That Trumpet Chic breaks from national tour to work with local teen musicians

CAMDEN - Band camps kept a pre-teen Arnetta Johnson engaged in music even when school was out for the summer.

On a mid-summer break playing on pop trio AJR's The OK Orchestra Tour, Johnson will keep Camden kids practicing and performing under the direction of jazz dynamos.

Johnson, 28, is looking for 25 teen musicians in Camden to participate in Arnetta's Band Camp in July.

Applicants must be passionate about their instrument, determined to learn, and ready to embrace the week-long jazz camp's intensity, while soaking in the fun of making music.

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Applications open in May. The camp will run from July 18-22, ending with a free, public jazz concert at Wiggins Park on July 22, in which the band camp-formed jazz ensembles will open for headlining Johnson and her band Sunny.

"It's been a dream of mine to have my own camp," Johnson, a Camden native said.

"I'm blessed to have opportunities to reassure I'm walking in my purpose, doing something for my city and young students and not wasting the (time) of the people who invested in me."

Johnson picked up the trumpet at 13, and became a founding member of the city's beloved student ensemble the Trumpet Chics. She's a graduate of Creative Arts Morgan Village Academy and Berklee College of Music in Boston, where she made connections to Beyonce's posse.

Between the ages of 13 and 28, she's never stopped practicing, improving and setting goals for herself.

That's the passion she wants to see Camden teens bring to band camp. It's the mindset she wants to help them lock in, and nurture.

"Music camp is more than about music," Johnson said.

"I want them to come in and learn how music can be a career, how it can be an outlet, and how it can bring joy to your life, and how you can bring joy to others."

Johnson has hand-picked counselors, guest speakers and music professionals to show teens the diversity of careers in the music industry from performing to production, according to Vedra Chandler with Camden Community Partnership.

"Starving artist is not a [phrase] we need to be saying. We are thriving artists," said Chandler, whose organization is partnering with Johnson in planning band camp and securing funding.

"We're going to give these kids an emersive experience to make art their career," she said.

Camden Community Partnership helped secure $10,000 in funding from the National Endowment of the Arts. The summer program will also receive a financial boost from Subaru, Chandler said.

Camden County College will open its classrooms, provide technology and music equipment for campers, and Camden County of Special Services will produce the Wiggins Park finale concert on July 22.

"There are ways to turn the things you love into the things you do for a living,"saod Chandler, a singer who's also performed on big stages, from Broadway to Cirque du Soleil.

It's a philosophy both women have turned into action.

While Johnson builds her own band — Arnetta Johnson & Sunny — she's paying the bills and touring the globe with icons.

Johnson backed Beyonce in Super Bowl 50's half-time show in 2016, and was the featured trumpeter on Beyonce and Jay-Z's On the run II Tour in 2018. The same year, Johnson played on the Grammy-winning "Everything is Love" record for the powerhouse couple.

In 2019, she played with Queen Bey at Coachella. The "Homecoming" performance became a Netfix special.

Johnson leaves this weekend for AJR's national tour. The pop trio, with Johnson, will tour Europe this fall.

"I want to open the window for students in my own way," Johnson said. "Camden has a crazy arts system, a phenomenal arts system and we have to keep that going."

Arnetta's Band Camp will split student musicians into three jazz ensembles.

Student applicants must be Camden high schoolers between 14 and 17 studying music — specifically, horns, drums, piano, and the bass. Horn and bass players should be expected to bring their own instruments.

Find more information, including the upcoming application, by visiting http://www.ctlcamden.com/arnettas-band-camp.html.

"The core qualities I would love the applicants to have is the passion," Johnson said.

"You cannot teach passion."

Carly Q. Romalino is a Gloucester County native who's covered South Jersey since 2008. She's a Rowan University graduate and a six-time New Jersey Press Association award winner.

Romalino is based at the Courier Post and covers South Jersey schools and education issues for the Courier Post, Daily Journal and Burlington County Times.

She hosts NJ Press Pass, a live social media-based interview show diving into what matters to South Jersey residents.

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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Camden's Arnetta Johnson breaks from AJR tour to host local band camp