Music

The Choirs

There are three choirs at All Saints: The Choir of Men & Boys, The Chamber Choir, and the St. Cecilia Choir.

The All Saints’ Choir of Men and Boys consists of boys aged 7 to 18 – most of whom live in the Dorchester area – and professional and volunteer singing men from the greater Boston area. The Choir strives to give urban boys a safe place in which to make new friends, experience the uplifting power of great music, discover the value of teamwork and responsibility, and learn musical skills that will last them a lifetime. The Choir sings the ten o’clock Solemn High Mass at All Saints’ most Sundays during the school year, featuring the finest in sacred music from plainsong to the present. In addition, it seeks to enrich the life of the greater Boston community through its concerts and recordings.

In 2003, the Boys were chosen to perform in Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem at Symphony Hall for the Eastern Division Convention of the American Choral Directors Association. The full Choir has recently performed at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, spent a week at the Washington National Cathedral as the choir-in-residence, appeared on Fox 25 TV, and sung the National Anthem at Fenway Park. The Choir has released two compact discs: Saints’ and Angels’ Delight (1999), directed by Michael Kleinschmidt, and His Beauty Doth All Things Excel, Music for Advent and Christmas (2003), directed by Jeremy Bruns.

Admission to the choir for boys currently in the second through fourth grades takes place throughout the school year.  No prior musical experience or religious affiliation is required.  For more information, please contact the Choirmaster at 617-436-3520, ext. 212, or at organist@allsaints.net.

The Chamber Choir is a mixed-voice ensemble which specializes in the a cappella repertoire for Mass and Evensong. They perform on alternate Sundays during the summer and the choir sings occasionally during the choral term. Admission to this Choir is by audition. Please contact the Music Office (617-436-3520, ext. 212) to express your interest.

The St. Cecilia Choir consists of women from All Saints’ Parish who sing on alternate Sundays in the summer and on occasion during the school year. St. Cecilia Choir is open to any woman who enjoys singing and would like to work on vocal and music-reading skills. Weekly rehearsals during the summer are on Wednesday evenings from 7:30 to 9:00 pm. To learn more, please contact the Music Office, 617-436-3520 x212.

Biographies

Elisabeth (Buffy) Gray has served as Interim Organist and Master of Choristers since January 2010.  Buffy holds the Bachelor of Music degree (summa cum laude) from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, NJ, where she majored in church music (organ concentration) and minored in voice.  For eleven years following graduation from college, she was the Organist and Choir Director at St. George’s-by-the-River in Rumson, NJ, where she directed four choirs and performed annual concerts of major choral works with orchestra.  In addition to her work at St. George’s, Buffy was a founding member and president of The Princeton Singers, with whom she and her husband Nick recorded several CDs and toured major English cathedrals three times.

After moving to Massachusetts in 1995, Buffy Gray served as Organist and Choir Director at the Church of the Redeemer in Chestnut Hill for six years.  Since leaving Redeemer in order to spend more time at home bringing up her two sons, she has freelanced as a substitute organist at many area churches.  She has also served as Interim Organist and Choirmaster here at All Saints’, Ashmont in 2004 and at Christ Church, Cambridge for 5 months in 2008.

Buffy Gray and her family have been active members of All Saints’ since 2001.  Her husband Nick and son Andrew sing in the Choir of Men and Boys.  Her son John sang with the Men and Boys for four years until his voice changed; since then he has served as an acolyte.

Clarence H. Chaisson has served as Assistant Organist since January 2010.  Clarence began playing the piano when he was five years old and the pipe organ when he was twelve.  He was awarded a scholarship from the Young Organists Initiative to continue organ lessons, and has since studied with John Dunn, William Ness, and Christa Rakich.  Now a junior in high school, Clarence has been a prizewinner in three major organ competitions, most notably placing first in the 2009 L. Cameron Johnson.  He also enjoys music composition and improvisation.

Recordings

Saints’ and Angels’ Delight (1999)
No longer available
sung by the All Saints’ Choir of Men & Boys
directed by Michael Kleinschmidt

Christ, whose glory fills the skies (Candlyn)
Sicut cervus (Palestrina)
Ain’t got time to die (arr. H Johnson)
There is a balm in Gilead (arr. Dawson)
Tomorrow shall be my dancing day (Gardner)
Exsultate Deo (Palestrina)
Magnificat & Nunc dimittis in C (Stanford)
There is no rose of such virtue (J Johnson)
Blessed city, heavenly Salem (Bairstow)
Ubi caritas (Duruflé)
I was glad (Parry)

........................................................................

His Beauty Doth All Things Excel (2003)
sung by the All Saints’ Choir of Men & Boys
directed by Jeremy Bruns

This CD is available from the Parish for $12 (including postage and handling).
Please make check payable to "Choir Fund."

Matin Responsory (after Palestrina)
Organ solo: Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland, BWV 659 (Bach)
This is the Record of John (Gibbons)
Magnificat in G (Stanford)
A Maiden Most Gentle (arr. Carter)
O Magnum Mysterium (Victoria)
Shepherd's Pipe Carol (Rutter)
Jesus Christ the Apple Tree (Poston)
The Lamb (Tavener)
In the bleak mid-winter (Darke)
A babe is born (Mathias)
Manger Carol (Sowerby)
Coventry Carol (Leighton)
Bethlehem Down (Warlock)
Nunc dimittis in G (Stanford)
Organ solo: Fantasie and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542 (Bach)

The choral selections were recorded at the Church of the Advent, Boston, and accompanied by Nancy Granert on the G. Donald Harrison Aeolian-Skinner organ. The two organ solos were performed by Jeremy Bruns on the C. B. Fisk organ at the Parish of All Saints', Ashmont.

Other Music Groups & Events

Ashmont Hill Chamber Music, Rachel Goodwin, Founder and Artistic Director. In 2006, AHCM celebrated its 20th season of presenting varied programs balancing innovative works, some never before or rarely performed, with traditional classic chamber music, both vocal and instrumental. Their regularly appearing performers include members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, faculty from New England Conservatory and Boston University, and singers including Robert Honeysucker, D'Anna Fortunato, and Joan Heller. For more information, please call 617-436-3646 or e-mail Florence Rawls, Program Director at floprawls@aol.com.

Boston City Singers’ mission is to provide children and young people with extraordinary choral music experiences, regardless of a child’s musical background or socio-economic circumstances, which lead to informed, expressive, and empowering performances.

Boston City Singers teaches young singers to learn and perform a dynamic, distinctive and challenging repertoire, supporting the Boston community's rich artistic diversity by performing in a variety of settings and for diverse audiences.
Web site: http://www.bostoncitysingers.org/

Friends of Music at All Saints (FOMAS)

Alumni

WE NEED YOUR HELP!
We have started a list of former choristers which appears below. If you are on it, or know someone who should be on it, please call the Music Office and let us hear from you! We especially need phone numbers, so we can re-connect with people.

Partial List of Former Choristers
If you’re on this list or know someone who should be on it, please contact the Music Office (617-436-3520) and give us their contact information. Thank you!

Music List

Download the current music list, Choral music January to June, 2010

Archive:
Choral music through December 2009
Ash Wednesday through Easter Day, 2009, Year B
Advent to Last Epiphany, 2008-09, Year B
September through November, 2008, Year A
September to December, 2008
Easter-Tide 2008
Ash Wednesday to Easter 2008
December 2007
September to November 2007
January to March 2007
December 2006