Dartmouth College Gospel Choir

A high-energy program featuring a selection of favorite gospel songs.

23/24 Hop Ensemble

Knoelle Higginson, guest director

Funded in part by the Stephenson Fund for Student Ensembles, the Richard F. Mattern 1970 Fund, the Slade 1976 Fund, and gifts from Friends of the Contemporary Pop Ensembles. Photo: Katie Lenhart

The Program

The Hop Presents

Dartmouth College Gospel Choir
Ahmaya Knoelle Higginson, guest director

Wednesday, October 25, 8:00 pm
Rollins Chapel • Dartmouth College • 2023

Funded in part by the Stephenson Fund for Student Ensembles, the Richard F. Mattern 1970 Fund, the Slade 1976 Fund and gifts from Friends of the Contemporary Pop Ensembles.

We thank Mrs. Selma Bornstein for her generous donation of the Petrof Concert Grand Piano, given in loving memory of her husband Dr. Murray Bornstein and used for tonight’s concert.

Dartmouth College Gospel Choir

Ahmaya Knoelle Higginson, guest director

Amara Jones-Myers ’25
Amber Wylie
Anthony Fosu ’24
Barbara Abraham
Catherine A. Scholl
Chennelle Channer GR
Cynthia Stadler
Faye Gillespie
Francesca Gabourel
Grace Caldwell ’26
Grace Farr
Irene Schaperdoth
Jacqueline Kalan
Toni Hover
Joanna Olagundoye ’24
Karen Harris
Karin Rothwell
Laine Gillespie
Laura Wilder
Layse de Souza
Leslie Dustin
Lloyd Gabourel
Marjie Bish
Mary Ann Stanford
Meghan Corbin
Melissa MacDonald
Ross Henriques
Sarah Latario
Sarah Grace Mun-Ying Williams ’25
Shamar Simmons
Sharon Wight
Sharry Keller
Stephanie Gardner
Suzanne McDowell
Veneda Gabourel
Charolette Carmody
Riley Carbone
Susan Engler
Libby Curran
Andrée Solé GR
Cindy Heath
Sue Englaer
Daniel Lin
Betty Barba
Penny McConnel
Molly McBride
Rachel Pentecost
Samson Verny
Abrm McQuarters
Anna Kay
Ashkenaz Songdl
Carolyn Sanders
Danice Antoine
David Inderboun
Lynne Li
Nicole Conn
Niel Sebastien
Sean Taylor
Lily Hemmins
Eliot Aiman ’26
Lexy Piton ’24
Uma Alagappan ’23
Isabelle Jennings ’26
Colby Lish ’25
Bill Banks
Noah Martinez ’27
Cesar Almeida ’27
Laura Wilder
Leslie Dustin
Phoebe Rodman
Jordan Meier ’26
Zofia A. Czerska ’27
Enzo La Hoz Calassara ’27
Glenn Gabriel D. Shepard ’27
Noelle Vitt
Manu Onteeru ’24
Asa Dow ’26
Ann Spencer
Bridgit Livingstone

About the Director

Ahmaya Knoelle Higginson, award-winning teaching artist and global performer, serves as Co-Founder and Artistic Director at the acclaimed music and arts institution in Harlem USA, The Mama Foundation for The Arts, home of the longest Black Off-Broadway theater musical in the history of American Theater, Mama I Want To Sing! After attending The Manhattan School of Music for Jazz Vocal Studies and graduating from the American Musical And Dramatic Academy (AMDA) for Musical Theater studies, Ahmaya traveled singing on world stages in various productions including Porgy and Bess and starring in Mama I Want To Sing! Ahmaya and her mother Vy Higginsen, creator of the musical Mama I Want To Sing! came back to their home village of Harlem where their family has lived over 100 years. They built a 501(c) 3) Non-Profit music and arts institution passing on their knowledge and history of the music and theater industry, building curriculums which have now served thousands of youth and adults with free music and performance education for the past 20 years. With the continued mission to preserve African American music as an “art form” through the next generation, Ahmaya gathered students from her Harlem institution and founded the award-winning Sing Harlem, a commercial traveling ensemble and choir in which she currently serves as Artistic and Musical Director. She has booked, curated and musically directed opportunities for the group with SZA on Saturday Night Live (SNL) and the 60 Annual Grammy Awards, twice with Chance The Rapper on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Ariana Grande at the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting and more. Additionally, they have performance credits with Pharrell Williams, Alesia Cara, Likke Li, Madonna, headlining Brooklyn’s AFROPUNK, Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art, the APOLLO theater and Chicago’s Ravinia Festival. In 2021, she joined the faculty at the conservatory of music at SUNY Purchase, Ahmaya currently serves as the Musical Director of the SUNY Purchase Soul Voices Course and Ensemble.

Dartmouth College Gospel Choir

Led by guest director Knoelle Higginson, the college's gospel choir raises the roof with twice-yearly concerts of new and contemporary gospel music. An expansive choir of students and community...

Learn More