Do you know a youngster on St. John in grades 3 through 8 who loves to sing and wants to save the planet?
If you do, please get in touch with Kristen Carmichael-Bowers, director of Ocama Youth Choir which has just received a commission to create a video about recycling.
Rehearsals for Ocama will be held beginning Tuesday, Feb. 4, from 3:45 to 4:45 p.m. at the Nazareth Evangelical Lutheran Church in Cruz Bay. For further information about registration, contact Carmichael-Bowers at 802-380-0761 or by email at kristen@singstjohn.org.
Ocama is the Taino word for “Listen!” Choir members develop vocal, musical and social skills and strengthen relationships by performing at community events.
Each year, Ocama creates a video, often based on an original song written by a member or former member of Ocama.
“My favorite part about Ocama is that it opens up new opportunities to you, like getting to make a music video and getting to perform in concerts,” says Tianna JnBaptiste, soprano section leader. “I feel great when I’m singing.”
This year’s Ocama video will be a project in collaboration with — and supported in part by — Planet Green Force, in partnership with UNESCO under Island Green Living.
“We at Island Green Living feel strongly that music is one of the most captivating ways to spread our green message, educate on the importance of ‘rethink, reduce, reuse, recycle,’ and combat climate change,” said Harith Wickrema, board president of Island Green Living. “We are honored to collaborate with the very talented Sing St. John’s Ocama Youth Choir on this video project.”
This spring session will be particularly exciting because Ocama Youth Choir will also join with other choirs under the Sing St. John umbrella to collaborate with other local artists and organizations for an intergenerational “One Love” concert. Scheduled for April, the concerts will include the Echo People, Quelbe Resurrection Band, the Coziah Bamboula Dancers of St. John, and Voices of Love Choir from St. Thomas.
All of Sing St. John’s. programs are free, thanks to support from community members, businesses, the Virgin Islands Council on the Arts, and the Virgin Islands Lottery.
This program is made possible in part through the Mid Atlantic Folk and Traditional Arts – Community Projects program of Mid Atlantic Arts with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Sing St. John is jointly supported by a grant from VI Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts in Washington, DC, a federal agency.
