Chester W. Douglass, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The American Boychoir School announced the appointment of a new president of The American Boychoir School, Mr. Karl Held effective May 15, 2010.  In his announcement, Dr. Douglass said, “We are fortunate to have Karl Held serve as the President of The American Boychoir. He brings a wealth of academic, business, and performance experience that complement the distinctive and unique music education mission of The American Boychoir School”.

 

No stranger to Princeton or The American Boychoir, Mr. Held was educated at Westminster Choir College, and in the 1980s served as the executive producer of numerous Boychoir recordings under conductor and Music Director, James Litton.  Other recording projects include the latest in the series of American Boychoir recordings, Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, Litton-Lodal Music Director, and a recent SONY MASTERWORKS release of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods with previously unreleased material in honor of the composer’s 80th Birthday. Held is in production of a 13-part orchestral radio series for WQXR, formerly the classical radio station of The New York Times.

 

Acting upon his belief in the importance of Arts in Education, Karl Held has served on several national councils for The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC, including the 25th Anniversary Celebrations in 1996, and he serves as an adviser to numerous arts organizations in New York City. From 1998-2009, he served as the Senior Advisor to the president of Gettysburg College. During this tenure, he developed several programs including The Ambassadors Series, an international concert and lecture series incorporating cultural classroom exchanges on a global level. Mr. Held was also instrumental in moving the Leonard Bernstein Center for Artful learning from the GRAMMY Foundation in Los Angeles to Gettysburg College where it was hosted from 2005-2009. The mission of the center was to strengthen education on a national level by preparing teachers, schools and communities to use the arts and the artistic process to learn across all academic subjects.  He is a founding member and former Chairman of the Adams County Arts Council, founding board member and secretary to the National Trust for Historic Gettysburg, and was recently named a member of the board of Help is on the Way Today-Cabaret Cares, an organization dedicated to assisting children living with HIV and AIDS. He has been honored with numerous awards, including the presentation of the Key to his native Gettysburg, PA by Mayor William Troxell for “the promotion and appreciation of the arts for all Americans”.   Mr. Held is a 2010 Tony and Drama Desk nominated Producer for the recent Broadway revival of RAGTIME, and a 2010 MAC (Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs) Award for his Production of HYSTERICAL BLONDNESS.

 

The American Boychoir is regarded as the United States’ premier concert boys’ choir. Under the leadership of Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, Litton-Lodal Music Director, The American Boychoir continues to dazzle audiences with its unique blend of musical sophistication, effervescent spirit, and ensemble virtuosity. Boys in grades 4 through 8, reflecting the ethnic, religious and cultural diversity of the United States, come from across the country and around the world to pursue a rigorous musical and academic curriculum at the school. The American Boychoir School, the only non-sectarian boys’ choir school in the nation, was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1937, and has been located in Princeton, New Jersey, since 1950.

 

Maintaining an active national and international touring schedule, the Boychoir performs with world-class ensembles including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic. The Boychoir appears regularly as featured artists with James Levine at the Tanglewood Music Festival, and has performed with the internationally renowned soprano Jessye Norman, prominent jazz musician Wynton Marsalis, pop diva Beyoncé, and at Carnegie Hall with Sir Paul McCartney.

 

Often called upon for boy soloists, members of The American Boychoir have performed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Berkshire Music Festival, and the Virginia Symphony Orchestra.

 

The American Boychoir has been extensively recorded on its own label Albemarle Records and broadcast on radio and television, with over forty-five commercial recordings.

 

The programs offered by The American Boychoir School are made possible in part through a grant by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding has been provided by the New Jersey Cultural Trust.