About The Choir
The Archdiocesan Boy Choir of Philadelphia was founded by Dr. Peter LaManna in 1968 at the request of His Eminence, John Cardinal Krol and the suggestion of Father William J. Smith. The choir reaches out to children ages 7 to 14 throughout the Philadelphia Archdiocese to increase their love and appreciation for the ministry of music. The choir's director, Mr. Tom Windfelder, develops the boy's musical talents by teaching them intricate sacred music ranging from Giovanni Pergolesi and W. Amadeus Mozart to Italian American composer Pietro Yon and his own compositions. The Choir learns phonetically to sing in French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, and Latin. Their theme song is “Cantate Domino” which translated means “Sing to the Lord”. Mr. Windfelder also instills the choir boys with a deeper faith in the Catholic Church by sharing his engaging and inspiring stories during the weekly choir practices and yearly pilgrimages. In fact, the choir has filled one of Cardinal Krol’s initial goals of increasing interest in vocations since several past graduates have since entered the Seminary.
The choir participates in liturgies at local parishes throughout the five county Archdiocese including two very special events during which the boys are accompanied by a small orchestra; Christmas Eve Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul and St. John Neumann’s feast day celebrated in January at St. Peter the Apostle / Neumann Shrine at 5th and Girard in Philadelphia. These events are certain to put anyone who attends them into the true Christmas spirit as the sound of our boy’s voices warms the heart and uplifts the soul.
The Archdiocesan Boy Choir has received television exposure through their performance at liturgies and concerts both within the United States and internationally during their travels abroad. The Choir has traveled to Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Old Quebec City, and Montreal in Canada. They have sung at The Sanctuaire Notre Dame-du-Cap as well as Saint Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royal where the walls are adorned with crutches from those who have received miracle cures. In Ireland, the Choir was joined by many of the local citizens in singing “Lady of Knock” following mass.
In 1997, a relative of the Boy Choir presented Pope John Paul II with a choir CD that His Holiness blessed and for which Mr. Windfelder received a letter of thanks. The Choir subsequently toured Rome, Italy in the summer of 1999 to begin the celebration of the new Millennium. During that pilgrimage the Choir sang in Polish to a Papal Audience Pope John Paul II’s favorite hymn to Mary, the very beautiful "Serdeczna Matko".
Pilgrimages to the walled city of Avila Spain during Holy Week where they sing the “Hymn to St. Theresa” have left lasting memories with those who participated in ceremonies during this most sacred time of the year. The choir has performed a concert to a standing room only crowd at the Guadalupe Shrine in Mexico where they also marveled at the TILMA upon which the miraculous image of the Virgin Mary appears.
However, of all the pilgrimages the Choir has made one of the most favorite destinations is to the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima, Portugal. During the multiple visits to Fatima the choir has participated in international rosaries, processions, and special masses of which some were attended by over one-half million pilgrims. The Fatima Cova, which is four times the size of St. Peter’s square at the Vatican, also contains a miraculous spring that the Virgin Mary provided to the tired and thirsty pilgrims during one of Her visitations. The Archdiocesan Boy Choir was there in July 2000 to celebrate the beatification of Francisco and Jacinta
Marto. The Choir was subsequently featured in an article titled "Cantores de Filadélfia" (translation: "Singers from Philadelphia") written by Padre J. Carrera for the magazine "FATIMA MISSIONARIA" - Aug.-Sept. 2000. During a return visit to Fatima in 2004, the Archdiocesan Boy Choir had the great fortune of singing for Sister Lucia of Jesus not long before her death in February, 2005. All of these pilgrimages ended with a very emotional goodbye in the Cova as the boys tearfully sang the Fatima Farewell while waiving their white hankies to the statue of Our Lady of Fatima.
As a non-profit organization operating under the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the Choir relies heavily on fund raising throughout the year to fund activities and defray the boy’s pilgrimage costs. These events include solicitations for the advertisement booklets that are produced and distributed at the choir's yearly Christmas and Palm Sunday concerts. The choir also released five audio recordings that are available for sample and purchase from this web site. "Songs of the Cherubim" contains favorite chants, motets, and choruses of the church, including the Pergolesi Stabat Mater. A Christmas recording, entitled "Midnight Mass" and “Golden Rose” is a Celebration of Eucharistic and Marian Devotion. “Cathedral Sounds” has thrilling and beautiful music that you would expect to hear in a large cathedral during various seasons of the church year. “O Holy Night” is a mixture of familiar and not so familiar Christmas songs such as the lovely French song “Noel Nouvelet”.
Any boy interested in auditioning for the choir should contact the director, Mr. Tom Windfelder at (215) 425-6995.
