About the Project

To Past, Present, and Future Campers: 

I had my first kid in 2023, and found myself singing Hymn Sing songs to him as lullabies every evening. That was of course because these songs are a comfort to me, and also because they have messages and values I wanted to pass on to my kids: embrace challenge (Climb Ev’ry Mountain), be grateful for what we have (With Every Blessing), and you may have some tough times, but you’ll always have support to help you through (You’ll Never Walk Alone). 

Dozens of alums have told me that they have done the same with their babies, or that their parents sang these songs to them. And one of my dearest friends told me she had a problem: she hoped to do this with her child, but she is truly, deeply tone deaf. So this project was born!

This album was truly a labor of love. James, Charlie, Piper, Joe, Scott, Matt, and I chose our favorite songs from Hymn Sing, found recordings we had made or spent time in studios recording new tracks, and sent them off to be mixed and mastered. Meanwhile, Pete channeled Sunday nights at camp into an oil painting that he later photographed and edited on Photoshop. We could barely contain our excitement when we put the whole package together and eagerly awaited Lullabies for Future Campers to be distributed to all the places you listen to music.

It offers interpretations of our favorite Hymn Sing songs. Some will be familiar—James Mayo’s stunning Final Five will bring you right back to your seat in Witherbee—while others might offer a new way of hearing a song, like Scott Sylvester’s moving I Would Be True, recorded at “Williefest” in 2008, or Piper and Joe’s soothing Jacob’s Ladder. 

These tracks also reflect our different traditions on each side of the lake. With Every Blessing, for example, performed beautifully here by Charlie Hopta, is a beloved song at Kiniya. 

At Dudley, the Final Five flows elegantly and ends with an extended rendition of Now the Day is Over. Each person who has run Hymn Sing there has made this their own—you can hear two gorgeous versions on this album, one from Matt Johnson and the other from James Mayo. While the boys are serenaded with Now the Day is Over, the girls hear different songs at the end of Hymn Sing, each chosen by that summer’s Hymn Sing leader. Golden Slumbers and Teal and Tangerine were two of my favorites to play.

At both Dudley and Kiniya, the Leaders and Staff end the night in a large circle singing Edelweiss. It is sweet and spirited, and the best way to end the week.

Whether you’re counting down to Opening Day of your Cub summer, or looking forward to receiving your 50-year pin, I hope these songs transport you to the mountains, lake, and star-speckled sky that Pete Treiber so beautifully captures in his album art, until we can all be there together again.

I am so grateful for the contributions of this amazing set of artists, and for all of you who have made Hymn Sing so magical every summer Sunday. I hope that you enjoy.

All my love,

#21013 Sarah “Bear” McKani
Producer/Artist for Lullabies for Future Campers
DKAA Co-President

We hope you love listening to the album! You can find it on Spotify and Apple Music — or stream it for free HERE.

About the Artists

#14866 James Mayo

James was the music director at Camp Dudley for 20 years. He was a music educator in the public and private school sector for 12 years. Currently, he works as a freelance musician and director of music at his home church in Baltimore, MD. 

The songs that James played and sang have a very special place in his heart. In addition to the 20 years he was at Dudley as the music director, he was also a camper and leader — where he listened to the (then) final four on a weekly basis at Hymn Sings. For him, these hymns embody a deep level of gratitude to his predecessors, Karen Bartholomew and the late Stuart Hemingway, who played these hymns with such fervor and passion — forever igniting a spark in James to go home over the off season and practice to prepare for the following summer! These hymns live on because of tradition and legacy. And for that, James is grateful. He hopes during his 30 year tenure at camp — from camper to music director — he has inspired others to want to learn hymns and follow suit in playing for Hymn Sings!

#12931 Scott Sylvester

Artist bio on the way!

#24805 Piper and #27317 Joe McDonough

Since Joe and I both grew up singing hymns in church and at school, many of the hymns from the Dudley & Kiniya hymnal have been with us nearly our whole lives. When I helped run Hymn Sing at Kiniya in the summer of 2018, it was a joy hearing campers sing some of my old favorites — hymns like, for example, “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “For All the Saints” — and an equal joy to learn ones unique to camp. I returned to Kiniya in the summer of 2024 with Joe, and we ran Hymn Sing together. The three hymns we recorded for this album, “Jacob’s Ladder,” “Still, Still With Thee,” and “Steal Away,” are emblematic of the hushed feeling that comes over the second, more contemplative half of Hymn Sing.

#22526 Matt Johnson

Matt Johnson has been the pianist for Camp Dudley for the past 3 years. His career outside of Dudley is working as a film composer, and he is pursuing his masters in film music in New York. 

“I Would Be True is one of my (and many others’) favorite Dudley hymns, because of the message it conveys. A popular vesper at Dudley among the leaders is to read the lyrics of I Would Be True to your campers, and ask which line is their favorite. My favorite is easily ‘I would look up, and laugh and love and lift,’ as it is exactly how I try to live my life. Now the Day is Over is particularly special to me, having gotten to play my own version of it for the last 3 years. One of the best moments in Hymn Sing is when the pianist transitions from playing Now the Day is Over to improvising off the hymn, playing for a few more minutes while the lights are slowly dimmed and everyone is humming and falling asleep on the floor. I was very excited to be able to create my own version of Now the Day is Over, and it’s been the most rewarding part of playing Hymn Sing is hearing people’s reactions to my composition/improvisations that I play to end each night. Perhaps my favorite moments are when campers ask me how to play specific moments in the ending, so I hope this recording provides them an easy way to listen to it and try to learn their favorite parts.”

#24834 Charlie Hopta

Charlie Hopta was introduced to Camp Kiniya by his then-girlfriend #20203 Mary Piazza, whose family members have attended and/or worked at Kiniya for decades. In the summer of 2017, Charlie was honored to join the staff and play piano for Chapel services, Hymn Sings, and theatrical productions in Mimi’s Lodge. He fell in love with the beauty of both the Kiniya campus and the musical services that occur every Sunday while camp is in session.

In August of 2019, Charlie proposed to Mary on the dock at Kiniya’s Senior Beach. They were married in October of 2020, and live together with their son, Chip, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

“I chose Of The Father’s Love Begotten because it is a beautiful melody, based on a chant from hundreds of years ago. It’s also slightly irregular, so it requires attentiveness from all singers when being performed.” 

“Even though I absolutely adore the lyrics of With Every Blessing, I chose to do an instrumental version of the tune for this lullaby project. The music itself is still very comforting, even when the words are absent.”

Charlie is a high school music teacher at North Hunterdon Regional High School in Annandale, NJ. He directs the Golden Lions marching band, and also teaches concert band and choir classes. In 2025, he was nominated for the Master Music Teacher Award presented by the New Jersey Music Educators Association.

#17525 Pete “Shorty” Treiber

I spent 13 summers at camp and it was there that some sparks of creativity were fomented. I absolutely loved making silk screens and the designs that went on them for making t-shirts, a process I still employ in my creative practice. It was through friends of camp that I would meet Mac Premo, a Dudley alum and artist/filmmaker. I would work alongside Mac for nearly six years, learning myriad creative processes, with a focus on carpentry and fabrication. Of course right down the hall was our dear friend, Dudley alum, and brilliant artistic mind, Oliver Jeffers. I count my lucky stars that I spent so much time with such great artistic minds.  

It was at camp, the summer of 2011 and the inaugural season of the Farm to Plate major, that I would spend my first days working on a farm. The seed was planted.

Here I am all those years later and I am in my 10th season as a full time farmer and I have a nice little art practice as well. When I was asked to create the artwork for this album, I was absolutely thrilled at the opportunity. I am excited that this artwork will be enjoyed by so many folks in the Dudley and Kiniya family.

The artwork was created with oil paints on a 24″x24″ canvas, photographed and edited in photoshop.

#21013 Sarah “Bear” McKani

My all-time favorite summers were spent behind the piano and on the waterfront at Kiniya. I led Hymn Sing from 2009-2012, and in 2016. When not behind the piano, you could find me at the beach teaching sailing, chatting with the Ark girls, or on a hike in the Green Mountains. In 2010, with the help of D’Anne Hurd, I wrote ‘Neath the Pines—it is one of the things I am most proud of.

Outside of camp, I live in Brooklyn with my husband Kunal and our son Adi, and I work as a lawyer for the government. I still play the piano and sing as much as possible, though my songwriting these days is mostly devoted to making up little ditties about my toddler!