Michael Reckord, Gleaner Writer
Musicians from the renowned Juilliard Hamilton School of Music, New York, thrill the audience at the Evening of Classics held at the Hilton Kingston hotel on Saturday May 3. The event was put on to launch the Jamaica Early Childhood Development Foundation, the brainchild of Mrs Lorna Golding, wife of Prime Minister Bruce Golding.
If Saturday's launch of the Jamaica Early Childhood Development Foundation (JECDF) at the Hilton Kingston, is anything to judge by, the foundation is headed for success.
The JECDF, brainchild of Mrs Lorna Golding, the wife of the prime minister, had its launch at the Hilton Kingston hotel with an event dubbed An Evening of the Classics, which was scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m.
However, it turned out to be a concert featuring many musical genres besides the "classical" and it started at 8:35 p.m.
Still, the gracious emcee Michael Anthony Cuffe, who had Empress as his co-host, apologised to the large audience in the hotel's ballroom for the late start and promised that the show would make it up to them. The audience included the prime minister, a number of Cabinet ministers and other dignitaries.
Promise fulfilled
Cuffe's promise was fulfilled without exception, the musical offerings were excellent.
And, to get the adverse comments out of the way, the programme could have been better structured. Many arrived at 7 o'clock for cocktails and found themselves obliged to stay until 11:35 p.m. at a concert with no intermission. This was just too much for some, and many started leaving before the final inspiring song, Bob Marley's One Love.
Delightful music started even before the audience took their seats. It was provided by the Immaculate Conception Steel Band which played during the cocktail hour around the hotel's pool.
Preceding the next major musical segment of the programme, four classical works played by four musicians from New York's renowned Juilliard School of Music - were a frenetic drum prelude by the Kingston Drummers and a fine delivery of the National Anthem by young Shelly Ann Brown.
"Absolutely divine," would be an appropriate phrase to describe the playing of the Juilliard four, capturing as it does a spiritual quality and a definitive element in their music.
The musicians, we heard, were two married couples, all highly qualified. Unfortunately, the programme contained no information about them and listed them only as Mihae Lee (piano), Tara Helen O'Connor (flute), William Purvis (French horn) and Daniel Phillips (violin).
'Brawta' item
More important though, their playing of the pieces: Mozart's Andante and Rondo for flute and piano, Gabriel Faure's fantasy for flute and piano, and Brahms' Trio for violin, horn and piano and a fourth 'brawta' item which was not listed - managed to be both ethereal and entertaining.
It's rare that one presentation touches both the soul and the funny bone. Perhaps a case could be made by a clever lawyer that most of the remainder of the programme could fall under the heading 'Classical Music,' if a sub-category 'Jamaican Classics' were permitted.
But would any jury accept the next item, Taurus Riley's She's Royal, played on the saxophone by School of Music student Dwayne Foster as a classic? Still, even if it were rejected as too recent a composition, it certainly was played well and with energy.
He was followed by a short speech by Mrs Golding to explain the foundation's aims. It is a non-profit foundation "dedicated to the growth and development of Jamaican children."
Areas of focus will include health, education, skills training and nutrition. On the board of trustees are Juliet Holness, Paulette Chang and Pauline Samuda. Golding is the foundation's chair.
As if to emphasise Mrs Golding's view that early stimulation is crucial to success, the next performer was seven-year-old violinist Ellinor D'Melon Moraguez. Despite her tender age, she has had lots of experience playing in public, and that experience showed in the dramatic way she executed her piece, William Ten Have's Allegro Brillant for violin. Her reward: a standing ovation from much of the crowd.
Numerous teenaged musicians who followed Ellinor also brought delight. They included violinist Jessica Yap with Manuel de Falla's Danse Espagnole, 20 students comprising The Music House's String Ensemble (with spirited versions of Coconut Woman and a Marley Medley), and violinist Nadje, who practically danced around the stage as she played Joyful Praise, a Beethoven excerpt arranged by Paulette Bellamy.
Scholarship
Also impressive was soprano Filicia Morrison, a teen from Linstead whose marvellous voice so impressed Prime Minister Bruce Golding that he arranged a scholarship for her. Accompanied by School of Music Director Roger Williams on piano and Rosina Moder on recorder, she sang the popular Louise Bennett/Barbara Ferland song Evening Time and Peter Ashbourne's arrangement of the folk song Nobody's Business.
Then Ashbourne, on piano, accompanied School of Music tutor Michael Harris (tenor) in the latter's own lively, ingenious arrangement of Marley's So Much Trouble.
The penultimate item was a highlight in an evening of bright moments. Directed by Department Head Ibo Cooper, the Edna Manley College's Jamaica Popular Music Ensemble played Cooper's arrangement of a medley of popular songs from the last 50 years.
The ensemble had the audience nodding, tapping feet and at times singing along to mento, R&B Jamaican style, ska, rock steady, reggae and dancehall tunes. It was quite wonderful, and the ensemble's choice of Marley's One Love to end the evening was both appropriate and auspicious.
One can be fabulous at any age, just ask Veena Chanrai, who looks positively striking at the Evening of Classics. - photos by Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer
Miss Jamaica Universe, April Jackson (left) stands with June Dailey, president of Miss Jamaica UK at Evening of the Classics.
Violinist Jessica Yapp was among the classical musicians at the Evening of Classics.
