Tema Youth Choir Dazzles in 2017 Tour of the US
Acclaimed Ghanaian choral group Tema Youth Choir (TYC) treated congregation and friends of the All Saints’ Episcopal Church (ASEC) in Maryland to a beautiful community choral concert in the United States (US). Their November 11, 2017, performance at ASEC, highlighted Ghanaian culture through their clothes of colorful Ghanaian fabrics and music (some of which were sung in Ghanaian languages) to their diverse audience.
The concert was part of TYC 2017 tour which had already taken the choir to US states like Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. Ghana’s Ambassador to the US His Excellency (HE) Dr. Barfuor Adjei-Barwuah accompanied by Mr. Ernest Asare-Asiedu; Plenipotentiary and Consular-General at the embassy of Ghana in Washington DC, and Eric Boateng of the embassy’s Political Desk were among the special guests at the performance.
HE Dr. Barfuor Adjei-Barwuah who mingled with the choir and audience after the performance had words of compliment for TYC, he asked that they keep the discipline and hardworking spirit up since it was going to keep taking them places, he also said “if the president needs people to be Ghana’s Ambassador then the Tema Youth Choir members are people I will highly recommend.”
Pastor of ASEC Reverend Father Nana Kwasi Ellis said he was glad about the opportunity the church got to host TYC for the ‘festival of Nine lessons and carols with anthems and hymns‘, “I have always enjoyed whatever opportunity I get to positively impact society with the youth at center stage, I look forward to becoming part of more initiatives like this in the future” he said.
Founder of TYC Mr. Ebenezer A. Allotey told TheAfricanDream.net in an interview that the choir’s 2017 tour of the US had also seen them perform at the historic Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church and Alfred Street Baptist Church, both respectively of Alexandria in Virginia among other well-known churches in the US.
They also called on the Ambassador and his staff at the Embassy, visited the US National Marine Corps Museum, the Lincoln Center and other exciting venues for performances and interactions. As part of their schedule, the choir visited the Ghana Wesley United Methodist Church in Woodbridge, Virginia.
TYC toured the US in 2014 and the year before that, then last year, and this year too. Mr. Allotey expressed appreciation to “all who have contributed in diverse ways to make our tours in the US a success, we couldn’t have done this without God’s blessings and help from amazing people.”
Main sponsorship providers of TYC 2017 US tour are Washington National Cathedral of Washington DC, Alfred Street Baptist Church of Alexandria, Virginia (VA) and Christ Church of Ox Road in VA. Other sponsors include Tema Youth Choir, USA Inc., US Embassy in Accra – Ghana, and patrons, parents, and friends of TYC in Ghana, US and around the world.
Founded in November 2001, TYC is a registered entity with the Registrar Generals’ Department of Ghana and a recognized nonprofit in the US. The choir has a present membership of some 70 individuals who together seek to share and develop musical skills and talents of youths through Christian education and nurture performing arts. Find out more about the choir by emailing temayouthchoirusainc@gmail.com or find them on Facebook as Tema Youth Choir.
Watch one of the many performances by Tema Youth Choir during their 2017 US tour in the Facebook video below.
Source: Oral Ofori
Oral Ofori is Founder and Publisher at www.TheAfricanDream.net, a digital storyteller and producer, and also an information and research consultant.
