Founded in 1948, the internationally acclaimed, Grammy award-winning San Francisco Boys Chorus is a distinguished educational and performance organization led by Artistic Director Ian Robertson since 1996. One of just a handful of programs in the United States specifically designed to educate and showcase boy trebles, the SFBC is proud to train some of the finest young musicians in the country.
For four decades, San Francisco mayors have recognized the Boys Chorus as official “Singing Ambassadors of San Francisco,” and frequently invite the Boys to perform for events at City Hall. In 2009, the SFBC performed at Barack Obama’s 2009 Presidential Inauguration in Washington, D.C. The chorus has performed the national anthem and other songs for the San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, Oakland Raiders, San Francisco Marathon, and the Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary celebration. Each December, the SFBC sings at the Macy’s Great Tree Lighting Ceremony in Union Square, and for many years, PBS has broadcast SFBC’s own holiday concert in California television markets.
The Boys Chorus has distinguished itself as a premier collaborator for many of the Bay Area’s other world-class performance institutions. The members of SFBC have appeared as chorus and soloists in more than 135 productions with the San Francisco Opera, most recently in Hansel and Gretel, Carmen, Turandot, The Magic Flute, Tosca, and Mefistofele. The boys are also frequent performers with the San Francisco Ballet, San Francisco Symphony, Midsummer Mozart Festival, American Boychoir, Copenhagen Boys Choir, San Francisco Girls Chorus, Young Women’s Choral Projects of San Francisco, Sonos Bell Ringers, and the Purple Silk Orchestra.
SFBC also tours extensively across the United States as well as abroad. They have sung in leading concert halls and cathedrals on four continents, with highlights including St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, St Mark’s Basilica in Venice, St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, England, Carnegie Hall, Chartres and Notre Dame Cathedrals in France, Shanghai Concert Hall in China, Hong Kong Cathedral, the Glinka Capella in St. Petersburg, the Danish National Cathedral in Copenhagen, the Church of the Madeleine in Paris, St Margaret’s Westminster, England, Costa Rica National Cathedral, St Andrews Cathedral in Sydney, Australia, Washington National Cathedral, St Thomas Church and St. Bartholomew’s Church in New York City, Thomaskirche in Leipzig, Matthias Church in Budapest, and Tokyo City Hall.
San Francisco Boys Chorus’s recordings include We’re on Our Way (2002), Moving On (2005), It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (2009), Antonio Vivaldi’s Gloria and Magnificat (2010), Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem and choral works by André Messager (2010), San Francisco Boys Chorus Sings Live (2012), Sing for the Holidays (2013), and A Feast of Song (2014).
