United States Ambassador Brenda LaGrange-Johnson. - Colin Hamilton/freelance photographer

Two lunch hour concerts last Thursday and Friday had elements of the ending of a significant phase in the lives of two lovers of Jamaican culture. One was Gaverly 'Mickie' McGowan, programmes manager at the Institute of Jamaica's (IOJ) Junior Centre; the other was US Ambassador to Jamaica Brenda LaGrange-Johnson.

McGowan leaves the IOJ after 46 years, having been, among other things, the chief organiser of the IOJ's monthly lunch hour concerts held in the institute's auditorium. They started soon after the end of World War Two and Miss McGowan said that as a youngster, she performed in the series.

Mrs Jacqueline Bushay, acting director of the Junior Centre, told The Gleaner that the main audiences over the years have been school children, mainly from downtown communities. She added that the concerts provide fledgling performing artistes with exposure.

The performers were a mixture of old and young, professionals and students of music. Youngest was 10-year-old Christine Lee, who played Caribbean Sunshine by Cathy and David Blackwell, a brief mento piece, on her violin.

Wonderful performance

The other student players, all adults, were Gregory Nicholson (flute), Ferdenand Campbell (trumpet), Wayne Francis (saxophone), and Phillip Andrews (xylophone), all of the Jamaica Defence Force; and Sharon Henry (soprano) who is pursuing a diploma in voice at the Edna Manley College's School of Music.

The professional musicians were soprano June Thompson Lawson, Lloyd Hall (who accompanied most of the other performers on the piano), and Rafael Salazar (clarinet). Their 13 items were a pot pourri of classical, traditional, spiritual and show tunes. While the levels of performance also varied, the pieces had this in common: all pleased the audience, a fact shown by the applause and cheers.

In an interview with The Gleaner, Miss McGowan said that she had been interested in the arts from childhood and performed as a singer (with the National Dance Theatre Company Singers), a dancer (with the Eddie Thomas Dancers and in pantomimes) and as an actress. In theatre, she worked with many VIPs, including Louise Bennett, Ranny Williams, Sheila and Reggie Carter, Lloyd Reckord, Noel Vaz and Paul Methuen. She also studied design and textiles at the School of Art.

Wanting the children in the inner-city communities around the IOJ in downtown Kingston to experience some of the joy she got from the arts, she arranged a wide variety of music for the lunch hour concerts. Some of those who have performed in the IOJ auditorium, she said, were Karen Smith, A.J. Brown, Sonny Bradshaw and Myrna Hague, Fab 5 and Tony Rebel. Once, Movements Dance Company gave her 100 tickets to distribute to children so they could attend the troupe's performances at the Little Theatre.

As the US Ambassador prepares to leave the island "early in 2009", according to an embassy spokesperson, the monthly lunch hour concerts she began a few months ago are coming to an end.

Friday's concert, which featured the award-winning Glenmuir High School choir, may have been the last in the series. It was put on, Mrs Johnson said, to say "thank you" to her staff.

Laughing audience

The hour-long presentation had the audience laughing, applauding and singing along as the 20 or so boys and girls sang carols and folk songs and danced to taped popular music (from ska to dancehall) within the frame of a dramatic skit. It showed a grandfather (played by Melbourne Douglas) and his wife (Petrina Williams) talking to their grandson (Donald Mirander) about traditional Jamaican Christmases.

The students and Mrs Dorine O'Connor, choir director and also director of the performing arts at the school, worked on the production. Live music was by Joel Edwards (keyboards) and Doujen McKenzie (drums), while Sandra Mann was the choreographer.

The choir, which over the years has received a number of National Music Competition awards and is the current holder of the Marcus Garvey Trophy as overall winner in Speech, Drama and Music in Jamaica Cultural Development Commission competitions, gave a superb performance at the concert. Fittingly, they received a standing ovation.

It's certain that the ambassador will not see the like when she returns to the US, or, for that matter, anywhere else in the world she may be posted.