Adirondack Youth Choir

A summer resident of the Adirondack Mountains since age five, Adirondack Youth Choir founder Barbara Tagg came to Saranac Lake in 1984 to conduct the Adirondack Children’s Chorus at the Adirondack Festival of American Music and continued until its conclusion in 2005. Now a four-month summer resident of Vermontville, she is a former Syracuse University faculty member where she led the Women’s Choir and founded the Syracuse Children’s Chorus (SCC), commissioning and premiering over 90 works, and earning two ASCAP/Chorus America Awards for Adventurous Programming. She holds three degrees from Syracuse University. She has been an advocate for children’s and women’s choirs through her national leadership in Chorus America and the American Choral Directors Association. She is the author of Before the Singing, published by Oxford University Press, and has presented workshops and research papers, and conducted concerts nationally and internationally. She is currently active in Chorus America, Sigma Alpha Iota, the Syracuse University Alumni Group of Sarasota, the Gregg Smith Singers board of directors, and as an adjudicator for WorldStrides Choral Festivals.

Making a Financial Contribution to AYC

We are so grateful for the generous support of the community and friends of the Adirondack Youth Choir (AYC) as we strive to re-establish a once thriving summer youth choir program!

With your support, we have been able to provide scholarships to student participants and hire exceptional artists and support staff to collaborate with these wonderful young singers. Because of this kind of support from its inception, alumni of this program have gone on to become important contributors to their own school and community music organizations as well as engaged members of their communities later in life.

The AYC has been working in partnership with North Country Community College to ensure a vibrant future for our youngest musicians. If you are interested in making a financial contribution to the AYC, please do so by sending a check made payable to:

North Country Community College (NCCC),

Attn.: Brian Pelkey

23 Santanoni Avenue
Saranac Lake, NY 12983

Please indicate “Adirondack Youth Choir (AYC)” in the memo section of the check.

Stephen A. Paparo

Stephen A. Paparo is thrilled to be a part of the Adirondack Youth Choir for his second summer. He grew up singing in the Syracuse Children’s Chorus with Barbara Tagg and was intern in 1997 and general manager from 1998-2000 for the Adirondack Festival of American Music, during which time he performed with the Gregg Smith Singers. He holds degrees from Ithaca College, Syracuse University, Michigan State University. He is currently Associate Professor of Music Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate music education students, conductor of the University Chorale, and a Guild Certified Practitioner of the Feldenkrais Method®. His research interests include the application of the Feldenkrais Method® in choral music education, non-traditional choral ensembles, and LGBTQ+ studies in music education. He is published in leading journals and has contributed chapters for Oxford Handbooks, including The Oxford Handbook of Music Performance and The Oxford Handbook of Care in Music Education. His compositions for beginning choirs are published by Alfred Music.

Jennifer L. Moore, Administrator

Jennifer Moore, the newest member of the Adirondack Youth Choir staff, currently teaches PreK-12 music for the Willsboro Central School District and serves as the interim conductor for the Champlain Valley Voices, a vibrant community chorus in Plattsburgh, NY. Jennifer, along with Dexter Criss and Andrea Ogle, is the co-founder and co-coordinator of the Adirondack High School Honors Gospel Festival at Plattsburgh State University. She serves as music director and organist for St. John’s Episcopal Church in Essex, NY and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Piano By Nature concert series as well as several advisory committees for regional arts-based organizations. As a pianist, Jennifer has recently performed several concerts with the Trillium Chamber Players and looks forward to being the collaborative pianist for the 2024 NYSSMA Conference All-State Treble Chorus. Jennifer is also in the midst of completing her DMA in Music Education at Boston University Online with a focus on rural music education.

What Parents and Participants Have to Say

We are beyond pleased to have been a part of the Adirondack Youth Choir last summer. Our 10-year-old learned so much from Dr. Tagg and Megan Field and has grown in both her ability and her love of music. The musical selections were appropriate for young voices, beautiful to listen to, and offered the right amount of challenge. Our daughter’s curiosity has blossomed from this experience. We eagerly await the chance to attend this summer’s session, so much that we have planned all our other activities around the dates of this year’s Adirondack Youth Choir!!

-Noel and Chisondi Mzese

Adirondack Youth Choir registration link: https://www.nccc.edu/community-education/Choir.html

OUR MISSION

North Country Community College provides open access to high quality academic programs that prepare students for transfer and career success. The College contributes significantly to the enrichment of our communities by cultivating an educated citizenry, a skilled workforce, and opportunities for lifelong learning.

Special Guests

The Northern Lights Choir is a multi-generational community choir that rehearses and performs high-quality choral music. Our choir was launched in January of 2013 and has drawn community singers from Saranac Lake, Lake Placid, Keene Valley, Tupper Lake, Malone, and Wilmington and students from Paul Smith’s College, North Country Community College, and SLHS. Our mission is to actively promote the appreciation and enjoyment of singing in an outstanding Mixed Choral Ensemble, contribute to the community’s well-being, and enrich the musical experiences of the Tri-Lakes and surrounding communities. 

Helen Demong, Artistic Director

Dominick Corbacio, Tenor

Dominick Corbacio has been lauded in the New York Times for a voice that is “heartbreakingly intense”. Originally from Syracuse, New York, his work has included appearances with The Ravinia Festival, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Florida Grand Opera, American Lyric Theatre, Opera Saratoga, and Society for New Music, among others. An alumnus of the Syracuse Children’s CHorus, Dominick is thrilled to join Barbara Tagg and the Adirondack Youth Choir for their annual concert in the Adirondacks this summer.

Contact us

Jennifer Moore, AYC Administrator

jmoore@willsborocsd.org

(518)396-6640