New Generation’s A Cappella Choir Camp
THE SEVENTH annual A Cappella Choir Camp for teens began on Easter Monday and ran until Saturday, April 22. It was held at New Generation Camp in St Ann, with a free concert to close the camp at Family Church on the Rock, Ocho Rios. Thirty-two teens, drawn from schools such as St Andrew High School for Girls, Kingston College, St Hilda’s, York Castle, Gaynstead High, Mona High and Marcus Garvey High, attended the camp.
The camp was organised by New Generation, which is a non-profit, non-denominational Christian youth organisation which has been in existence since 1985 under its former name, Circle Square Jamaica. New Generation owns and operates an adventure campsite on the Cranbrook Estate in Laughlands, St Ann, from which it runs Christian adventure camps, family camps, couples camps, camps for at-risk teens, as well as team building and leadership training sessions. The A Cappella Choir Camp was sponsored by Mennonites in Canada and the USA who covered most of the cost of the camp, as well as send choir directors and college professors to train the campers.
A typical day at choir camp saw the campers learning to read and write music, being given voice lessons, learning songs, having Bible study, as well as engaging in lots of fun and games. They learnt 12 songs in all, which included Jamaican and African worship music as well as hymns. These they performed at the closing concert on the Friday night, which was attended by parents, friends and members of the church’s youth group.
Each year, at least 50 per cent of the camper are repeat participants, which indicates how interesting the camp is and how much of an impact it has on these young people from across Jamaica.