Neighbor News
Found A Home, Found A Family, Found A Voice
Members of Continuo Arts reflect on singing and staying strong together, and look forward to what's coming this season!
“I like how when you sing you can express what you’re saying, just in song. Making music makes me feel good inside.”
When 11-year old Camille Whitley moved from Canada to the United States, she told her mother she was looking for more singing experience. She had no idea she would find her forever home at the Children’s Choir of New Jersey.
Camille joined CCNJ in the Fall of 2020, when program services were entirely virtual. “I had to learn to use the computer correctly, but after awhile I got it. I enjoyed the songs and activities, all the online games we did when we were virtual with the melodies and the rhythms, that was lots of fun. I especially liked the dancing with the songs.”
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Camille’s experience resonates throughout all nine choirs within the Continuo Arts umbrella. “The Youth Choir of New Jersey is a huge part of my family’s life” said Stephanie Gallegos, mother to two YCNJ members, Alex and Alicia.
“The joy that they would normally feel singing in a choir together… we need that joy and art in our life even though it’s virtual. My kids happily sang on Zoom every week and enjoyed every second of it.”
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Having joined in 2017, the Gallegos family has experienced multiple facets of Continuo Arts, from Youth Choir of New Jersey to the musical theater program, Broadway & Beyond, to private voice lessons through the New Jersey Conservatory of Music.
“Through Continuo Arts holding them up and teaching them where to go with their voices, they have so much more confidence in themselves than I have ever seen. I know that’s truly because the people at Continuo Arts love them and want to see them succeed.”
Civic Chorale member and Youth Choir father, Jim Dalton, said it best:
“The beauty of the Continuo Arts community brings hope. My daughter Julia and I have developed in ways that we never expected, both personally and musically. It has helped my family through some very tough times. I look forward to more time at Continuo Arts and giving my all to what comes my way, it’s been an unforgettable experience.”
FIND YOUR HOME, FIND YOUR FAMILY, FIND YOUR VOICE
Children, Youth and Adult auditions for the 2021-2022 Season are now open.
Visit cafmusic.org/audition or call (908) 264-5324 for more information.
