“What the World Needs Now Is Love, Sweet Love.”
That’s just one of the songs that will be featured in the St. John Recovery Choir’s spring concerts featuring Quelbe Resurrection, and anyone who wants to join is welcome.
Recovery Choir Director Kristen Carmichael-Bowers is sending out an invitation to community members to attend weekly rehearsals for the “One Love” concerts scheduled for April in Coral Bay and Cruz Bay. “It’s all about unity,” she said.
Rehearsals are held twice a week starting Feb. 4. Members can attend Tuesday evenings from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Gifft Hill School Upper Campus balcony, or they can come Saturday mornings from 9 to 10:30 a.m. to the picnic tables (to the far right) at Hawksnest Beach. Sectional rehearsals led by Christie on Zoom will be held on Thursdays.
“Sing St. John’s unity-themed ‘One Love’ event planned for Saturday, April 19 in Franklin Powell Park will be a celebration of our community’s cultural roots,” said Carmichael-Bowers. The program will be eclectic, and alongside other popular genres, “Quelbe, Reggae, Calypso, Negro Spiritual and Bamboula traditions will be highlighted in particular.”
Some of the performers expected to attend are the Senior Singalong Singers, Ocama Youth Choir, the Echo People, the Coziah Dancers and Voices of Love from St. Thomas. Quelbe Resurrection, one of St. John’s favorite bands, will top off the evening with music to dance to in the park.
“Singing together helps us to transcend our differences and experience the humanity that is within us all. It’s also a way for those of us who were not born here to learn about and honor Virgin Islands’ culture and its origins from ancestral Virgin Islanders,” said Carmichael-Bowers.
The Recovery Choir, Ocama Youth Choir and Quelbe Resurrection will also be performing in Coral Bay April 11 at Our Place.
This project is made possible in part through the Mid Atlantic Folk and Traditional Arts – Community Programs 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.
Registration for the choir takes less than a minute. Go to Sing St. John’s website and be sure to click “submit” after completing the form. Members are kindly asked to pay a $50 fee, but that fee can be waived without question by selecting the waive-fee option.
For further information, please text, call, or WhatsApp Carmichael-Bowers at 802-380 0761.
