Donald Smith, 13, is so excited he wants to “bounce off the walls.”

        Ryan Slone, 11, is collecting e-mail addresses so he can stay in touch with friends.

Cincinnati Boychoir members Donald Smith, 13 (left) and Ryan Slone, 11, are off to join the famous Vienna choir. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

        Both hope they won't get homesick.

        Donald and Ryan are Cincinnati Boychoir members who live in West Chester. But soon, they will be singing in the world's greatest choir for boys: the Vienna Boys Choir.

        The two singers, both students in Lakota Schools, leave next week for Austria, where they will enroll in the Vienna Boys Choir school. Since it was founded a half-millennium ago, only one other United States citizen has ever joined the Vienna Boys Choir.

        “When you think of boys choirs, that one is at the top of the list internationally, with their tours and recordings. You can't strive for anything higher,” says Robert Porco, director of choruses for the Cincinnati May Festival and the Cleveland Orchestra.

        It is one of Vienna's most famed institutions. Like Wienerschnitzel, Strauss waltzes and Lipizzaner stallions, a bit of Viennese tradition lives on in the Vienna Boys Choir, now directed by Gerald Wirth.

        Since 1498, the choir has provided music for Sunday Mass in Vienna's Imperial Chapel. The boy singers have had the best in musical instruction, aided by composers such as Mozart, Haydn, Bruckner and Schubert, who have been former choirboys, composers or conductors.

        Although they seem mature for their ages, Donald, a seventh-grader, and Ryan, a sixth-grader, still speak in high-pitched voices, the kind prized by the choir.

VIENNA BOYS CHOIR

Facts about the Vienna Boys Choir (Wiener Saengerknaben):     • Established in 1498 by Hapsburg Emperor Maximilian I.     • From 1498 to 1918 (the end of the Hapsburg Empire), the choir sang exclusively for the imperial court, as the Emperor's choir.     • In 1921, Josef Schnitt, dean of the Imperial Chapel, established the choir as a private institution. The singers began wearing the sailor-suit uniform, then the height of boys' fashion, which they still wear today.     • There are 100 choirboys, ages 10-14, in four choirs of about 25 each.     • The choirs tour internationally in 300 to 330 concerts annually, and sing services at the Imperial Chapel in Vienna.     • Former Vienna Choir Boys include Franz Joseph Haydn and Franz Schubert. Famous composers such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Anton Bruckner worked with the choir.     • The choir has its own school in the Augartenpalais, a baroque palace in Vienna.     • The Vienna Boys Choir is a not-for-profit organization. It funds itself through concerts, recordings, sponsors and donations.     • Web site: www.viennaboyschoir.org

        They are articulate and well-behaved in their white shirts, ties and navy blue Cincinnati Boychoir blazers. But they are nevertheless all boy, teasing each other when the adults aren't looking.

        When they're not singing, they can be found playing baseball or basketball on their school teams. But they are willing to give up sports for singing.

        “I love singing, that's all,” says Donald, who dreams of one day becoming a conductor.

        In their laps are Vienna Boys Choir teddy bears dressed in the trademark sailor uniform, a parting gift from their Cincinnati Boychoir Director Randall Wolfe. They have been members since September 2000. Dr. Wolfe recommended the boys after the Vienna Boys Choir extended an invitation for two local singers to join the group. The two directors have had a professional relationship for 15 years. Dr. Wolfe held auditions, and Ryan and Donald were selected.

        “Both boys have a crystal-clear sound, and they sing absolutely on pitch,” Dr. Wolfe said. “They have progressed musically at a much higher rate than average. They really stand out in a group.”

        After a trial period of a few weeks, the boys will live in the boarding school — a Baroque palace near the Danube River — through the eighth grade, or until their voices change. Costs will be minimal, just a small monthly fee, because the choir is self-supporting.

        “The thought of them singing in the Vienna Boys Choir just took my breath away,” says Ryan's mom, Betsy Slone, 43, who initially thought the invitation was for a week. “These boys just have a passion for singing and for music. They've loved it from the minute they joined Cincinnati Boychoir.”

        Their training will be intensive, with a full academic load, rehearsals and musical instruction from dawn to dusk. After six months to a year, the new singers could begin touring internationally with the ensemble. They will likely be singing concerts in Vienna almost immediately, Dr. Wolfe said.

        Donald's stepfather, Jaime Castells, 40, was concerned that his stepson would not keep up with his studies. “I researched the history of the school and their standards, and the (Lakota) schools here were 100 percent supportive,” he says. “They expect him to come back, at least in some studies, ahead of the curriculum here.”

        Donald's grandmothers, Barbara Castells and Mary Kuester, and Ryan's mother will travel with the boys to Vienna.

        “We were thrilled at the opportunity, and so were (Donald's) grandparents,” says Mr. Castells.

        With a range as high as a coloratura soprano, a boy can sing in the upper register until puberty, usually around age 13 or 14.

        The choir holds auditions twice a year. “The choir counts on at least 25 percent of voices changing every year,” says Dr. Wolfe. Another 20 percent leave because of homesickness or other reasons.

        The boys are not nervous about leaving home. “To tell you the truth, I will be too excited about seeing the place to get homesick,” said Donald.

        The Vienna Boys Choir has “a long tradition of pure, full-bodied sound,” says Darrell James of Salem, Ore., director of the Salem Boys Choir and former chairman of boy choirs in the National Choral Directors Association. “It's a tradition cultivated over hundreds of years.”

        “It's a sound that cannot be duplicated when you have well-trained boys,” added the May Festival's Mr. Porco. “The purity and clarity of the boy choir is really quite beautiful.”

        Ryan agrees. “I think it will be a great learning experience — it's the best choir in the world.”
       

Two join Vienna Boys Choir
Road crews caught by surprise
Chill thrills skiing crowd
Cold weather packs homeless shelters to capacity
Motorcycle cop retires as a roll model
Church that serves all ethnic groups has New Year's service
Drees sues city over permits' cost
Gift theft suspect jailed
Ohio among slowest-growing states
Schuler seeks Finan seat
Tristate A.M. Report
White men prone to suicide
HOWARD: Some Good News
WELLS: Another assault
Traveling principal learned about Ukraine
Man charged with sodomy eligible for state compensation
Service for world peace unites faiths
Tax reform put on pause