Its final performance was in 2007 and the group folded shortly thereafter due to several controversies, including a large budget deficit, and the death of its founder.

It also performed live for the visits of international dignitaries such as Nelson Mandela of South Africa and Pope John Paul II.

[2] Following the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, the choir was invited to sing "God Bless America" at the Cantor Fitzgerald memorial service in Central Park.

Among the many talented musicians that toured with the choir included Eric Reed, Keith Burton, Willard Dyson, Isaac ben Ayala, Darryl Smith, Aleeza Meir, Joseph Joubert, Doug Jordan, Harry Miller, Glenn Pearson, Robin Pitre and many more throughout the years.

The choir for many years enjoyed the sponsorship of the City of New York; former NYC Mayor David Dinkins authorized their free use of the Arthur Schomburg School on East 127th Street in Harlem.

Second, in the spring of 2001, a 14-year-old student came forward to founder and director Walter Turnbull and reported that the choir's chief counselor, Frank Jones Jr.,[8] had been molesting him for years.

[9] It was later revealed that Turnbull and his brother, Horace, the choir's executive vice president, allowed Jones to stay in contact with students even after city officials explicitly banned him from the 650-student academy (a public school that is overseen and financed in part by the Department of Education).

A city school official reported to investigators that Horace Turnbull had complained to her that barring Mr. Jones was "a hardship," because he was "an integral part" of the program.

[10] That fall Jones was arrested, tried and sentenced to two years in prison for multiple counts of third-degree sexual abuse and endangerment of a child.

[8] As a result, the city school system's investigative arm recommended that the Department of Education "sever all ties" with the academy if the Turnbulls remain.