Carl Lesch

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Carl William Lesch (1924–1983) was an American Catholic educator, director, and music conductor who worked mainly in the New York metropolitan area. He began in the 1940s as choral director at St. Margaret Mary’s Church in Midland Beach, Staten Island, where he formed a boys choir and led them to a first‑place win at a Town Hall competition. In 1949 he became organist and choirmaster at St. Henry’s Church in Bayonne, New Jersey, building a 60‑voice choir that gained local fame and was heard on The Catholic Hour in 1954–1955, with many concerts across the region and an annual Easter Sunday concert at the Waldorf Astoria for about ten years. The Archdiocese of Newark then promoted him to assistant director of music, directing massed high school choirs throughout the diocese with performances at Seton Hall University. Lesch is best remembered for his Staten Island work, especially as director of music and leader of the Sacred Heart Parish men’s and boys’ choir from the 1960s until his death. A graduate of St. Peter’s Boys High School, he later taught there for 25 years and contributed to other island schools including Monsignor Farrell High School, Moore Catholic High School, and the Troubadors of Song Chorus. His directing repertoire included revivals of Oklahoma!, Annie Get Your Gun, South Pacific, Hello, Dolly!, Brigadoon, On the Town, and Carousel. In 2009, the St. Peter’s High School Glee Club and Seton Chorale Alumni Association, formed by graduates of St. Peter’s Boys and Girls High Schools, established a scholarship in his honor. They have held a Christmas show at St. Peter’s Church in New Brighton, Staten Island each December since 2010 to raise funds for the scholarship.