Saint Thomas Fifth Avenue has announced that it will merge its chorister school with the Professional Children’s School New York and with it, current Director of Music Jeremy Filsell will leave at the end of the academic year. In a letter to the Choir School Alumni and Families, Rector Carl F Turner spoke of how ‘both the Vestry and Dr Filsell feel that fresh musical vision is required’ and said the church would be making changes to its musical programme. 

The merger with the Professional Children’s School was announced on 7 November following months of negotiations by a ‘sustainability task force’ to examine various options for balancing its budget. ‘We recognise that the current music program with a residential choir school is unsustainable,’ it said. 

The musical changes spoken of in the Rector’s letter are said to include the provision for a separate girls’ choir, a choir of professional men and women, and an expanded form of the Noble Singers (a program initiated under Dr Filsell’s wife Rebecca Kellerman-Filsell) through an outreach project to local children. 

Dr Jeremy Filsell joined Fifth Avenue six years ago in 2019, following previous director Daniel Hyde’s move to King’s College Cambridge. During his tenure, Filsell has developed a concert series at Fifth Avenue, and made many recordings of a range of lesser-known choral repertoire on Signum and Acis Records.  

The process now begins to search for Filsell’s replacement, chaired by Dr Karl Saunders who currently leads the music committee and is treasurer of the Vestry.