History

The Cathedral Choir of Boys and Girls:

When St. Mary’s Cathedral was finished, the main choir was a Choir of Men and Boys, taking in singers from all over the Archdiocese, under the direction of Walter Bahn. Numbering about 40, boys rehearsed in several locations and were carpooled to the cathedral for weekend Masses. When in 1973 a new music director took over, the emphasis shifted to an adult choir, and the boys choir was disbanded. It was not until 1992 that our present music director, Christoph Tietze, started a boys choir again. It quickly grew from 8 to 25 boys, singing at various Masses and other events in the cathedral, and annual singing tours took them up and down the West coast. In 1996 a girl’s choir was formed, and the two were combined for a Jubilee Year pilgrimage to Rome in 2000. Since that time, the combined choir has numbered around 25 to 35 singers, and another pilgrimage to Rome is planned for this Fall. The choir is open to boys and girls in grades 3 through 8, and singers learn to read music, good vocal production, team work, responsibility, and liturgy. Most children stay with the choir until they graduate from 8th grade.

Choir Highlights:
1993 - Southern California
1994 - Sacramento and Lake Tahoe
1995 - Yosemite Nat’l Park
1996 - Russian River area
1997 - Portland and Seattle
1998 - Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming
1999 - Yosemite and Fresno; televised concert
2000 - CD recording “In Concert”
2000 - Italy: concert in Florence and Papal Mass in Rome
2001 - Reno and Lake Tahoe areas
2002 - Southern California
2003 - Pueri Cantores Congress
2005 - Pueri Cantores Congress
2006 - California Missions
2007 - Switzerland and Italy