Singing Angels mark 60 years of making a difference

By Karen Nathan

Make Music. Make Friends. Make a Difference. That was the mission, plain and simple, when Bill Boehm founded the Singing Angels 60 years ago.

A life-long performer, Mr. Boehm, as he was known to all, returned home to Cleveland after World War II and became the stage director of Cleveland’s Musicarnival, a theater-in-the-round located on the Thistledown Racetrack property.

Musicarnival produced musicals, plays, operas and jazz and rock concerts in summers between 1954 and 1975.

In the late 1950s, large show choirs were beginning to take root in the United States. When Boehm founded the Singing Angels in 1964, it was one of the first. Officially known as Cleveland’s premiere youth chorus, Boehm sought to bring together youth from all across Northeast Ohio. Children from kindergarten through high school of every race, creed, religion, ethnicity and socio-economic background joined the group.

Charlene Duncan joined the group in 1978 and found a “home” with the chorus until she graduated in 1985. Duncan has made her home in Broadview Heights since 1994.

“I love living here,” she said.

As the Angels toured the U.S. and the world, Duncan was there. She sang for Bob Hope at the Breakaway Theater in Akron and on numerous WJW TV 8 specials. Farther afield, Duncan’s first trip abroad was to Japan and China.

“It was the trip of a lifetime,” she said, noting that the chorus visited the Great Wall, the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. “A student named Eileen Ge was assigned to show me the Children’s Palace, a school of the arts for the Chinese children. We have remained pen pals since 1983. My letters were censored by the Chinese government.” Their daughters write now.

Duncan’s daughter, Kinsey, spent 12 years as a Singing Angel, graduating in 2023. She attended Brecksville-Broadview Heights High School, ultimately graduating from Ohio Virtual Academy, largely due to the pandemic. Being a member of the group sparked her interest in music. She learned to play multiple instruments. Today she is studying pre-law entertainment law in college.

Kinsey made a lot of friends who she says are “like family.”

“We’re all there for each other,” she said.

In 2016, Kinsey sang on the Today Show, when the RNC was in Cleveland. The COVID-19 pandemic curtailed the group’s ability to travel, however, Kinsey performed in 2022 when the Angels represented Ohio at the Centennial Celebration of the Lincoln Memorial. Kinsey also traveled to Dublin.

“The travel really differentiates us,” she said, noting that while on the road, members met local groups, visited museums and landmarks. “You learn more than in history class,” she said.

For the Angels’ 50^th anniversary in 2014, Charlene Duncan produced a film featuring Bill Boehm and highlighting the group’s accomplishments. Kinsey helped her with the production.

The Singing Angels ultimately recorded records and CDs and sang on the radio. They sang at the Vatican for Popes John Paul II, Benedict and Francis. They sang at the White House for presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan, according to current Executive Director Tom Deastlov, who said they also sang with Kenny Rogers and Celine Dion. In 2022, they represented Ohio, singing at the Centennial Celebration of the Lincoln Memorial.

Through the years, the Singing Angels have rehearsed in Cleveland at the YMCA, the Old Stone Church and the Fire Training Academy on Lakeside Avenue. For many years beginning in the early ‘90s, they called Cleveland’s Masonic Temple home. Now the Angels have taken up residence in Old Brooklyn.

The Singing Angels perform several local concerts every year, including a holiday concert each November and one in the spring. This past spring, the chorus celebrated its 60^th anniversary. The first chorus member, Steven Rush, sang his audition song. In Singing Angels tradition, alumni were invited on stage to perform the final numbers.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the Singing Angels had upwards of 200 members.

Until the pandemic, the staff, parents and Angels persevered and the group survived, but membership has decreased.

Alumni like the Duncans staff are actively recruiting new members. The chorus now comprises third- through 12th-graders, and follows the school year calendar. Those interested are invited to a rehearsal, which takes place on Saturdays from 11 a.m.- 2:30 p.m. For information regarding The Singing Angels concert calendar or to inquire about auditions visit singingangels.org or call 216-432-5555. ∞