About
Sounds of Hope Camps focus on learning and performing music from many countries, along with dance, theater, visual arts, and popular songs and dances from each other’s cultures. Campers take part in creative games that involve language, geography, traditions, food, and art from many countries, and they also join concert tours and outreach activities.
• Ages: 10–18 years old
• Schedule: Six-week overnight performing arts camp each summer; the 2026 Songs of Hope session runs from June 14 to July 28
• Price: To cover housing expenses, the fee for companions to participate amounts to 1000 USD.
Sounds of Hope, Ltd. started in 1991 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, creating performing arts camps and arts and culture camps for young people from countries worldwide, and Songs of Hope has been an annual event since 1994. Each summer, around 60 children and young adults participate from Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and the U.S., and participants live in community with kids from other countries and cultures while learning and performing music from everywhere around the world. Songs of Hope is described as a transformational experience, and campers learn popular songs and dances from each other’s cultures and perform them in neighboring communities.
Projects begin each summer with a carefully planned orientation that makes every child feel safe, and roommates include a Come Back Kid, a returnee from previous projects who serves as a mentor. New Kids range from 10 to 14 years old, Come Back Kids may be up to 16 years of age, companions must be 21 years of age or older and may perform on stage, and the Intern program is for anyone older than 16 and places them in leadership roles under staff mentorship. Songs of Hope offers benefits of artistic creation such as discipline, focus, teamwork, creativity, sense of purpose, sense of accomplishment, satisfaction, confidence, and community, and as a global camp may arrange study rooms and video-conferences with faraway teachers for participants. International participants are responsible for airfare to and from the United States and for obtaining all needed passports and visas.
The idea behind Sounds of Hope, Ltd. is to understand a culture by meeting its people, listening, talking, living together, singing a song together, playing a game, and sharing, and Songs of Hope and Global Reach unite children and adults from countries and cultures worldwide. The purpose is to create opportunities for cultural sharing through daily camp life, in rehearsals, and on stage, and Songs of Hope and Global Reach are non-profit projects with an emphasis not only on learning, but also on service to others. The award-winning Songs of Hope concert tours celebrate cultures and promote global thinking. Global Reach Arts & Cultural Camp is a two-week, overnight summer camp for youth and young adults from countries around the world and offers participants an experience sampling the rich diversity of U.S. culture through the arts with many opportunities for hands-on learning. Participants come home with improved English language skills, greater facility, more confidence, a more serious attitude about school, and many new friends from countries worldwide.
Saint Paul residents Jeanne Junge and Tom Surprenant started Sounds of Hope, Ltd. in 1991. Junge’s professional career began with training in theatre, dance, and voice; she started singing professionally, then worked as an artist-in-the-schools and as a producer of children’s recordings. Surprenant started his post-collegiate life in experiential learning with Outward Bound.
Each summer, Songs of Hope shares its cultural knowledge through outreach activities. Since 1994, its umbrella arts organization, Sounds of Hope, Ltd., has applied annually for funding from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council (MRAC), a state-funded nonprofit agency, and Songs of Hope has received MRAC public funding every year from 1994 to 2012. Songs of Hope has also received funding support from foundations and corporations such as Macy’s Stores, Target Stores, Jostens Foundation, Cargill AgHorizons, Travelers Insurance Companies, 3M, The Saint Paul Foundation, General Mills Foundation, and others.
Songs of Hope and Sounds of Hope, Ltd. have received several recognitions, including being a 2012 National Arts & Humanities Youth Program Awards Finalist and receiving the 2012 Arts Achievement Award from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council. In 2003 and 2006, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded Access to Artistic Excellence grants to support special Songs of Hope tours along the Mississippi River. The first project in 1991 received an Award of Excellence from Reader’s Digest, Inc. and Sister Cities International in recognition of its unique international concepts and high quality, and in 1996 Songs of Hope received a Peacemaker Award from the Office of the Minnesota Lieutenant Governor in recognition of its services to low-income youth locally. Five times, Songs of Hope has been one of 50 semifinalists nationwide for a National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award (formerly the Presidential Coming Up Taller Award).
Last updated June 28, 2026.
• Ages: 10–18 years old
• Schedule: Six-week overnight performing arts camp each summer; the 2026 Songs of Hope session runs from June 14 to July 28
• Price: To cover housing expenses, the fee for companions to participate amounts to 1000 USD.
Sounds of Hope, Ltd. started in 1991 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, creating performing arts camps and arts and culture camps for young people from countries worldwide, and Songs of Hope has been an annual event since 1994. Each summer, around 60 children and young adults participate from Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and the U.S., and participants live in community with kids from other countries and cultures while learning and performing music from everywhere around the world. Songs of Hope is described as a transformational experience, and campers learn popular songs and dances from each other’s cultures and perform them in neighboring communities.
Projects begin each summer with a carefully planned orientation that makes every child feel safe, and roommates include a Come Back Kid, a returnee from previous projects who serves as a mentor. New Kids range from 10 to 14 years old, Come Back Kids may be up to 16 years of age, companions must be 21 years of age or older and may perform on stage, and the Intern program is for anyone older than 16 and places them in leadership roles under staff mentorship. Songs of Hope offers benefits of artistic creation such as discipline, focus, teamwork, creativity, sense of purpose, sense of accomplishment, satisfaction, confidence, and community, and as a global camp may arrange study rooms and video-conferences with faraway teachers for participants. International participants are responsible for airfare to and from the United States and for obtaining all needed passports and visas.
The idea behind Sounds of Hope, Ltd. is to understand a culture by meeting its people, listening, talking, living together, singing a song together, playing a game, and sharing, and Songs of Hope and Global Reach unite children and adults from countries and cultures worldwide. The purpose is to create opportunities for cultural sharing through daily camp life, in rehearsals, and on stage, and Songs of Hope and Global Reach are non-profit projects with an emphasis not only on learning, but also on service to others. The award-winning Songs of Hope concert tours celebrate cultures and promote global thinking. Global Reach Arts & Cultural Camp is a two-week, overnight summer camp for youth and young adults from countries around the world and offers participants an experience sampling the rich diversity of U.S. culture through the arts with many opportunities for hands-on learning. Participants come home with improved English language skills, greater facility, more confidence, a more serious attitude about school, and many new friends from countries worldwide.
Saint Paul residents Jeanne Junge and Tom Surprenant started Sounds of Hope, Ltd. in 1991. Junge’s professional career began with training in theatre, dance, and voice; she started singing professionally, then worked as an artist-in-the-schools and as a producer of children’s recordings. Surprenant started his post-collegiate life in experiential learning with Outward Bound.
Each summer, Songs of Hope shares its cultural knowledge through outreach activities. Since 1994, its umbrella arts organization, Sounds of Hope, Ltd., has applied annually for funding from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council (MRAC), a state-funded nonprofit agency, and Songs of Hope has received MRAC public funding every year from 1994 to 2012. Songs of Hope has also received funding support from foundations and corporations such as Macy’s Stores, Target Stores, Jostens Foundation, Cargill AgHorizons, Travelers Insurance Companies, 3M, The Saint Paul Foundation, General Mills Foundation, and others.
Songs of Hope and Sounds of Hope, Ltd. have received several recognitions, including being a 2012 National Arts & Humanities Youth Program Awards Finalist and receiving the 2012 Arts Achievement Award from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council. In 2003 and 2006, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded Access to Artistic Excellence grants to support special Songs of Hope tours along the Mississippi River. The first project in 1991 received an Award of Excellence from Reader’s Digest, Inc. and Sister Cities International in recognition of its unique international concepts and high quality, and in 1996 Songs of Hope received a Peacemaker Award from the Office of the Minnesota Lieutenant Governor in recognition of its services to low-income youth locally. Five times, Songs of Hope has been one of 50 semifinalists nationwide for a National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award (formerly the Presidential Coming Up Taller Award).
Last updated June 28, 2026.
Is this your business? There is no cost, but you will be asked to sign up or log in.