Arkansas State University-Mountain Home (ASUMH) will host the world famous Vienna Boys Choir Saturday evening, as part of the college’s ninth season of the performing arts. The show begins at 7 and is sponsored by Mary Walker in honor of her sister, 92-year-old Irene A. Murray. The show will take place in the Ed Coulter Performing Arts Center inside the Vada Sheid Community Development Center at ASUMH.For more than 500 years the Vienna Boys Choir has delighted and thrilled listeners of all ages. The program includes favorite Strauss waltzes and classical masterpieces by Mozart and Haydn, as well as folk songs from around the world.Boys have been singing at Vienna’s Imperial Chapel since 1296. In 1498, Emperor Maximilian I (HRR) moved his court to Vienna, thus founding the “Hofmusikkapelle” (Chapel Imperial), and the Vienna Boys Choir.
Throughout history, such noted composers as Heinrich Isaac, Philippe de Monte, Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, Johann Joseph Fux, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Antonio Caldara, Antonio Salieri, Christoph Willibald Gluck and Anton Bruckner have worked with the choir. Jacobus Gallus and Franz Schubert were themselves choristers, and brothers Franz Joseph and brother Michael Haydn were members of the choir of St. Stephen’s Cathedral, but frequently sang with the imperial boys’ choir as well. Until 1918, the boys sang exclusively for the imperial court. In 1924, the Choir was reestablished as a private organization.
Today, there are 100 choristers between the ages of 10 and 14, divided into four touring groups. Each spends 11 weeks of the year on tour. Between them, the choirs give around 300 concerts each year, attended by almost half a million spectators around the world. Since 1924, thousands of boys have experienced the joy of making choral music, on over 1,000 tours, to 98 different countries. The boys first tour of the USA took place in 1931, their first world tour in 1934-35.
The show they will present Saturday, “Journey Through the Americas,” will feature classical, pop and folk music selections from countries throughout North, South and Central America, and as always, a sprinkling of Austrian favorites.
Tickets are available online at thesheid.com or by calling (870) 508-6280. Box office hours are 8-5 Monday – Friday and one hour before show time.
Ticket prices are $35 for adults and $17.50 for students at ASUMH or anyone under the age of 18.
For more information, contact Christy Keirn at 870-508-6109 or visit the website The Sheid for tickets.
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