The 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 lifelong performer, Boehm 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, jazz and rock concerts in the summers between 1954 and 1975.

In the late 1950s, large show choirs began to take root in the United States. When Boehm founded The Singing Angels in 1964, it was one of the first. Then officially known as “Cleveland’s Premiere Youth Chorus,” Boehm sought to bring together youth from across Northeast Ohio.

Children from kindergarten through high school of every race, creed, religion, ethnicity and socio-economic background joined The Singing Angels, which is now known as “Cleveland’s World Renowned Youth Performing Chorus.”

Marianne Brady, a Sagamore Hills resident, spent 10 years as an Angel, joining in second grade and graduating in 1993. Brady’s older sisters were also in the chorus.

“Mom got tired of putting her hand over my mouth while I was singing in the audience,” she said. “I couldn’t wait to get on stage.”

The Angels exposed Brady to a literal world of opportunity. She toured with the group to U.S. military bases along the East coast. She travelled to Spain, and in Russia performed at a children’s camp in Volgograd. In Poland in 1989, the chorus performed at a venue where President George H. W. Bush had spoken the previous week. The emcee introduced the Angels, saying the country recently heard from the head of the U.S., and now they were hearing from the heart.

Brady’s daughter Josie joined the Angels during the pandemic, often joining Zoom rehearsals in the car driving between volleyball and cheerleading. Now in middle school at St. Barnabas, Josie’s first solo was “Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree”at a concert for the Salvation Army.

Brady is still connected to friends she met through the group, and Josie’s best friends are the daughters of Angels alumnae. “We call them the Dynamic Trio,” said Lisa Wright, former Angel and mom of Ryley Wright. The trio also includes Anika Ernie, daughter of Allison Ernie and granddaughter of Karen Harris, the Angels’ touring manager.

Wright, who lives in Independence, joined the chorus in 1994. Like Brady, she traveled the world with the Angels. She sang at the Eiffel Tower, Disneyland Paris and in front of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. The friendships she formed during her time with the Angels were the most impactful.

“We were literally a family. That’s what Singing Angels is all about,” she said.

From the other side of town, another family began its legacy in the 1980s. Daryl Whitten was an Angel, class of 1983. He describes that time as “the best seven years of my life.” Originally from Mayfield Heights, Whitten ultimately made his home in Geneva. His three children all joined the chorus and have since graduated from high school. Whitten said he travelled to England, China and Japan. During a performance in Mexico, Whitten was on stage translating Boehm’s introduction from English into Spanish.

The Singing Angels have recorded records, CDs and sang on the radio. Their accomplishments include singing at the Vatican for Popes John Paul II, Benedict and Francis and singing at the White House for presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan, according to current Executive Director Tom Deastlov.

He added that the Angels also sang with Kenny Rogers and Celine Dion. In 2022, the group represented Ohio, singing at the Centennial Celebration of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Harris has been with The Singing Angels for 38 years in various roles, presently serving as touring manager. Her children were part of the group and now her granddaughter is a member of the chorus.

In addition to travelling the world and singing for dignitaries, the show choir also visited nursing homes and drug rehab programs. Harris viewed this as service that was life changing for the children.

“It opened kids’ worlds and minds and exposed them to things they’d never seen or known,” she said.

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 the Masonic Temple home. Now, the Angels have taken up residence in Old Brooklyn at 3600 Biddulph Ave.

The Singing Angels perform several local concerts, including a holiday concert each November and a performance in the spring. At this past spring concert, the chorus celebrated its 60th anniversary. The first chorus member, Steven Rush, sang his audition song, and as is Singing Angels tradition, alumni were invited on stage for the last numbers.

Boehm loved “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and ended concerts with it. Wright and Whitten were there to sing it with their children. Harris said there were many tears in the audience, including hers. Sadly, Bill Boehm wasn’t there to see it as he died in 2017.

This year’s holiday concert will be Nov. 17 at 5 p.m. at Lakewood Civic Auditorium in Lakewood.

In the ’70s and ’80s, the Singing Angels had upwards of 200 members. In recent years, the pandemic took its toll on membership.

The staff, parents and especially Angels persevered and the group continues with smaller membership. Alumni and staff are actively recruiting new members. The chorus now includes third- through twelfth-graders, and follows the school year calendar.

Harris welcomes interested parties to visit the group at rehearsals in Old Brooklyn on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. “We are welcoming new Angels,” she said. ∞

Cover photo (above): Current singers (front l-r) Josie Brady, Ryley Wright and Anika Ernie stand with their mothers (back l-r) Marianne Brady, Lisa Wright and Allison Ernie, who are alumnae of The Singing Angels. Over the past six decades, the group has sang internationally as well as before popes and presidents. Photo submitted.