Exclusive: Music at risk in Fifth Avenue crisis
NewsOne of the oldest religious edifices in New York is heavily in deficit.
St Thomas 5th Avenue has warned parishioners of dire consequences for its music:
Our music program now accounts for almost half of our operating budget, and 89% of the cost of running the school comes from invested funds and the annual appeal.
The general fund has now depleted to a point of critical concern and the Vestry has advised the Choir School Board of Trustees that the current Choir School is at risk of closure.
Some FAQs:
Q. Will Saint Thomas abandon its commitment to traditional choral music?
A. The Vestry is 100% committed to excellence in its liturgy, music, preachings, and teaching. If anything, we want to strengthen that tradition. We recognize that the current music program with a residential choir school is unsustainable; that does not mean we are not committed to excellent music-making in the future, and we may need to find new ways of enabling children and professional musicians to participate and collaborate in our music program going forward. The kind of repertoire that the choir sings will not change.
Q: If the school closes, what will happen to the students?
A: Saint Thomas is unwavering in our commitment to the education and wellbeing of the students and, of course, we will honor all of our contracts with parents, faculty and staff. If the school closes, we will provide assistance to parents and staff to ensure a smooth transition.
Q: What will it take to keep the school open and in what form?
A: We won’t be able to answer this question fully until the Sustainability Task Force completes its work. However, we do know that we would need to raise at least an additional $50 million in endowed funds or an extra $2.5 million in annual revenue to continue to operate the school in its current form. This extra revenue would need to be combined with substantial budget cuts to close the operating shortfall of $3-4 million per year.
One hopes that some of the filthy rich companies headquartered close to St. Thomas will come to its aid.
One expects not….
A lot of them have been going out of business! Real estate is down, and the department stores are about all gone. Fifth Ave basically exists as a corporate showcase location at best – window dressing.
Certainly the money problems of St. Thomas Fifth Avenue didn’t just appear overnight without any warning. Not mentioned in their statement, has the church been proactive in beefing up its professional fundraising efforts in anticipation? If not, why should any funder–“filthy rich companies”–assist when there is no any discernible and responsible fiscal plan in place for sustainability?
Too many nonprofits look at philanthropy as some sort of cosmic cash machine (witness GoFundMe) and don’t want to acknowledge their ongoing responsibility for creating a realistic and sustainable financial model.
Deus ex machina only works in Greek tragedies and baroque opera. Real life demands tough love.
Not Greek, but Latin. And its not a tragedy when the God sorts everything out
Latin, yes, but a dramatic device first used in Greek theater. Regardless, it is a tragedy when an author cannot construct a logical conclusion to a tale. All’s well that ends well…
They actually performed the world premiere of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Requiem, with Placido Domingo (and Lorin Maazel), back when he was good. I saw it on US television, and I understand it was on the BBC. No idea where else broadcast it. Anyway, the Pie Jesu recording alone, featuring La Brightman and a St. Thomas choirboy, must have made trillions.
Time to tap old Moneybags if the choir school is in trouble. He’d never miss the $50 million, but if that seemed a bit rich, he could certainly cough up the $2.5 mill annually for a few years, giving them enough time to a) raise some more for a substantial endowment and b) figure out how to cut the enormous cost of running the choir school. If it is taking up 50% of the running cost of a huge and historic church on 5th Avenue in New York, there must be some way to find economies.
The choir used for that performance was not the Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys and the treble was Paul Miles Kingston. He was not a STCS chorister.
I think he was at St Paul’s London; he later studied at Cranleigh School. Umpiring a cricket match, I heard one of his teammates say ‘my pet rat sings better than you’!
Yes, the premiere performance at St. Thomas (available in full on YouTube) included the combined choruses of Winchester Cathedral and St. Thomas. The subsequent Grammy Award-winning Album was recorded at Abbey Road Studios with the Winchester Cathedral Choir only. Paul Miles-Kingston, a chorister with the Winchester Cathedral Choir, was the treble soloist for both the premiere and the recording.
Who is this you’re calling “old Moneybags”?
Shame. I played in the orchestra for a concert a while back and was very impressed by the discipline shown by the boys, as well as the discipline demanded of them. Perhaps the school might continue without it being a boarding school, but clearly that would greatly affect the quality of the education.
Worth noting that the music director at St. Thomas is the excellent English choral composer, Jeremy Filsell.
Sadly, St. Thomas’s travails are widespread among churches in the Anglican Communion on both sides of the Atlantic.
When churches effectively become milquetoast in their commitment to Christian belief, the pews and the coffers empty out.
When I lived in NYC, I remember going to a series of Saturday noontime free recitals presenting the complete organ music of Messiaen at an ornate midtown 5th Avenue church. I’m thinking it must have been St. Thomas 5th Avenue. As I remember, it was sublime, and also very informal with people walking in and out as they wished. It would have been on the 90’s or 00’s.
One of the few Anglican choirs still left in the world. They have almost daily music programs — good ones — and receive tourist traffic from all the nearby attractions. So that’s a plus.
New York still has a good number of these church music venues (services!) and I’d hate to see them go. Sometimes the attendance is sadly low at them too, especially at Vespers.
I guess ‘few’ is a very subjective term. The area actually ‘QUITE a few’ such choirs, and excellent ones. But true, ‘fewer’ every year, and St. Thomas certainly occupies a highly significant place among them.
The St. Thomas Choir School was the last formal education received by composer and French hornist Gunther Schuller. He went on to be President of The New England Conservatory of Music.
He refers to it in his autobiography “A Life in Pursuit of Music and Beauty.”
How many full time clergy are currently on staff at St. Thomas?
This is what happens when non-professionals are in a position of authority. The priests that run the place are not business people they are religious people. Their wishes and demands are unsustainable when not viewed Through The Eyes of professionals. The lay Vestry is also at fault. No clue what they are doing but puff their chests out and feel very important running such a prestigious organization. It is a shame but expected when you look at how it operates. This has certainly been a long time coming.