Limòn Costa Rica
Gospel Music Workshops
As part of a delegation of music clinicians from across the United States led by renowned professor and musician Dr. Ouida Harding, a select group of students and I helped facilitate a series of workshops and performances centered around the rich heritage of Gospel Music. Events took place in Limon and surrounding areas and were hosted by First Baptist Church of Limòn.
A significant part of this experience was learning the history that connects Afro Carribbean culture with African American culture.
In Sept. 2021, A group of my students ages 5-12 recorded a song with me called "The World We Want". One of the lines in the song says "the world we want, it's got so much love. Make the world a better place."
Little did we know at the time that in less than a year we'd be invited to travel to Costa Rica AND Africa to perform!
KENYA COLLABORATION
So, I did a thing a few months ago... I went to East Africa and spent a week in Kenya making plans for a collaboration with Baraka Opera Trust, home of the Kenyan Opera, Nyanga: Runaway Grandmother. During that trip it became clear that Kenya has to be the next stop on the studio's International Tour!
Why Are We Taking Students and Families To Kenya?
In conversations with the founder of Baraka Opera Trust, Rhoda Ondeng Wilhelmsen, I discovered that most Kenyans have never even seen an African American in person! (Wow!)
When we think about this fact, it's not surprising that there are many misconceptions on both sides about the other. We've wasted so much time listening to the wrong things about each other and now it's time to find out what we don't know.