By Susanna Loof
The Associated Press

VIENNA, Austria - Young boys in baggy jeans and untied sneakers crowd around a grand piano, where a few are hammering out a raucous, six-hand version of "When the Saints Go Marchin' In."

Not exactly standard fare for the Vienna Boys' Choir, famous for its disciplined renditions of classical music delivered by boys in sailor suits and slicked-back hair.

But a few minutes later, the boys warm up the high-pitched, bright voices that audiences around the world have come to love. An intense, two-hour choir practice follows - interrupted only by a short break and discussions of music theory.

It's a day in the life - or, more accurately, a day in the grind - of a Vienna choirboy.

The 100 young men who make up the four Vienna Boys' Choirs rise each day at 6:45 a.m. and start school at 7:30 a.m. Their school day, which includes time for choir practice, homework and some recreation, ends 101/2 hours later, with lights out at 9:30 p.m.

The schedule really isn't that rigorous, the boys insist, arguing that they have time for fun in the evenings and during their lunch break. Plus, they say, they like being able to spend so much time on music - something they all love.

"It was like usual - fun," Johannes Dobers, 14, of Altensteig, Germany, said after a recent choir practice. "The feeling when you sing is simply super."

One of the choirs' two American members, Donald Smith, 14, of West Chester Township, conceded the schedule sometimes exhausts him.

"You get a little bit tired, but it's OK. It's a good tired feeling," he said.

At home at the palace

All choir members go to school and live in Augartenpalais, a Baroque palace in a Vienna park. Their school year is divided into three semesters; two are spent in Vienna, while the third is spent touring the world, giving concerts.

"There's never a dull moment," said Georg Tanzler, 13, of Grimmstein, Austria. "I think it's fun to always have friends around you."

Beaming, he proudly showed off the bedroom he shares with two other boys. A few plants brought by their mothers, a poster from a bookstore and small rugs can't conceal the institutionlike atmosphere.

But Georg and his roommates say they're content; besides, most boys don't spend a whole lot of time in their rooms.

Instead, they swim in the basement pool, climb the indoor climbing wall, and play ball in the gymnasium or outside in the palace park. Others watch television, play board games or find a quiet nook in which to read. For those who want them, there are even fencing lessons.

Even so, all of that can't take away the homesickness that occasionally strikes each boy. When it hits, they call home, or find friends to distract them. If it's too much, the school sends the boy home.

"When a child is miserable, you know. And you send him home. There's nothing you can do," said Tina Breckwoldt, the choirs' media coordinator.

Music often drifts through the palace's hallways. Either it's someone playing an instrument - Johannes, for example, spends 45 minutes each day practicing the cello - or singing.

"They sing a lot. When they are walking through the hallways, they sing without even thinking of it. Sometimes, it's very loud," said Peter Oberndorfer, the director of the boarding school.

Today's choirboys, who use cellular phones to keep in touch with their families and school bulletin boards to trade PlayStation games, are continuing a tradition that began more than 500 years ago.

The choir dates to 1498, when 12 boys sung Mass every day at the orders of Emperor Maximillian I. At first, they wore imperial military uniforms complete with daggers.

The choir crumbled along with the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I, and when it was revived in the 1920s, the boys dressed in sailor uniforms - then the height of fashion.

Now, they grudgingly accept the outfits.

"It's not cool," said Ryan Slone, 12, of West Chester Township. "But it's also not geeky."

The uniforms also give the boys a chance to live dual lives. Though most enjoy being adored by fans who take snapshots and ask for autographs, they also like being able to be anonymous.

"On the one hand, when we're on stage in uniform, we're stars," Johannes said. "On the other hand, we have our private lives when we're not in uniform. Without the uniform, you're simply a normal person."

Keeping it fun

Johannes has no plans to follow in the footsteps of famous composers and musicians - including Joseph and Michael Haydn, Franz Schubert and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - who worked with the choir or were members themselves.

"I love to make music, but I don't want to work with it professionally because I don't want to lose my yearning to make music," he said.

Georg, too, wants to do something else in the future.

"When you are grown-up, it is much more exhausting to be a musician. Adults don't seem to have as much fun," he said.

Though he admits sometimes being bored on long tours, there's no doubt that Georg has fun in the choir. He giggled as he recalled a choir performance in Vienna's prestigious State Opera.

"To stand on the stage of the State Opera, that was really, really cool," he said.

Adding children's operas and ethnic music, such as folk songs, to the repertoire of classical music is just one of the changes introduced since Gerald Wirth, now the choirs' artistic director, was a choirboy in the 1970s. The choir even recently released a pop-music CD, which features the Bangles' "Eternal Flame" among its cuts.

"While we do all those things, our traditional music will continue to be at least 80 percent of our repertoire," Mr. Wirth said. "We don't want to lose our roots."

The choir also has cut back on touring and concerts.

"When I was a boy, the most important thing was to perform and to perform well," Mr. Wirth said, adding that the emphasis now is on learning. "Now we perform because it's a very important part of our education."