More than one hundred St. John children from kindergarten to second grade will come together to present a choir concert on Wednesday at the Julius E. Sprauve School. The 30-minute performance begins at 5:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public
“The St. John All-Island Children’s Choir is the only program on St. John that brings all of our elementary school-age children annually to create something special together as one ensemble,” said choir director Kristen Carmichael-Bowers.
Since February, Carmichael-Bowers has taught songs in multiple languages to students in their individual classrooms at the Julius E. Sprauve School, the Gifft Hill School, and the St. John Christian Academy. On the day of the concert, they will all meet up as a group before the show for an afternoon of fun, games, rehearsals and pizza hosted by the Julius E. Sprauve School.
At Wednesday’s concert, the young singers will perform a selection of songs in English, Spanish, Haitian Creole, and other world languages.
“Learning songs in foreign languages brings an openness, an uncommon sense of shared cultural space, and a confidence in our ability to stretch, learn and connect,” said Carmichael-Bowers. “Everyone has a chance to feel like an expert at some point – and that isn’t often the case when English is our second language.”
The production takes an enormous amount of work, but Carmichael-Bowers said it culminates in an experience of shared joy, pride, and unity.
“The only way I can describe the feeling in the room for that short time is a deep knowing that, no matter how different our life situations may look from each other, we are one. It is a profound experience,” she added
The All-Island Children’s Choir began in 2015. It is the first of several programs that are now under the umbrella organization Sing St. John, a non-profit that seeks to strengthen our community through singing together.
Carmichael-Bowers has also launched the St. John Recovery Choir, the Senior Singalong, and Ocama – an after-school program for youth in grades 3-8.
Families and friends are encouraged to attend this concert in person, but there is also a livestream option, thanks to All Ah We TV, and the link can be found on the main page of the Sing St. John website.
The video will later be available on Sing St John’s YouTube channel.
“Sing St John provides this program (as with all our programs for all ages) free of charge for our community,” said Carmichael-Bowers. “We function entirely on donations and grants, so the community’s support is the only thing that makes our gathering in this way possible.
For further information or to make a donation, contact Carmichael-Bowers at 802-380-0761 or visit the website www.singstjohn.org, where you can view a video of last November’s concert of the All-Island Children’s Choir featuring students in the upper elementary grades.
