Music

“Joyous Melodies” is the title of a new CD featuring Michael “Dumpa” Martin on the double tenor steel pan. The CD is a collection of gospel music of well known pieces and he is accompanied on the piano by Lennox Vanterpool.

By Colville L. Petty

My first thought was to stay home and rest. For it was a waste of time going to a concert to listen to one artiste, a teenager, playing a flute for a whole long hour while I keep wiggling around on a hard bench. It isn’t worth it, I told myself. It would be too boring. Give me calypso any day. Yet I ended up at the concert.

Cable & Wireless has joined a number of other donors in contributing to the purchase of a grand Steinway’s Piano on behalf of the Music Teachers’ Association of Anguilla and students.

The East End Community has been given a donation of USD$3,000 by Cable and Wireless towards the presentation of a special Christmas programme called ‘Festival D-Noel’ to be held from December 8-15 at the Basketball Court area in that village.

The establishment of the Anguilla Music Publishing & Production Company, a joint venture enterprise involving local and overseas partners, is attracting a good deal of interest on the island.

One of Anguilla’s leading private music education institutions, the Morlens Music Studio, will be presenting senior music students in concert, beginning on Sunday November 19 2006 with flautist Shermel Richardson. This performance will be held at the St. Augustine’s Church in East End at 5:00 pm. Miss Richardson will present quite a varied program with genres including classical, folk, sacred and jazz ballads.

Anguilla is to have its first state-of the-art recording, publishing and production studios to serve local artistes, those in the rest of the region and on the international scene. In essence, the plan is not just to have an international entity based on the island, but for it to be an Anguillian-owned company with partnership links in and outside Anguilla.

Over forty young musicians from all across Anguilla ended their exciting two-week experience with a lunch hour concert at the Gazebo on the grounds of the Scouts and Guides Ruthwill Auditorium in The Valley on Friday, July 14.

The Valley, Anguilla -The Anguilla Stingray Music Programme is offering a new outlet for creative expression to Anguilla’s children and youth for the long summer vacation. The programme began on Monday 10th with a Guitar Screening Workshop at the Athlyi Rogers Study Centre located at Triple Crown Culture Yard in The Valley.

Music students from the Morlens Music Studio in Sandy Hill, performed for parents and friends on Sunday, June 11th at the St Augustine’s Church in East End.

A group of 30 choristers from the Road Town Methodist Church in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, performed at the Bethel Methodist Church in Anguilla on Sunday, April 30.

In the above photograph Claud and Murielle Richardson of North Hill appeared at the Deputy Governor’s Residence recently at a wedding reception.

This Easter Sunday April 16th, will see one of reggae’s top performing bands Morgan Heritage entertain at the Landsome Bowl Cultural Center. The group will be making their second visit to Anguilla having previously performed here in 2003.

The Better Band, one of Anguilla’s leading entertainment groups, participated in an international musical event in St. Kitts on New Year’s night.

For this the 3rd year, Anguilla will host the Annual Tranquility Jazz Festival. This year’s festival promises to be bigger and better than the years before. The Festival is once again being produced by BET Event Productions and the Anguilla Tourist Board with the premier sponsors being the Anguilla Social Security Board and the National Bank of Anguilla Ltd; silver sponsors Pyrat Rum and Temenos/St. Regis, supporting sponsors Avis/Apex, Paradise Cove Resort, the host hotel CusinArt Resort and Spa and the official airline American Airlines/American Eagle.

Members of the public in Anguilla are to be treated with a grand concert entitled The Easter Spirit in the April Evening by the Senior Choir of St. Mary’s Anglican Church on Sunday April 24, commencing at 4.30 p.m.

Famous Jazz Musician, Ravi Coltrane, was in Anguilla this week and on Wednesday conducted a workshop. Students from the general music class of Forms 1 and 2 of the Albena Lake Hodge Comprehensive School Campus B, together with students who are in the choirs or bands from Campus A, were in attendance at the Teachers’ Resource Centre. Also present were teachers of music, professional musicians and others interested in music.

A well-organised and delivered variety concert staged by the Soroptimist Club of Anguilla, with the support of a number of groups and individuals, brought much delight to a large and appreciative audience on April 9.

BET Jazz in conjunction with the Anguilla Tourist Board is increasing efforts toward not only promoting Tranquility Jazz Festival 2005within the local market, but with a view to further deepen the understanding of the power of different forms of music (in particular jazz) and how it can have positive influence on the lives of young people. This year BET Jazz has committed to introducing and sponsoring a Music Workshop for the Music Department at the Albena Lake Hodge Comprehensive School.

The St. Augustine’s Chorale climaxed the religious observance of Easter with a thrilling presentation entitled “He’s Alive” on Sunday March 27 at the Anglican Church at East End.