It is with great excitement that we announce the appointment of Benjamin Arendsen to succeed Clara Longstreth as the Music Director of New Amsterdam Singers, effective July 1, 2025.
Ben joins the NAS family with a set of skills and musical experiences that will enable him to build on Clara’s remarkable legacy and work with the chorus to help us maintain and continue to develop the musical excellence for which we are known. Ben has degrees in Music Education and Conducting from the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College, CUNY and holds the position of Associate Professor/Director of Choral Activities at Nassau Community College. He has served as music director of several choral ensembles, including the Great Neck Choral Society, the Forest Hills Choir, and the Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company of Long Island, and has served as guest conductor of numerous choruses and orchestras. He has been an active member of C4/The Choral Composer / Conductor Collective.
Ben will assume the baton from Maestra Clara Longstreth, our founding Music Director, who has led NAS for 57 seasons. On hearing the news, Clara said, “Bravo! I think Ben is a great fit for NAS and its skilled, dedicated singers. I am enormously grateful to the Transition Committee for its hard work and the thorough process that led to Ben’s selection, and I am very pleased with the outcome.”
Ben’s reaction to his selection was, “I am thrilled and honored to have been selected to lead the wonderful singers in NAS, and am deeply humbled to be following in such illustrious footsteps as Clara’s. It’s an incredible and inspiring legacy to inherit, and I am energized to be given this opportunity to continue NAS’s work in the choral community. I look forward, very much, to getting to know this remarkable community of singers and supporters in the near future, and to making beautiful music together!”
In addition to his strong technical conducting skills and experience with vocal technique, Ben brings impressive musicianship and is well attuned to the NAS culture. At his audition, singers were particularly taken with Ben’s personal warmth, sense of humor, collaborative style, and his appreciation of the NAS community — qualities that will help him as he assumes his role as NAS’s next Music Director.
Ben’s formal introduction to the NAS family will be at our annual fundraising benefit on May 5.
Please join us in welcoming Ben Arendsen!
Read more about Clara Longstreth’s legacy here.