About the Festival

The Baltimore Boychoir Festival is in its 13th year. It is a unique event that caters specifically to boys and young men. The two day workshop, led by some of the country’s finest composers and clinicians, culminates in a festival concert. The concert features performances by the various choirs in the first half, and all participants sing together in a thrilling collaborative program in the second half.

Past Directors

  • 2000 – Vincent Metallo
  • 2001 – Lynnel Joy Jenkins
  • 2002 – Judith Willoughby
  • 2003 – Dr. Andre J. Thomas
  • 2004 – Francisco J. Nuñez
  • 2005 – Dr. James Litton
  • 2006 – Dr. Judy Bowers
  • 2007 – Dr. Z. Randall Stroope
  • 2008 – Bob Chilcott
  • 2009 – Dr. Rollo Dilworth
  • 2010 – Stephen Hatfield
  • 2011 – Simon Carrington

This Year’s Director: Paul Rardin

Paul Rardin is a graduate of Williams College and the University of Michigan, where he received the M.M. in composition and the D.M.A. in conducting. He has served as guest conductor for state and regional high school choral festivals in eleven states, and has presented clinics for state, regional, and national conferences of the American Choral Directors Association. In 2009 he conducted the MENC All-Eastern High School Choir in Providence, RI. His settings of spirituals and folk songs are published by Santa Barbara Music Publishing, and his articles, many on the topic of contemporary music, have appeared in the ACDA publications Choral Journal, Troubadour, and Bel Canto.

Professor Rardin was named Chair of Choral Activities at the Boyer College of Music and Dance in September 2011. He was Associate Director of Choirs at the University of Michigan, where he taught undergraduate conducting and conducted the Men’s Glee Club, University Choir, and Michigan Youth Chamber Singers. He previously taught at  Towson University in Towson, Maryland where, for twelve years, he served as Director of Choirs. Dr. Rardin’s choirs have performed in such venues as Boston Symphony Hall, Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, and Washington National Cathedral, and have appeared with the Kirov Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, and Baltimore Choral Arts Society. The University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club performed for the 2010 Central Division Convention of the American Choral Directors Association.