Welcome to New Amsterdam Boys and Girls Choir

Walkathon Destination: Resource Center

This year’s fund-raising Walkathon has a new destination, the Ricardo O’Gorman Garden and Center for Resources in the Humanities at 23 W. 129th Street. Our host will be the well-known poet and educator Ned O’Gorman, who has lived in Harlem since 1966. The Center is named for his late son Ricardo O’Gorman.

Middle School Connection Enters a Second Year

The New Amsterdam Boys and Girls Choir begins it second year as a co-ed group this fall. Its home will again be the Renaissance School for the Arts, a middle school at 410 East 100th Street.

Choir Gets Tips on Baroque Singing

Backmon, choir and Callisto Ascending Mordents, appoggiaturas, and trills are common in Baroque music. Now ask any member of the choir what they are and you will get a beautiful earful...

Girls say to Boys Choir, "We want to sing, too!"

girls choir For twenty-two years James Backmon directed a Boys Choir, inspired by his own rewarding experiences growing up in all-boy ensembles. "When I introduced a choir program at Esperanza, a co-ed middle school, to my surprise only girls turned out to sing."

Choir Launches In-School Initiatives for New East Harlem Middle Schools

harlem middle school After 22 years of leading a celebrated afterschool choir, James Backmon had a startling realization—the choir has something to offer to the new middle schools opening in East Harlem. "The in-school program initiative permits NABGC to support the East Harlem community in new ways," said Mr. Backmon.

A Weekend in New England

A drumming session, a scavenger hunt, a journaling exercise and a tour of the local cemetery were all part of the choir’s second trip to Canton, Massachusetts, at the end of March 2009.

Trip to Canada

In the spring of 2008 the NABGC hosted the Voices of Victory Choir from Ontario, Canada. This was the second trip led by conductor Erwin Stroobach. Several years early Mr. Stroobach had brought a boys choir from Canada and it was hosted by the NABC.

Tulips from Amsterdam are Planted in New Amsterdam

renaissance The New Amsterdam Boys and Girls Choir was invited to perform at the Harlem Meer in the northeast corner of Central Park to celebrate the donation of 50,000 tulips to New York. This high profile event was filmed for Dutch television and was attended by local and foreign VIPs... (See a slide show of the event)