A Cappella Camp helps kids tap their musical potential

August 02, 2017

Music provides an educational experience all its own. No other art form combines creativity, expression and technical mastery in quite the same way. And no other art form connects with young people in quite the same way.

In late July, dozens of Cleveland-area teens arrived at Cuyahoga Community College’s Metropolitan Campus, seeking to unlock their musical potential at the 2017 A Cappella Camp.

The camp, in its fifth year, is directed by Tri-C music lecturer Reginald Bowens, a member of the group Traces of Blue, which competed (under the name Afro-Blue) on the third season of NBC’s The Sing-Off. During the camp, Bowens exposes area kids to music theory and a wide variety of musical styles, from jazz to gospel to pop.

This year, local professionals taught master classes on subjects including singing and songwriting. Students were also given the chance to learn beatboxing – a vocal technique mostly associated with hip-hop, in which a performer provides rhythm and percussion effects with his or her voice, usually as a backdrop to a lyrical performer.

WOIO Cleveland 19 News anchor Romona Robinson featured the 2017 A Cappella Camp in a recent “Romona’s Kids" segment.