Our Story
Good Neighbor Ensemble was founded in Match of 2002 by the volunteers of the Good Neighbor Ministry. The eleven original members were the middle-school aged children of these volunteers, who were gathered together and led by music director Jina Choi in order to perform classical and religious music for the lonely residents of local nursing homes.
After its maiden concert at the Woodcrest Health Care Center in April of 2002, the ensemble has gone to perform at twenty nursing homes located throughout Bergen and Passaic county every month.
The Ensemble not only performs for the residents of these New Jersey nursing homes, but also for churches and local organizations, including the Riverside church, New York, United Methodist Churches in Englewood, Hillsdale, Paramus, Wayne, and the yearly event of the Korean-American Association of New Jersey.
In addition, the ensemble performs in an annual charity event. In past years, performances have been held to raise funds to support starving children in North Korean, victims of the tsunami in both Indonesia and Japan, the disabled poor North Korean orphans who have become refugees in China, and the orphans of Haiti.
The Ensemble is led by Conductor Dongmin Kim and includes over 40 musicians on the violin, viola, cello, and flute. These dedicated members rehearse every Tuesday, and perform at nursing homes three times a month to spread joy and comfort through their music.