Tessanne delivers as special guest at Jamaica Music Camp
Published:Tuesday | July 26, 2016 | 3:45 PMShereita Grizzle
The organisers of the Jamaica Music Camp are happy at the success of the latest installation of the annual summer camp. Now in its third year, the camp was held at The Tryall Club near Montego Bay and offered various activities for children between ages nine and 17.
The programme, which came to an end last Saturday, saw songbird Tessanne Chin giving a special master class after being selected as the camp's musical guest earlier this year. According to the director of the camp, Leora O'Carroll, Chin was an excellent mentor and was an absolute pleasure to have at this year's sessions.
"Tessanne held a terrific master class," she told The Gleaner. "She gave such on-point advice to our campers and truly inspired them to improve. She was very real, and her generous spirit made the campers adore her."
She went on to say that the campers had no doubts about Chin's abilities given her reputation as an excellent musician and performer.
"We already know what a great performer she is, but with the master class, we discovered that she is also a great teacher who motivated these young musicians to strive for their best and who gave very constructive advice," she explained. "I don't think we can underestimate how much Tessanne has impacted these young musician's lives."
Some of the campers talked about their experience, many overwhelmed at just the opportunity to sit and talk to the season five winner of The Voice.
Micah Arnett, one of the campers, told The Gleaner, that he was very inspired by his time with Chin.
"I was very nervous to perform for Tessanne, but while singing, she was clapping and she even started to sing along," he recalled. "She didn't make me feel nervous again. Her feedback was very helpful, and I was very honoured to receive such useful and professional advice from her. It was a very inspiring few minutes that I had with Tessanne."
Hakeem Green and Tasha-Gay Solomon also had positive things to say about Chin, describing the experience as "phenomenal" and "wonderful".
As part of the master class session, several campers performed for Chin and were given advice on how to better their performances. The performances were followed by a question and answer session, where campers got the opportunity to ask Chin about her career. There were questions about her life after The Voice and the process she goes through to learn a new song.
SPECIAL EXPERIENCE
According to Chin, "The experience I had at the Jamaica Music Camp was such a special one."
"It's amazing to me, the untouched raw talent we have here in this country, and I was blown away by the resilience and the determination of these young individuals to learn and better their craft despite the challenges that they may be faced with. It's safe to say that I was the one who was actually being taught, and I will cherish this experience and take it with me from now on. I fully endorse giving our kids the opportunity to become everything that they can be through the arts and education. I'm thankful for the time I got to spend with them," Chin said.