History

The St. John’s Boys’ Choir offers an enriching experience in music education with an emphasis on vocal music, as well as the socializing experience of shared enterprise, fellowship, cultural awareness, and touring for boys ages 8-15. The choir promotes vocal music education in central Minnesota and offers the unique experience of a well-trained boys’ choir to its audiences.

Founded in 1981 by Br. Paul Richards and the Saint John’s monastic community, the organization has grown to include four choral ensembles which perform more than fifty engagements annually. The St. John’s Boys’ Choir continues the tradition of enabling boys to express themselves through music and provides an environment that nurtures and encourages creativity.

Members of the choir represent home, public, and private schools in more than fifteen communities around Central Minnesota. Their repertoire includes sacred motets, classical masterpieces, folk music from around the world, and contemporary theatrical and popular selections. Concert sites include local schools, churches, civic organizations, private businesses, and concert halls around the world.

Choristers Team Alumni Families

SJBC Choirs

SJBC has a strong reputation across the state and the nation for its outstanding concert programming, refined choral tone, and exceptional commitment to male social development. A musical and experiential curriculum guides each choirboy’s progress through four different choral ensembles.

The choirs perform as unique entities but often combine to pursue repertoire with larger musical forces and to provide leadership opportunities for singers of all ages.

Training Choir

The Training Choir is made up of the newest members of the St. John’s Boys’ Choir. These young singers begin their musical journey by learning the fundamentals of choral singing—developing a well-supported, unified sound while becoming familiar with basic note reading and music theory. The choir meets weekly for one-and-a-half-hour rehearsals filled with learning, laughter, and growth. The Training Choir lays the foundation for a lifetime of music-making and camaraderie.

Varsity Choir

The Varsity Choir represents the most senior treble singers of the program—leaders who exemplify dedication, discipline, and musical excellence. These choristers explore more challenging repertoire and develop advanced vocal and musical techniques, deepening their artistry and confidence as performers. Rehearsing twice each week for two hours, the Varsity Choir continues the SJBC tradition of excellence while inspiring younger singers to reach for new heights in their musical journey.

Nova Voce

Nova Voce is an ensemble devoted to nurturing and celebrating the changing voice. These singers explore tenor and bass repertoire designed to strengthen and develop their emerging voices, while also preparing SATB selections that they perform as part of the Concert Choir. The group meets once each week for two hours of focused rehearsal, building confidence, musicality, and camaraderie along the way.

Illūstrāre

Illūstrāre is the newest ensemble of the St. John’s Boys’ Choir, making its debut at this year’s A Ceremony of Carols. This auditioned chamber group features singers from all voice parts—soprano, alto, tenor, and bass—coming together to explore refined and expressive repertoire. With its intimate size and advanced musical focus, Illūstrāre showcases the artistry, versatility, and leadership of SJBC’s most experienced choristers.

SJBC Travels

The choirboys serve as ambassadors for choral music and for male singing, as well as ambassadors for Central Minnesota and the United States.

Their travels have taken them to churches and concert stages in North and Central America, the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia. They have hosted international choir festivals, bringing more than 2,500 singers from around the world to the Saint John’s campus. They have shared their sacred music in some of the world’s most famous churches – Notre Dame in Paris, Sagrada Família in Barcelona, and Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin to name a few. They have graced the stage of Dvořak Hall in Prague and entertained dignitaries in Italy and Ireland.

Here in the United States, they have accepted prestigious invitations to perform at state and regional conferences of the American Choral Directors’ Association, twice at the Oregon Bach Festival, and made their Carnegie Hall debut in 2019. They have appeared on the nationally broadcast A Prairie Home Companion and can be heard on any of several independently-released CDs, as well as on recordings by Saint John’s Abbey, Amy Grant, and the Grammy-nominated album Ghosts Upon the Earth by Gungor.

SJBC Collaborations

For all its international success, the choir remains firmly rooted in its Central Minnesota community. The choir has collaborated with almost every musical ensemble in the region, as well as with several professional Minnesota artists such as Jearlyn Steele (gospel), George Maurer (jazz), Peter Rothstein (theater), the Rose Ensemble (choral), and the Minnesota Dance Ensemble.

The choir has commissioned and premiered works by notable Minnesota composers Stephen Paulus, René Clausen, and Eric Barnum. They reinstituted and have twice hosted the Minnesota State Boychoir Festival, bringing together the state’s community boys’ choir organizations.