Walter Turnbull | Boys choir founder, 62

Walter Turnbull, 62, who founded the Boys Choir of Harlem and led the organization to international acclaim and performances at the White House and Vatican, died Friday in a New York City hospital of complications from a stroke.

Mr. Turnbull's death marked the latest in a sad string of events for the famed choir, which has been reeling from scandal since a choirboy accused a counselor six years ago of sexually abusing him. City investigators chided Mr. Turnbull for his handling of the allegations.

The chairman of the choir's board, former New York Mayor David N. Dinkins, said the board was dedicated to preserving the choir. The renowned institution has fallen into debt, and the 50-boy choir was evicted from its headquarters last year and now has a reduced, mostly volunteer staff.

Born in Greenville, Miss., Mr. Turnbull studied music at Tougaloo College and moved to New York to become an opera singer, eventually performing with the New York Philharmonic.

He founded the choir at Ephesus Church in 1968 and built the after-school program into the 600-student Choir Academy of Harlem, which opened in 1993. The choir has released albums and has been heard on the soundtracks of such films as Jungle Fever, Malcolm X and Glory. - AP