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<p>DALLAS TOWNSHIP &#8212; Vienna Boys Choir conductor Bomi Kim grew up in Korea, where she remembers the country&#8217;s Christian minority &#8220;had a small Christmas,&#8221; without a great deal of fanfare.</p><p>When she moved to Europe in 2002, to study music first in Bavaria and then in Vienna, it was almost as if she had stepped into a picture-perfect Christmas card of glistening snow and yule-tide beauty.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a really wonderful time, Christmas in Vienna,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We have snow and Christkindlmarkt and warm, sweet wine. We have a skiing place and an ice skating place and we have really, really many mountains and many concerts in the churches and the concert hall. It&#8217;s really a lovely time &#8212; a little bit cold, but with warm wine everything is OK.&#8221;</p><p>On Dec. 3 Kim and a traveling chorus of about two dozen boys will bring a touch of Alpine-style holidays to Misericordia University in Dallas Township, where they will present a &#8220;Christmas in Vienna&#8221; holiday concert.</p><p>The first half of the concert will include sacred music such as &#8220;Ave Maria&#8221; and &#8220;Ave Verum Corpus&#8221; along with some classical pieces, Kim said. The second half will feature Christmas songs from Austria, Germany and America.</p><p>During a telephone interview from her hotel in Arizona earlier this month, Kim said the group&#8217;s concert tour includes stops in Utah, Nevada, Chicago, New York and South Carolina as well as Pennsylvania.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a really long trip,&#8221; she said, but added the boys, who range in age from 10 to 14, get along well and soon become accustomed to traveling.</p><p>&#8220;At the beginning of the concert season, maybe the 10-year-old boys, they have homesickness,&#8221; she said. &#8220;They cannot sleep. But we have two wonderful chaperones and they&#8217;re really good. We are a big family and they (the homesick young singers) are fine now.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m a mother sometimes,&#8221; she added with a chuckle. &#8220;And a choir director and sometimes a sister or girlfriend.&#8221;</p><p>The Vienna Boys Choir that will come to Misericordia is one of four troupes from the famous, 500-year-old choir &#8212; founded by Emperor Maximillian I as the Vienna Chapel Imperial &#8212; that will present some 300 concerts this year. They come from many countries, Kim said, noting &#8220;We have many international boys from Japan, Korea, Australia, Ireland, Serbia and Poland&#8221; in addition to the native German speakers you might expect.</p><p>When they grow up, she said, some former choir members become professional musicians, opera singers or conductors while most of them pursue different professions. &#8220;They have their own dreams to be doctors or lawyers,&#8221; she said. &#8220;But they can all sing.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">The Vienna Boys Choir will sing a &#8216;Christmas in Vienna&#8217; concert on Dec. 3 at Misericordia University. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_vienna1.jpg</photo0><caption0>The Vienna Boys Choir will sing a &#8216;Christmas in Vienna&#8217; concert on Dec. 3 at Misericordia University. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_vienna2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The Vienna Boys Choir carries on a singing tradition that began in the late 1400s. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_vienna2.jpg</photo1><caption1>The Vienna Boys Choir carries on a singing tradition that began in the late 1400s. </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photo </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_vienna3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The boys get along like &#8216;a big family,&#8217; conductor Bomi Kim said. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/web1_vienna3.jpg</photo2><caption2>The boys get along like &#8216;a big family,&#8217; conductor Bomi Kim said. </caption2><photoCredit2>Submitted photo </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> &#8216;Christmas in Vienna&#8217;</p><p><strong>Who:</strong> Vienna Boys Choir</p><p><strong>When:</strong> 7:30 p.m. Dec. 3</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Lemmond Theater in Walsh Hall, Misericordia University campus, Lake Street, Dallas Township</p><p><strong>Tickets:</strong> $15 general admission; $30 premium seating</p><p><strong>Reservations:</strong> 570-674-6719.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Vienna Boys Choir will bring concert of sacred and secular music to Misericordia University Dec. 3