Amarillo Youth Choirs, Inc.

For 36 years, Amarillo Youth Choirs has been lifting young voices across the Texas Panhandle—helping students from 2nd grade through high school grow in confidence, creativity, and community through music. This Giving Tuesday during Panhandle Gives, you have the power to “Lift Every Voice.” Your gift provides scholarships, music, mentorship, and performance opportunities that inspire lifelong growth and unforgettable memories. Every donation amplifies our mission, ensuring that the next generation of singers has the chance to shine on stage, in their schools, and in the world. Join us in raising voices, building leaders, and keeping music thriving in the Panhandle.

Who We Are

Amarillo Youth Choirs, Inc. (AYC) is celebrating its thirty-first season with the 2020/2021 season. The choirs have been nationally and internationally recognized and continue to earn performance trophies and recognition every year. The Amarillo Youth Choirs program includes the Amarillo Boy Concert Choir, Amarillo Boy Preparatory Choir, Amarillo Girl Concert Choir and Amarillo Girl Preparatory Choir. AYC is dedicated to the purpose of teaching boys and girls in the Texas Panhandle the joys of vocal music in a friendly, disciplines, and encouraging environment.

Membership in the four choirs is typically between 150-200 students. The Covid-19 pandemic has hit our membership hard, but we continue to serve the youth of the Panhandle in the safest and most productive environment possible. Both boys and girls may audition for the preparatory choirs as early as the first grade. These choirs focus primarily on the fundamentals of voice and performance. Older boys with unchanged voices and older girls may be accepted in the Boy or Girl Concert Choir at the director’s discretion. Each choir rehearses only once a week during the school year; however, the performance level is extremely high and the literature they are able to learn is quite advanced.

During its history, the Amarillo Boy Concert Choir has performed with the Vienna Boy Choir (twice!), Austria’s Wiltener Boy Choir, England’s Southend Boys Choir, the American Boy Choir, the Texas Boys Choir, Tucson Arizona Boy Chorus, the Albuquerque Boy Choir, Amarillo Symphony Orchestra, Amarillo Opera, Amarillo Little Theatre, Amarillo Master Chorale, Chamber Music Amarillo, and West Texas A&M University Orchestra. They have performed for royalty and in a variety of performance spaces including Saint John in Lateran Cathedral (Rome), St. Peter’s Basilica (Vatican City), Canterbury Cathedral (Kent), St. John the Divine Cathedral and Carnegie Hall (New York City).

The Amarillo Girl Concert Choir has been repeatedly recognized as “Outstanding” at festivals and competitions and has performed in such venues as St. Patrick’s Cathedral (Dublin), St. Paul’s Cathedral (London), Almudena Cathedral (Madrid), Crystal Cathedral (California), and St. John the Divine Cathedral (NYC) among others. They have travelled all over the world and have been invited to sing in concert with other choirs, including adult choirs like the Athlone Choral Society and the Lewisville Civic Chorale.