The Georgia Boy Choir

History

The Georgia Boy Choir was founded in 2009 by David White, former director of the Atlanta Boy Choir and the Florida’s Singing Sons Boy choir.^[1]

The Georgia Boy Choir operates on a five-tier system of musical education for boys as young as five years old through high school. The choirs range from the youngest members in the Apprentice Choir to the oldest members of the Young Men’s Ensemble

Performances

The choir’s inaugural tour was to China, where it performed at venues like Beijing University and the Chengdu Concert Hall. The 2012 tour was to Scandinavia with performances in Copenhagen, Denmark, Oslo, Norway and Estonia. The choir has also performed locally for the Atlanta Regional Commission, the Governor of Georgia, the Atlanta Rotary Club, and the Fish Radio Station. During the 2013 NBA Playoffs, the choir sang the National Anthem for the final game between the Atlanta Hawks and the Indiana Pacers.

The purpose of the Georgia Boy Choir is to achieve the highest possible standard of musical excellence, while instilling in its members a life-long appreciation of music; an abiding love of beauty; a keen sense of respect for themselves and others; and the self-discipline necessary to become effective leaders in their families, their communities and the world.

History of the Georgia Boy Choir

Established in 2009 under the baton of Artistic Director and Conductor, David R. White, the Georgia Boy Choir has quickly gained a reputation as one of the finest Choirs of its kind. Known for the transcendent beauty of their singing and powerful, nuanced musical interpretation, the Choir has garnered an impressive international fan base through touring and its many performance videos on YouTube with one million views from more than 170 countries. Operating on a five-tier music education system, the Choir serves over 85 boys and young men from all around the metropolitan Atlanta region.

Recognizing that a musician must care for his instrument, the Georgia Boy Choir invests a great deal of time, energy, and focus on the care and development of its instrument – the boys themselves. At every rehearsal, each boy is encouraged to “Be the Best Boy You Can Be.” The boys are taught the importance of hard work, self-discipline, and focus, all in an environment that is positive, encouraging, and fun. In this way, the boys are allowed to be their true selves and find expression of the greatness that lies within them.

Touring

The Georgia Boy Choir is very pleased to have accepted an invitation to collaborate with the Sistine Chapel Choir in 2019 where they will perform in a mass with Pope Francis on the Feast of Pentecost in St. Peter’s Basilica. This will continue the Choir’s tradition of performing in exceptional places around the world since their very first year. In the summer of 2010 the Choir embarked on its first international tour, delighting thousands throughout the country of China. In 2011 they traveled to England where they were the Choir-In-Residence at both Wells Cathedral and Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford. Summer 2012 saw the boys and young men in Scandinavia where they performed in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Estonia. The Georgia Boy Choir made its Carnegie Hall debut in May of 2013, and returned to England in 2014 where they served as the Choir-In-Residence at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. The summer of 2015 found them back in China where they received a hero’s welcome, and in 2016 they toured extensively throughout Spain and Portugal. In the summer of 2017, the Choir toured Scotland and Ireland, where they served as Choir-In Residence at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. In 2018 the Choir will travel to France and Belgium with performances at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris and the Normandy American Cemetery.

David R. White, Artistic Director and Conductor

David R. White has been training boys and young men to sing for more than two decades. In 1994, he founded the Boy Choir of the Carolinas in Greenville, South Carolina. In 1998 he became the Music Director of Florida’s Singing Sons Boychoir in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. From 2001 to 2009, Mr. White was the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Atlanta Boy Choir in Atlanta, Georgia. He has also served as conductor of the Greenville Symphony Orchestra Chorus and Director of Music at the Second Presbyterian Church of Greenville. There, he founded an annual Summer Music Camp for children and adults. Under his direction, choirs have participated in numerous festivals throughout the world including the Prague International Choral Festival, the Pacific International Children’s Choir Festival, the Anchorage Choral Festival, the Cultural Olympiad in Greece, the Baltimore Boychoir Festival, the Southeast Festival of Song, and the Choral Olympics in Linz, Austria. His choirs have toured extensively throughout the United States, Germany, Austria, Italy, Greece, Russia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, England, China, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Estonia, Spain, Portugal, Scotland, and Ireland. He has been a conductor on the faculty at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Interlochen, Michigan as well as the Csehy Summer School of Music in Philadelphia.

In addition to conducting, Mr. White has been a featured soloist with numerous choral organizations and orchestras throughout the Southeast. He was a member of Robert Shaw’s Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus from 1987 – 1990. Mr. White holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice Performance from Georgia College and is active as a lecturer, adjudicator, and conductor for choral and vocal competitions, workshops, and festivals.