Middle School
The Pacific Boychoir Academy Middle School seeks to develop confident, engaged young men who are capable of achieving extraordinary outcomes through personal discipline and teamwork. We provide an unmatched educational, musical, and personal development experience for boys in grades four through eight.
We'd like to share our story with you.
We believe that boys are hungry for accomplishment, more than is assumed for their age. We provide a lofty but achievable goal--the creation of a world-class Boychoir. The boys' response is life changing. Middle School years turn into a period of high purpose. Boys achieve milestones together. They pursue academics seriously. They mature personally.
Into this high motivation context we offer a strong academic curriculum with a best-for-boys approach. The results speak for themselves. The PBA's graduating classes have been filled with sterling young men who have had the privilege of choosing among highly regarded high schools with stringent acceptance rates such as:
- College Preparatory School
- The Athenian School
- Bentley School
- Head-Royce School
- Bishop O'Dowd High School
- Interlochen Center for the Arts
- St. Mary's High School
- St. Joseph's High School
- Oakland Tech High School
[ learn more about academics at the choir school ]
What is a choir school?
Some schools have a choir, but a choir school is a school where all the students sing as part of the choir. Institutions for boy choristers date at least back to the fourth century AD. Boys have historically been trained as singers in Europe, and their musical studies coordinated with their academic studies.
The Pacific Boychoir
Academy is modeled after the successful choir schools that exist around
the world today, such as the Drakensberg
Boys Choir School in South Africa, the American
Boychoir School in New Jersey, and the Vienna
Boys Choir School. Choir schools are very common in Europe, but there
are choir schools around the world. While most of these are boarding schools,
the PBA, however, is not a boarding school, as we know many talented singers
are right here in the Bay Area.
Because boys’ voices last only until they are 13 or 14, a more intense musical program allows them to do as much as possible with their voices before it changes. The finest boys choirs in the world are those where the boys attend the same school, because the unified scheduling allows them to rehearse every day, just as one should practice anything every day to truly excel. (If you need some convincing of the value of single-gender education, click here.) When boys in the school go through voice change, they will be taught to sing tenor and bass with the other boys, and with the after school choristers.
The benefits of a choir school for scheduling:
Irregular performances
When the PBA boys perform with the San Francisco Symphony for example,
performances can last until 10:00 p.m., boys might get home about
11:00 pm. In a choir school, the schedule can be altered so these boys
could sleep in and still have a full day of classes!
No sports conflicts
Because the boys rehearse during school hours, their musical studies will
not interfere with their sports teams. For boys not on a sports team,
the PBA has PE classes as at any school.
Touring possibilities
The Pacific Boychoir gets invitations to sing around the world at different
times. However, it is impossible, with all the boys at different schools,
to give the boys the opportunities offered to the PBA, particularly those
that take place during the school year. With an academic program integrated
into the choir program, boys will be able to do such things as tour during
the school year. With teachers on tour, imagine your son learning about
the Civil War while traveling through the South, singing in concerts and
meeting people from different states. Imagine your son learning about
ancient Rome while on tour in Italy, for example. No
other school in California can offer this kind of first-hand educational
experience.
The Pacific Boychoir Academy has developed a reputation for excellence
in performance, discipline, and education. Choir schools are not conservatories.
The PBA does not aim to prepare boys for a life as a professional musician,
though his training will set him well on his way should be choose that
path. Rather, the PBA’s success with singing helps teach the same
qualities one looks for in an academic setting:
- realization of your son’s potential
- cultivation of responsibility
- the appreciation of beauty
- what it means to be part of a team
- developing his mind and body
- the value of commitment
These are all things that a boy learns to be part of a professional choir!!
The integration of musical and academic achievement gives your son a kind
of complete education he cannot get anywhere else!
