It ain't a bad hall, not bad in the least bit. Not that their usual joint is anything to shake a decrescendo at, but as out-of-town places go, this one's pretty good.

When the All Saints Choir of Men and Boys takes what might blasphemously be termed a stage next week, it won't be in the venerated Episcopalian landmark in Peabody Square, but in the much newer and much larger National Cathedral in Washington D.C.

The cathedral, planned since shortly after the end of the American Revolution but only completed in 1990, was the recent site for the funeral of President Ronald Reagan, and Helen Keller and President Woodrow Wilson are interred there.

As Choir in Residence for the week at the cathedral, the Dorchester group, 24-strong, joins a select roster of the most melodic choirs in the country. Split between 12 boy sopranos and 12 men who divide evenly into countertenors, basses, and tenors, the All Saints Choir leaves Sunday for their first performance Monday.

According to Jeff Gonyeau, a tenor, the choir will sing the Evensong services from Monday, July 26, through Saturday, and then sing at the main service on Sunday.

In between services, the group has big plans: sightseeing in D.C., and to catch the Sox square off against the Orioles at Camden Yards in nearby Baltimore.

The game, Gonyeau said, will be the true test of their vocal cords.

"We are going to make sure we represent Boston as loudly - and in as a most civilized way - as we can," he said.