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OUR MISSION
Hamilton-Garrett Music and Arts is committed to the development of Boston's next generation of innovative artists through the celebration and preservation of Black music.
OUR VISION
We will provide high-caliber formal music instruction to youth throughout Greater Boston, preparing them for a future in music that challenges inner-city youth to see themselves as positive producers of culture, music, and the arts as a whole, rather than merely consumers of it.
HOW WE STARTED EST. 2001
Hamilton-Garrett Music & Arts Academy (HGMAA) is named after two prominent members of the Historic Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church and the national music community, Ruth Hamilton and Elta Garrett. Ruth Hamilton was a world-renowned contralto singer who was a proponent of the Negro Spirituals. Ms. Hamilton passed away in 2001 and it was her desire for a community-based youth program to be created to preserve, educate and celebrate Black music and culture. Elta Garrett, a well-known soprano, dedicated more than 50 years of her life as a music teacher in the Boston Public Schools. After retirement, Mrs. Garrett served as the founding director of the Hamilton-Garrett Music and Arts Academy. Retiring after serving twelve years as the director of the Academy, Mrs. Garrett is a supporter by serving as an active member on the Board of Directors of the Hamilton-Garrett Music & Arts. Hamilton-Garrett Music & Arts is honored to have been affiliated with the Historic Charles Street A.M.E. Church for twenty years of service.
Pictured: Elta Garrett, Founding Director HGMA
THE CENTER EST. 2022
Pictured: Gerami Groover-Flores, Founding Director HGCMA
In the Fall of 2022, the Academy expanded into the Hamilton-Garrett Center for Music & Arts in its own facility on 5 Elm Hill Ave. As its founding executive director, Gerami Groover-Flores had a vision to open Hamilton-Garrett to provide more opportunities for community members. The Center currently houses the Academy as its flagship program, along with the Performance Division and the Education Division. Learn more about our Divisions here. (INSERT)
THE CENTER
VISION
We strive to be positive producers of culture through music and the arts.
COMMUNITY
We are proudly rooted in Roxbury, MA and invested in the people of Greater Boston.
VALUES
We celebrate Black culture to preserve and advance a rich legacy of artistic expression.
