Home For A CAAPA Christmas!

Tenor Wayne Jennings and Soprano Pamela Simonson Lead Maya Angelou French Immersion Chorus and The Washington Youth Choir At The Kennedy Center

By Raoul Dennis and D.A. Phillips // PHOTOGRAPHY RAOUL DENNIS AND CATRILIA WATSON

Everyone in Ally Barnes’ house knew that the Kennedy Center performance was going to be off the hook long before the sixth grader ever set foot on the stage.

That included her mother, Jeannie. “I absolutely knew how good the show was going to be,” Barnes says of her daughter. “She was practicing her performance around the house for weeks. So I had a preview but I was really impressed with the performance tonight.”

Ally Barnes is a student with the Maya Angelou French Immersion School in Temple Hills, Md. The school was an integral part of the performance at the Center.

The Millennium Stage was on fire on Dec. 13 as The Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts (CAAPA) turned up the holiday season with The Handel, Hamilton and Holiday Music Concert that included traditional holiday songs as well as classical selections by composer George Frideric Handel and selected favorites from the Broadway phenom, Hamilton.

“We wanted this to be a variation on the holiday theme by adding in the Hamilton works,” said Soprano Pamela Simonson moments after the performance. “Those selections were some of the favorites from Hamilton so we wanted to make it the best and the kids worked really hard. They really enjoyed doing the Hamilton solos and we loved every minute of putting this together.”

The full performance of Handel, Hamilton and Holiday Music Appears COURTESY: THE KENNEDY CENTER © 2019 John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The video was recorded at the Millennium Stage

Ally says she enjoyed the opportunity to perform at the Kennedy center and that she would love to do so again. “I had an option to join the chorus or play an instrument and I enjoyed this. When I first went into chorus, I thought it would be nice but I didn’t realize it would be all this – The Kennedy Center!”

Tenor Wayne Jennings hails from the Washington DC metro area and says that performing with CAAPA and working with young, developing talents is always refreshing – because it’s home (see Video: “Tenor Wayne Jennings with CAAPA Home for Christmas”). “I’m a DC native. I went to Ellington. It’s always fun coming here and doing shows like this at home. It brings me back to home and family and reconnecting with people that you grew up with.” He says. “I’m an artist at the Opera House with the Washington National Opera so anytime I can get out to be with people it’s always an honor to do it.”

Jennings says it’s also important that young artists be exposed to the arts and that they see professionals who look like they do. “It lets them know that this isn’t unreachable. That they can do it with hard work and dedication: Just keep singing” says the Morgan State University graduate who comes from a musical family. “I’ve been blessed. It’s great to on the big stage but when I can be out with the people, this is what I love.”

Audience members packed the Kennedy Center Hall to hear performances by Pamela Simonson, soprano; Angeli Ferrette, soprano; and Wayne Jennings, tenor accompanied by the Maya Angelou French Immersion IB World School Chorus and The MusicianShip: Washington Youth Choir raise their voices in song to such magnificent selections as Handel’s “Come Unto Him” and “Hallelujah Chorus”; Hamilton’s “Alexander Hamilton,” “You’ll Be Back,” and “Burn”; and Holiday favorites including “O Holy Night,” “The most Wonderful Time of the Year” and “Mary Did You Know?” The rousing concert ended with a Sing-a-long with cast and audience joining to celebrate the holiday spirit singing “Joy to the World” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”

The Barnes: mother Jeannie, daughter Ally

See full performance video at The Kennedy Center’s site here.

The vision for the performance was developed by Executive Director of CAAPA Terri Allen, who also gave the holiday greetings.

“I’m thankful to her for the idea that we could do this and for the hard work that goes into it. Greg Watkins and his choir really added a special touch to this as well,” Simonson says.

Soprano Slay is CAAPA’s signature show and will be coming up in January 2020.

More about CAAPA

The Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts (CAAPA) was founded in 2003 by a brother and sister classically trained team, Victor Simonson and Pamela Simonson who wanted to give back. CAAPA became a 501c3 non-profit arts organization in 2014 and continued supporting Black classical musicians, youth and others in the performing arts by “Bringing Color to the Classics!”