Sandwiched In: Forgotten Show Biz: New York’s Gilded Age of Church Music Divas

SANDWICHED IN: Forgotten Show Biz: New York’s Gilded Age of Church Music Divas. A century ago, New Yorkers in search of musical entertainment had only churches. And New Yorkers in search of musical scandal had church choirs. The city’s choral scene in the 1800s was alive with backbiting divas, wealthy “backers,” inflated salaries and newspaper innuendo. This excessive, extravagant period lasted for nearly half a century, until a 1903 Papal proclamation banned women from choirs. Even though this order was limited to Catholic choirs, the shock waves reverberated throughout churches everywhere, destroying the system and whipping up an international media circus that centered upon the most famous church in America: St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Presenter Salvatore Basile is a writer, a soloist and cantor with the Cathedral Choir. He has been Cathedral Music Historian since 2008. 12:10 p.m.