Harlem Choir Is Being Revived
The Boys Choir of Harlem, which went silent four years ago amid financial troubles, a sexual-abuse scandal and the death of its founder, will sing again, said a group of organizers working to resurrect the chorus.
Leading the effort is Horace Turnbull, brother of the choir program’s founder, Walter Turnbull, who in 1968 created a performing group that thrilled audiences around the world and offered instruction and mentoring to generations of at-risk youth.
Horace Turnbull’s effort will be a challenge: He was among the group’s leadership during its troubled period. This time, he said, organizers are building in safeguards to protect students and ensure financial stability.
Mr. Turnbull said he has established a new foundation, named for his now-deceased brother, that will administer an after-school choral program called the New Boys and Girls Choirs of Harlem.
Horace Turnbull, along with alumni and leaders of the original group, are raising money for the new organization. They said they hope to announce a board of trustees by the end of January and could start auditions as early as February.
The boys and girls choirs will each have about 40 students, drawn from across the city, Mr. Turnbull said.
Organizers haven’t found a home for the program but said it will be located in Harlem.
The original Boys Choir of Harlem, which expanded in 1988 to include a choir for girls, performed in some of the world’s most august halls, singing Mozart and Bach, Duke Ellington and Stevie Wonder.
It also functioned as an educational program, providing musical training for all students in the city’s Choir Academy of Harlem, which served as the organization’s home.
The choir’s troubles began in 2001, when a 14-year-old boy accused the program’s chief counselor of molesting him.
The counselor, Frank Jones Jr., was sentenced to two years in prison for multiple counts of third-degree sexual abuse and endangerment of a child, all misdemeanors.
Mr. Jones couldn’t be reached for comment. His attorney, Theodore Goldbergh, said his client always maintained that he did nothing wrong and that he offered the boy mentoring outside of school because the boy was having problems at home.
In 2003, city investigators concluded that the Turnbull brothers had failed to report the complaints of abuse to the authorities and allowed Mr. Jones to continue working with children.
The $30 million lawsuit filed against the Turnbulls, Mr. Jones and the city was settled last year for an undisclosed amount.
Horace Turnbull, who was one of the choir’s founding officers and later served as general manager and executive vice president, said that in the new program, every staff member and adult who might come into contact with students would undergo training on how to interact with students, how to recognize child abuse and how to report it.
“The state has an abuse hot line,” he said. “Every parent will know. Every staff member will know.”
“Any case of abuse is unacceptable,” he said, but added, “To allow an organization that had gained a reputation as not only a saver of lives but as ambassadors to the world to go by the wayside—that was hard for me to take.”
Michael Dowd, the attorney for the abuse victim, praised the effort to revive the choir. The victim declined to comment and referred comments to Mr. Dowd.
“I think it’s a terrific thing,” he said. “I think everyone would like to see it, like the phoenix, rise from the ashes. It has been one of the most notable and wonderful things in the city of New York.
“Obviously, there are things to be learned by what happened, not only with the Boys Choir of Harlem, but also looking at other institutions,” he said. “It’s not fair to single out the Boys Choir of Harlem.”
The program was evicted from its space at the Choir Academy of Harlem in 2006, as it faced the lawsuit and mounting financial troubles. The group stopped performing in 2007, around the time of Walter Turnbull’s death, and officially disbanded in 2009.
Howard Dodson, director emeritus of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, who was brought on to the choir’s board of directors in a failed bid to buttress its crumbling finances, said the organization failed because it had signed a contract with the city it couldn’t afford, paying the salaries of music teachers at the Choir Academy.
Other leaders said the organization grew too quickly—before it had laid the proper financial foundation—and relied too heavily on donations and grants.
Mr. Turnbull said he is looking for an accounting firm or bank to provide independent oversight of the new foundation’s finances.
And George Reyes, who produced four albums for the original choir and helped create an adult alumni choir in 2007, will head a revenue-generating arm of the new foundation, seeking recording projects, TV and film cameos and other appearances.
In its first year, Mr. Turnbull said he estimated the organization would have an operating budget of about $350,000, including a staff of about 15, mostly part-time. Meanwhile, he said, he will form a search committee to find an artistic director who embodies his brother’s musical skill and commitment to helping young people.
Alumni will serve as mentors and tutors to students, he said.
“This is beyond important,” said Johnathan Lee Iverson, vice president of the choir’s alumni association and ringmaster for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. “It gives kids a sense of pride—especially for boys. It gives them something to strive for.”
Mr. Iverson sang in the choir from 1987 to 1994, and at age 22 became the first African-American ringmaster of a major American circus.
“It’s heartbreaking that the choir faltered, but it’s a relief to me that we are resurrecting,” said Mr. Iverson, 35 years old. “It made my childhood the greatest I could ask for.”
Write to Jennifer Maloney at jennifer.maloney@wsj.com