There must be something in the water in the Shamong school system. It now has five students who have earned a spot on the prestigious Philadelphia Boys Choir & Chorale due to their extraordinary vocal talents.
Stephan Oliva, Brady Winger, Nick Vitagliano, Jackson Graham and Noah Hasson are all in the choir and will be performing at The Kimmel Center on June 7.
“The spring concert is bound to be amazing,” Noah’s mom Deborah Hassan said.
The choir holds a winter concert and a spring concert each year. It also does smaller events on the side such as performing at baseball opening day ceremonies.
The Emmy-winning and Grammy-nominated Philadelphia Boys Choir & Chorale has cultivated a following worldwide for these highly-acclaimed concerts.
“Joining this group has ultimately created amazing opportunities for him,” mother of Stephan, Rita said. “It has given him an appreciation of many different genres of music, as well as different languages.”
Under Music Director Jeffrey R. Smith, PBCC maintains an extensive concert schedule throughout the Mid-Atlantic, as well as an international touring program.
Established in 1968, its achievements include world tours, recordings with internationally renowned orchestras and soloists such as Luciano Pavarotti and also international television appearances including “Good Morning America” and “Saturday Night Live.”
Based on the child’s age, they are placed in a specific grouping, starting with the under third-grade beginning cadets, followed by the fourth- and fifth-grade advanced cadets and finally the performing choir.
The boys come from all different parts of the area and get into performing for all different reasons.
“When eighth grader Stephan Oliva from the performing choir told me that I was a good singer and I should tryout for The Philadelphia Boys Choir, I decided that I wanted to see what it was like so I tried out and made it,” said Noah, 11, a fifth grader at Indian Mills Memorial.
“Brady is always singing around the house!” mother April Winger said. ”They were both in the choir at the elementary school, and the music teacher, Kim Martin, encouraged them to try out.”
Brady is 8 years old and in second grade at the Indian Mills Elementary School.
Singing has become a big part of these little guys’ lives over the years. They practice each week on Wednesdays and Fridays for these concerts.
Along with that, it has also become a large part of the lives of their parents, who deserve a lot of credit for their success.
Due to the fact that the members reside in different areas around South Jersey and Philadelphia, the Tabernacle group makes an hour commute twice each week to get to the facility.
It has all been worthwhile, though, as the kids all admitted to having had some great memories as a result of being a part of the group, and plan to continue their singing careers in high school.
“I think my most exciting performance was my first ever at Christmas in front of a lot of people,” Brady said. “I don’t get nervous, though. I like to show off my talents!”
“My favorite memory was when we performed at ‘The Nutcracker’ at The Academy of Music in Philadelphia and we got to do a cool segment with no words, just humming different melodies,” Noah said.
“My favorite part so far was singing in some really great concert halls and cathedrals, such as Kings College Chapel in Cambridge, England, Notre Dame in Paris, France, the Cardiff Millennium Centre and Carnegie Hall in New York City,” Stephan said.
Every summer, the performing choir travels somewhere different. Last year, they performed in England, and the year before that, they were in France.
The group’s upcoming performances will be held at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Notre-Dame in Paris, King’s College Chapel in Cambridge, and locally at the Kimmel Center, the Mann Center for Performing Arts and the Academy of Music. In the summer, PBCC will embark on a three-week, 17-city concert tour through China.
They go all over the world to different venues, but this is the first one in a long time at The Kimmel Center, and the boys said they are very excited to put on a show.
