Ahmaya Knoelle Higginson
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! Amaya 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 for 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 that 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 an 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- Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting, and more. Additionally, they have performance credits with Pharrell Williams, Alesia Cara, Lykke Li, and Madonna, headlining Brooklyn’s AFROPUNK, Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art, the APOLLO theater, and Chicago’s Ravinia Festival.
