SUBIACO, Arkansas — Arkansas Interfaith Choir Camp has opened registration for its 47th annual week of singing, dancing, fellowship, and fun. Online registration is open for children entering third grade through those entering their senior year of high school.
“No prior experience is necessary – just a love of singing”, said Charlie Rigsby, who has directed “Choir Camp” since it was established in 1976 by Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Little Rock. “Scholarships are available. We want anyone who loves singing to come join us!”
Sponsored today by St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Hot Springs, Choir Camp offers an intensive music program with classes in choral singing, handbells, liturgy, Broadway song & dance, history, poetry, and art. The camp staff this year is composed of more than thirty talented and gifted lay people and clergy from Arkansas and beyond.
Choir Camp welcomes children from all faiths and all locations. Most hail from around the state, but some come from farther, and a handful have traveled from overseas to attend.
The week is hosted each year at Subiaco Abbey and Academy, a Benedictine monastery and boarding school nestled in Arkansas’ River Valley. Subiaco offers the camp a bevy of amenities, including a spacious swimming pool, renovated dormitories, varied classroom designs, multiple large gathering areas, and a breathtakingly beautiful Abbey Church, with its equally impressive pipe organ, which accompanies the children during daily Evensong all week.
Every year, campers meet new friends and recognize others from prior years. “Fellowship flows from working and playing together all week”, said staff member Lance Hilliard. “We encourage the children to listen to each other and learn what others are experiencing.” Hilliard initially learned of Choir Camp as a teenager and, like many former campers, has teenagers of his own who attend these days.
As the campers work together, practicing pieces and learning lyrics, they are honing valuable life skills. The camp encourages children to explore their talents, safely learn and grow, and realize their improvement throughout the week, all alongside peers who are sharing in the experience. “There’s lots to do, and the kids work really well together,” said former camper Emily Madden, who these days returns from York, England to serve on the staff every year. “By the time camp is over, they’re very proud of all that they have achieved together!”
The songs, dances, handbell music, and art are all shared with parents and grandparents on “Festival Day”, the last day of camp. “It’s always amazing to see what the kids are capable of learning and creating in such a short time,” said long-time staff member Mike Johnson, who first learned of the camp when his two daughters, now beginning careers in medicine and chemistry, first attended the camp as children. “Celebrating their great efforts and spectacular accomplishments is the perfect way to end the week,” said Johnson.
Festival Day begins with campers’ families assembling in the Abbey Church, where campers offer up a prelude of handbell and choral hymns, followed by camp clergy leading a Holy Eucharist service that includes additional anthems the children have spent the week learning. Afterward, families enjoy a picnic lunch throughout the beautiful Abbey grounds. Lastly, it’s call time — all campers head backstage, in the campus auditorium. When the curtain rises, the campers and audience go on a fun “musical revue” adventure that showcases songs, plot-advancing dialog, and choreography that the children have spent all week learning and practicing.
The camp ends with the Stage Show finale, followed by every camper joining for a well-deserved bow.
“I remember singing the camp songs in the backseat on the way home from camp each year, as a kid,” said Hilliard. “Listening to my kiddos do the same thing is really fun.”
Arkansas Interfaith Choir Camp 2024 is July 21-27. More information and online registration are at choircamp.org.
