirs, and has served as Associate Music Director
of its member-choir Keystone State Boychoir since its founding in 2001. He is director of "FYI!" (Find
Your Instrument!), the school outreach program of Commonwealth Youthchoirs. In addition to his work
with Commonwealth Youthchoirs, he is the music director of Singing City Children’s Choir, as well as
the music director and a founder of New York Boychoir.
Mr. Fisher holds a master’s degree in music from Temple University ’s Esther Boyer College of Music.
He studied conducting with Alan Harler , composition with Richard Broadhead, arranging with Alice
Parker, and piano with Alexander Fiorello. In 1998, Temple University awarded him the prestigious
Presser Foundation Award, which recognizes “a graduate student who has the potential to make an
outstanding contribution in the music world.”
Mr. Fisher is a playwright and composer of musical theatre. His work Mandela has been presented in
New York and in Johannesburg . His musical Isabelle and the Pretty-Ugly Spell received a rave review
from the New York Times during its New York run and has enjoyed productions around the country.
Currently, Steven is working on new play based on the Tyler Clementi tragedy with music by Hector
Berlioz. It is being developed for Broadway by the Tony Award-Winning producers at Martian
Entertainment.
Steven is a published composer of choral music. His musical poem, Even, is a setting of poet-laureate
Billy Collins’ beloved poem “The Lanyard,” and was recently published by Hal Leonard Publishing as
part of the esteemed Henry Leck “Creating Artistry” series. His South African arrangements are
published by Colla Voce.