Houston Youth Symphony Boys Choir

[FilioScotia]

Does anybody out there remember the Houston Youth Symphony and the HYS Boys Choir? The Youth Symphony was made up of young musicians between age 12 and 18, and the Boys Choir was for unchanged voices. Both were unofficial arms of the Houston Symphony and Symphony Chorus, and performed with the Symphony on occasion, when Leopold Stokowski was conducting. The choir was also in HGO operas whenever the plot and music called for a boys choir.

We rehearsed -- on different days -- in the old City Auditorium at Texas and Louisiana, on the block now occupied by Jones Hall. Our rehearsal hall was the lobby of the 2nd floor mezzanine, a cavernous space with incredible acoustics for voices and instruments.

Our conductor was the late Howard Webb, who passed away just a few years ago. He was one of the most remarkable people I've ever known. One of my great regrets is that I never made any effort to keep in touch with him as we both got older.

I sang with the choir until my voice started changing at about age 14. Any other former Youth Symphony musicians or Boys Choir members out there?

[Mole]

I was a member of the Houston Youth Symphony Boys Choir from approximately 1953 to when my voice changed which I'm guessing was around 1957-58. I road the city bus every wednesday afternoon from Bellare to the old Auditorium building. Practice started at 4 PM and ended at 5:30 and if it was winter, It was quite dark before I got home. I believe the first year my mother always accompanied me but I was on my own after that. My Father worked downtown so He would sometimes pick me up and take me to his after work hangout at the M&M building Bar and Grill. A Hamburger there was a real treat. I'm really terrible about remembering names and can only recall two - Darryl and Tony because they were such good singers. After my voice changed I went on to play trumpet in the Symphony for a few years. Mr. and Mrs. Webb were real charactors. Their appearance and attitudes recalls 1930's style Artitst/Socialist. I just happened onto this blog today and quite pleased find those with which to share memories of another era.

[FilioScotia]

I lived in Pasadena at the time.

I became a member of the boy's choir when I started 7th grade in 1955. A little late but still a couple of years ahead of puberty. We lived in Pasadena and as luck would have it, there were several other choir members from Pasadena, so our moms took turns driving us into Houston for rehearsals every Wednesday. My mom eventually got tired of it, which forced me to take the bus.

People today will find this hard to believe, but in the 50s, Texas Bus Lines provided hourly bus service between Pasadena and Houston. Every Wednesday after school, I caught the bus on Shaver, which went right past my school, Jackson Jr High, and for a dollar I rode all the way to the old Greyhound Bus Station at Texas and Crawford in downtown Houston. From there I walked down Texas to the old City Auditorium at Texas and Louisiana just in time for rehearsal, which started promptly at 4:15. After rehearsals around 6:30 I walked back to the bus station and caught the bus back to to Pasadena.

The bus did a large loop around Pasadena picking up and dropping off passengers. Coming into Pasadena, it went south on Shaver to Southmore, east on Southmore to Tatar (now Pasadena Blvd), north on Tatar back to La Porte Rd, and then west again for one last stop at the Pasadena Drug Store before heading back into Houston. I got off at Tatar and Harris and walked the rest of the way home.

I was 13 and 14 years old and I don't remember ever feeling nervous or afraid about riding the bus alone, or being in downtown Houston alone. I thought it was fun and I learned a lot about Houston. It really was a different world back then.

Everything changed in the fall of 1957, when, at the age of 14 and a half, my voice changed and brought an end to my career as a boy soprano. You know -- the only other choir members I can remember were those other kids from Pasadena. Glenn Currier, Pete Shak, and Kenny Hilzendager. We all had to drop out when our voices changed.

Edited December 22, 2006 by FilioScotia