About Us

Who We Are

Friends of Music at St. Paul’s Cathedral, Buffalo, NY was founded for several reasons:

(1) To foster an appreciation of sacred and other music within the Western New York community.

(2) To sponsor programs designed to further music appreciation and understanding both locally and in the wider community through exchange and collaborative programming, including choir exchange programs, concerts, master classes and joint programs with other similar entities.

(3) To provide financial support to other individuals and entities engaged in similar pursuits and to seek and create opportunities to raise such funds throughout the community.

(4) To promote, facilitate, and seek funding for musical education for children in the Buffalo and Western New York community.

Friends of Music was incorporated, in part, to enable the organization to apply for grant monies to further enhance the education and concert schedules at St. Paul’s.

Friends of Music also contributes $10,000 towards the annual salary of the assistant organist-choirmaster.
Please contact the Cathedral for more information on how to become a member of Friends of Music.

Interested in Becoming a Friend of Music at the Cathedral?

If you are interested in becoming a Friend of Music and singing in the Mens and Boys Choir or Girls’ Choir, please find out more information here or contact Friends of Music now.

Boys’ Training Choir

The Cathedral Choirs

St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir of Men and Boys was established at St Paul’s Cathedral, Buffalo in 1867. One of the first choirs of men and boys in this country, it is now one of only thirty remaining in the United States. For over a century, the choir has been providing boys with an unparalleled musical education, and the alumni of the choir include distinguished composers, conductors, singers and instrumentalists.

Membership of the choir is open to boys from the age of eight, regardless of religious background or prior musical experience. Choristers rehearse twice weekly during the school year and sing services on most Sundays. Selection is on the basis of a simple audition. Singing in the cathedral choir offers boys the opportunity to learn the art, discipline and fun of the unique Episcopal choral tradition.

Each boy learns to work as part of a professional team and to take responsibility for his own performance. In addition, the choir has traveled overseas extensively, making eight trips to the United Kingdom in the past twenty years. During the summer of 2005 the Men and Boys toured the UK and France, singing in the cathedrals of Exeter, Rouen, Caen, and Notre Dame de Paris. The choir appears regularly with the Buffalo Philharmonic and other local orchestras. The Gentlemen of St. Paul’s sing with the choristers on most Sundays. Membership is by competitive audition.

St. Paul’s Cathedral Girls’ Choir has developed a reputation as one of the finest ensembles of its kind in an American cathedral. It provides girls with the opportunity to receive a unique musical education normally available only to boys, and has been the cornerstone of many brilliant musical careers. The girls’ choir instills discipline and high standards that are valuable assets in later life.

The girls rehearse twice weekly, sing services in the Cathedral most Sundays during the school year, and frequently join forces with the Cathedral’s other choirs. Choristers are drawn from various schools in the Buffalo area, and membership, which is free of charge, is open to girls of all religious traditions or none. Selection is on the basis of a simple audition.

During the past decade, the girls have toured extensively overseas. They have sung in residence at York Minster; St Paul’s Cathedral, London; Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin; Westminster Abbey; St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle; Durham Cathedral; Bath Abbey; and St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, Edinburgh. During the summer of 2006 the Girls and Men visited the UK and Sweden, singing in Chichester, London, Stockholm and Uppsala. Other tours have taken the girls to many cities on the East Coast of the United States and Canada, including the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. The girls, together with the boys, were recently recorded with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra for a national radio broadcast production of “From The Top.”