Aaron Lawrence had members of the audience rethinking about the pleasure of playing the violin during his performance at 'An Evening of the Classics' held on Sunday at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in Kingston. - Contributed

In a speech at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel on Sunday evening, Lorna Golding, chairperson of the Jamaica Early Childhood Development Foundation, reminded a packed ballroom of her "passion" for the foundation with which she has been working over the last year.

She ended the speech with this appeal: "I am inviting you all - parents, guardians and citizens - to join me in making a commitment to giving our children the right start, the right way, right now."

The occasion was a fund-raising concert, An Evening of the Classics, the second in what Golding said would be an annual event to help a number of schools for children. Funds from this year's concert - actually pair of concerts, since the programme was initially staged on Saturday in Montego Bay - will be used to assist the nursery school at Jamaica House, an infant school in the constituency of the leader of the opposition, a basic school in the constituency of the minister of education and two infant schools in Montego Bay.

'A resounding success'

The printed programme states that the two Montego Bay infant schools will be "transformed into state of the art facilities with access for the disabled, resource centres and suitably equipped kitchens to facilitate proper nutrition."

In her message contained in the concert's printed programme, Golding stated that last year's inaugural Evening of the Classics was "a resounding success," and had resulted in a "generous outpouring of support" which had helped raise awareness of the importance of early childhood stimulation. Sunday night's concert, with its ballroom full of patrons, turned out to be no less successful.

In one sense, the function starred four adult internationally recognised musicians from the United States. They played, beautifully, two pieces, Joseph Haydn's Divertimento a tre in E-flat Major for horn, violin and cello and Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 2 in C-Minor, Opus 66.

The musicians were Mihae Lee (piano), a member of the Boston Chamber Music Society; William Purvis (French horn), a member of Orpheus; the New York Woodwind Quintet; the Orchestra of St Luke's; the Yale brass Trio and the Triton Horn Trio which includes Mihae Lee, Cathy Meng Robinson (violin), a founding member of the 20-year-old Miami String Quartet, and Keith Robinson (cello), also a founding member of the Miami String Quartet and faculty member of Florida International University.

Centuries-old instruments

One of the two emcees, Michael Anthony Cuffe, tossed this tidbit to the audience - Meng Robinson's violin dates back to 1872 and Keith Robinson's cello back to 1690. Both instruments sounded beautiful. The other emcee was Claudja Barry Alexander.

In another sense, because of the purpose of the concert, the real stars were the child- and teenaged-musicians. They were the preteens Elinor D'Melon and Aaron Lawrence, and two sets of teens.

One set was violinists Nadje Leslie, Rochelle Haynes and Michelle Ann Gabbadon, who played an exciting medley of Jamaican folk tunes. The other set was the 10-strong Alpha Boys' Band, whose set included Island in the Sun, Wonderland by Night and ska tunes. Their director was the renowned 'Sparrow' Martin.

There was a third set of musicians, The University Singers. Judging by the applause given their nine songs, the ensemble's set was enjoyed at least as much as the others. A major factor in the pleasure given was the renditions by the soloists.

They were Marcelle Thomas (who sang O Praise the Lord), Roy Thompson (Love Ye the Lord) and Ana Strachan (O Wandering One). Conductor Frank Halliburton, arranger of the final energy-packed, multi-faceted item, Alleluia, sang a well-received duet with Stacy Adams, Praise Ye The Lord Almighty.

Huge images of the onstage activities were projected on two screens erected on either side of the stage. The technology greatly enhanced the ability of the audience to see, and appreciate, the performers.

In reiterating the foundation's objectives, Golding offered her condolences to the families of the children who died in last week's fire at the Armadale Juvenile Correctional Centre, revealing that years ago her mother cared for two boys from the school.

The Alpha Boys Band in performance. - Colin Hamilton/Freelance photographer