By  DAVID FILKINS, Staff writer for the Albany Times Union

First published in print: Monday, December 1, 2008

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ALBANY – More than 200 residents filed into the Cathedral of All Saints on Sunday and listened intently as a sweet sound filled the expansive brick building. The voices, some young and piercing, captivated an audience that sat unmoving and awestruck.

This was not your typical choir.

The Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys, formed in 1872, is the oldest, continuously performing professional choir of its kind in the country. Its Sunday performance, An Advent Procession with Lessons and Carols, featured choral works by Taverner, Rachmaninov, and Piccolo, and is one of the highlights on a nine-month schedule that began in August.

Choir members, 15 boys and 13 men, moved around the church on Sunday, singing in three different languages at different times during the performance. Over the course of a season the choir sings in English, Latin, German, French, Italian and Russian. It performs every Sunday at All Saints and does a number of special programs at various locations, sometimes abroad.

The choir, which had been reduced to just three boys three years ago, has made a resurgence under musical director Woodrow Bynum, who honed his craft at Juilliard and in the famed St. Thomas Choir in New York City before coming to All Saints three seasons ago.

Last year, there were 10 boys in the choir. Now it is nearly at capacity with 15 boys singing in the high-pitched treble range.

"We wanted to grow slowly but …" Bynum said.

Young members have been recruited with tactics usually reserved for major college athletic teams. Using musical contacts throughout Albany and surrounding counties, Bynum is led to the most talented elementary and middle schoolers in the area.

Once they audition and are accepted, boys are quickly introduced to the world of professional music, one that is as rewarding as it is demanding.

"We practice a few hours every week," said Christopher Howard, 10, of Valatie, who joined the choir four years ago at the encouragement of a friend who was in the choir.

Fellow member Patrick Sramek, 12, of Clifton Park, said a certain sense of responsibility comes with singing in a group with such a rich history. He added the nervousness that accompanies performing lasts just a few weeks. At that point, it becomes a "rush and a lot of fun."

Choir members are encouraged to make music a lifelong journey. Some of the boys who have joined withstand adolescent voice changes, stay on as adults and turn their choral experience into a career. Others have enjoyed time in the choir before saying goodbye an becoming surgeons, physicians and Army Rangers.

David Filkins can be reached at 454-5456 or by e-mail at dfilkins@timesunion.com

The Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys sings every Sunday at 11 a.m. at the Cathedral of All Saints, 62, South Swan St., Albany.