IN HARMONY
Bahamas National Children’s Choir shares its culture with the city,
Thursday morning was a special moment for Carlisa Wright-Waters. After spending 11 years singing with the Bahamas National Children’s Choir, she got to conduct the group during their visit to Toronto.
The day was cold and rainy, but the voices of 33 boys and girls, ranging in age from 7 to 17, brought a ray of sunshine to the Toronto police headquarters lobby, where they performed during their trip to Canada.
“It’s just a joy to be on the other side, I was on the stage performing with them for many years, and then to be able to direct and lead out was very special for me,” Wright-Waters, 33, said.
Wright-Waters’ mother, Audrey Dean-Wright, co-founded the choir in 1990 with her sister Patricia Bazard. Since its inception, the choir’s members have travelled all over the world, including Russia, Poland, Prague, London, Turkey and all across the Caribbean.
Bazard believes that being in the choir teaches kids discipline, lets them see the world and brings Bahamian culture to other countries. It’s a way for them to “get a feeling of who they are and what is the place they have in the world as Bahamian children,” Bazard said.
Naketra Malcolm, 15, joined the choir in 2013.
“It’s taught me a lot of discipline, leadership, self respect,” she said.
Her favourite trip so far was last year when they went to Washington D.C. and got to tour the White House.
The Toronto performance was organized by the choir, the Toronto police and Canada’s Bahamas tourism office, said Const. Isabelle Cotton, who helped arrange the event.
She said the tourism office called her in April and asked to host the event there.
“We love having these kinds of events, it’s about sharing different cultures,” Cotton said.
The choir will stay in Toronto until Sunday, before they move on to Ottawa to sing on Parliament Hill.