St. John may be a global tourist destination, but it still operates like a small town. To get a sense of the community spirit, join local singers, dancers, and steel pan players for the free Holiday Celebration from 6-8 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 21, at Frank Powell Park in Cruz Bay.
The St. John Recovery Choir, the Moravian Church Choir and the Nazareth Lutheran Church Choir will perform, and the audience will be invited to join in on a 30-minute carol sing at the end of the event.
Children are at the heart of the holidays, and several St. John’s youth organizations will be sharing their zest and talent, including the Love City Pan Dragons and the Dynamic Dancers. They’ll be joined by a new organization called Ocama!, an ensemble of singers from the St. John All-Island Children’s Choir.
The holiday celebration is produced by Sing St. John, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing island residents together to perform choral music. Its director, Kristen Carmichael-Bowers, who also leads the Recovery Choir Ocama!, and the All-Island Children’s Choir, decided last year to bring the community together to celebrate the holidays.
“I just love the way St. John comes together with equal strength in times of celebration and times of need,” said Carmichael-Bowers. “One of my favorite things about Recovery Choir performances is the singalong we always have at the end, when we can’t feel any division between performers and audience, neighbor and neighbor,” she said.
Carmichael-Bowers has planned the concert to honor all traditions and faiths that mark events in December. “In the Holiday Celebration, our community celebrates Chanukah, Solstice, Christmas and Kwanzaa,” she said. The Recovery Choir’s performance will feature music from all of these traditions.
At the conclusion of the event, the choirs, the audience and the Pan Dragons will all join together to sing “Joy to the World.” For Carmichael-Bowers, “It’s a magical moment.”
Sing St. John is sponsored by the Virgin Islands Council on the Arts, the Virgin Islands Lottery, the St. John Community Foundation, the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands, Seven Seas Water, Tree Limin’ Extreme, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
For more information, email kristen@singstjohn.org or call 802-380 -0761.
