"Kids can be taught to be the best they can be -- if you really want to reach kids' lives, you can," said Walter Turnbull, founder and leader of the internationally acclaimed Boys Choir of Harlem.
Apparently Turnbull practices what he preaches. He has created an internationally acclaimed tour-de-force from a choir made up of students classified as "at risk for high-school dropout" by the U.S. Department of Education.The Boys Choir of Harlem will perform in Abravanel Hall Thursday, Feb. 17, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $18-$42 and can be purchased through Abravanel Hall, the Capitol Theatre and at ArtTix outlets, or by calling 801-355-ARTS, or 1-888-451-ARTS. Utah Symphony subscribers and anyone interested in group discounts should call 801-533-NOTE.
Turnbull founded the choir in 1968 "to give children something interesting to do."
"I first came to New York to be an opera singer," Turnbull said during a telephone interview from the Boys Choir of Harlem School in New York City. "But God beat me over the head. I started working with kids, and I saw how important it was to help them."
The choir is an opportunity to change lives, he explained. "I had already taught in public schools for awhile. I found that kids who succeeded in music gained a level of self-esteem and discipline that was transferrable to everything they did."
The choir members are drawn from the Choir Academy, a special-interest school open to all children regardless of race, creed, color or sex, to help inner-city children realize their potential. "Poverty is the common factor. Seventy-five percent of these kids are from single-parent female households. They come from all over New York City, but mostly from Harlem."
The program combines academics, artistry and student development, Turnbull said. "My approach is fairness -- I'm satisfied as long as they're trying to do their best. My philosophy is caring. There is never a lack of hope. Instilling and developing that hope is so, so important."
And how are the students selected?
"Everybody has to audition for the choir and the school," Turnbull said. "We run the school in cooperation with the board of education. But every member of the school is a member of the choir. There are about 560 boys and girls in the large choir, and 40-50 people in the performing choir. You have to earn the right to be in the performing choir.
"We have counselors that work with them and their families, so we achieve overall success. It's everything together -- the counseling, the caring, the working with families, and the academic tutoring -- that is working."
Turnbull said he has seen many changes in the children he works with.
"I'm impressed when a kid has a reputation as a rabble-rouser and changes to being the best in the choir," he said. "There is a certain dignity, and many have gone on to do things on Broadway and in the pop arena. Of course, not all go into music. There are the preachers, the doctors, the lawyers -- all walks of life.
"Jonathan Iverson, the first ringmaster in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus, started with the choir in fourth grade," Turnbull noted.
Boasting nine European tours, three Asian tours and averaging 100 engagements in 24 states annually, the Boys Choir of Harlem has earned international accolades. It has recorded with stars from every genre of music and performed for such figures as Pope John Paul II and Nelson Mandela.
"It's absolutely demanding, musically," said Turnbull. "It's world-class at all times."
The program Thursday will involve a range of music, some of which will include dancing. It will be a well-rounded program, said Turnbull.
"It's important to teach the children the classics, but also spirituals -- it's a part of their heritage," said Turnbull. "We do a wide variety -- gospel, jazz, popular, classical. It's all with a message."