The Plaza Arts Center in partnership with The Arts Barn hosted their first Cocoa House on May 17.
Cocoa House is similar to Coffee House but was primarily catered towards fifth to eighth graders. Held in the reception hall of The Plaza, Cocoa House was an event for young artists to share their talents to the community. Participants showcased a variety of talents from clogging to piano.
“Cocoa House is a free event, but we do accept donations at the event that go towards youth summer camps,” said Lora Garcia-Carreras, founder of The Arts Barn. “This is a safe space to show off their talents and to perform in front of a live audience.”
The Cocoa House was opened by Lily Garcia-Carreras and her sister, Helen Garcia-Carreras, who sang together. Lily Garcia-Carreras is a seventh grader at Lake Oconee Academy and plays a variety of instruments including ukulele, saxophone and piano. Helen Garcia-Carreras just finished her freshman year at Georgia College & State University and writes original songs and plays guitar. Together they sang an original song they created called “Alice” and sang “Grow as We Go” by Ben Platt.
“Helen wrote this first song originally and then I helped her rewrite it so it became a collaborative effort,” Lily Garcia-Carreras told the crowd.
Keira Hopkins then came to the stage to sing “Everything I Know” from the musical In the Heights. Hopkins is an eighth grader at Putnam County Middle School and has experience performing.
“I am passionate about music and love to perfect the roles I play when performing,” Hopkins wrote in her biography.
Addie Grace Usry was the next participant. Usry is finishing eighth grade at Putnam County Middle School and will be on the varsity competition cheer and the JV football sideline squad in high school. In her free time, she enjoys reading and playing piano. For her performance, she played Pachelbel’s Canon in D on the keyboard.
“Every Cocoa House or Coffee House we get to meet new talent and embrace each participant as they come up to perform,” said Lora Garcia-Carreras to the crowd. “Addie Grace is our first pianist to perform at this event so let us all give her a round of applause.”
Amelia Ingle then returned with Lily Garcia-Carreras to perform a clogging routine together. Ingle is a fifth grader at Lake Oconee Academy and has been clogging with The Arts Barn for the last four years. Together, with Lily Garcia-Carreras, they clogged and performed sign language to Dolly Parton’s “High and Mighty” song.
“I love the song that they have chosen because clogging is the official folk dance of the United States of America and Dolly Parton is the matriarch of Appalachian Music. Clogging is an Appalachian dance,” said Lora Garcia-Carreras to the crowd.
Cocoa house closed with two feature performances by middle school Choir Director Ontario Williams and by Lora Garcia-Carreras herself. Williams performed a heartfelt opera. Then, Lora Garcia-Carreras demonstrated how to use spoons as an instrument by performing a mashup of “I Saw the Light” and “I’ll Fly Away” with her daughters Lily and Helen.
“We are so thankful to have the support of The Plaza and middle school teachers Ontario Williams and Seth Wicker,” said Lora Garcia-Carreras. “Without the support, events like Cocoa House wouldn’t be possible.”
Cocoa House and Coffee House are taking the summer off but will return around September. During the summer, however, The Plaza and The Arts Barn will be hosting several youth summer programs, including their production of “Godspell” with a Broadway star.