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Last Updated: Feb 6, 2017 - 2:32:04 PM |
Participants in the IGM Ltd. Summer Music Camp and Mentoring Programme practice their newly acquired skills with instructors Mark Knowles (at back, left) and Ricardo Sweeting (at back, right). Israel John, a ninth grade student of Queen’s College and a second-time camper, is featured on the guitar.
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Nassau, Bahamas - A gift from Custom Computers Ltd. provided four aspiring musicians with scholarships to attend the Ivory Global Management (IGM) Ltd. Summer Music Camp and Mentoring Programme held at St. Anne’s School, Fox Hill Road, recently.
Founded by Roscoe Dames, Managing Director of IGM Ltd., the camp exposed participants to the concepts of songwriting, studio recording, mastering and mixing audio tracks, and playing various musical instruments — including the flute, clarinet, double bass, saxophone, trumpet, trombone and piccolo.
Seven-year-old Kingsway Academy student Mya Cooper was the youngest camp participant.
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The youngsters were also given lessons on protecting their intellectual property through copyrighting their music and giving credits to all involved in the production of their work.
The 50 musical protégés, aged seven to 17, hailed from private and public schools in New Providence, the Family Islands and the USA (Atlanta). During the weeklong workshop, they collaborated to compose songs celebrating The Bahamas’ 40th Anniversary of Independence. They also received individualised coaching in their section of choice: rhythm or vocal.
The intense weeklong workshop culminated with a concert at the St. Anne’s School Auditorium, where the students showcased their newly acquired knowledge in front of an audience of family and friends. Photos courtesy of IGM Ltd.
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Pia Farmer, Director of Custom Computers Ltd., said that the company was glad to support the students in doing something they enjoy and might also lead to exciting professional opportunities for them in the future.
“We promote causes like this because they allow the participants to be creative and productive and cultivate their talents with other young people,” said Mrs. Farmer. “We are extremely happy to be a part of the development of the next generation of Bahamian musicians.”
The intense weeklong workshop culminated with a concert at the St. Anne’s School Auditorium, where the students showcased their newly acquired knowledge in front of an audience of family and friends. Photos courtesy of IGM Ltd.
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Dames said he was impressed by how focused the students were during both their music theory and practical lessons. The participants were so committed that they usually only took a 15-minute lunch break and returned to the classroom or the studio to work.
Dames also noted that 25 per cent of the campers were repeat students, and that all of the instructors — Antoine Thompson, Torriano Barrett, Mark Knowles and Ricardo Sweeting — were former students of the programme who volunteered to assist the young participants.
Students and instructors at this year’s IGM Ltd. Summer Music Camp are pictured with gift bags from Custom Computers Ltd., which sponsored four young students to participate. Photo courtesy of IGM Ltd.
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Israel John, a ninth grade student of Queen’s College and a second-time camper, said that his interest in jazz led him to the camp. He also wanted to enhance the knowledge imparted to him by his teacher, Adrian D’ Aguilar of The Bahamas Music Conservatory, and add to the experience he has gained as a member of the Scotiabank Symphony Orchestra.
“Before the workshop I never played Bahamian music; at the workshop I got to learn it and really enjoyed it,” said Israel.
Canaan Cunningham’s sojourn into music began when he and his friends at Carmichael Primary started making up songs. This, along with his participation in the school’s music programme, sparked in Canaan a greater love for the art. He later learned to play the piano and came to the workshop to develop his vocal talent. The soon-to-be Prince William High School Falcon aspires to be a professional basketball player and is not discouraged by not having the height at this juncture of his life; he is confident he will have his music career to rely on if that goal is not realised.
Seven-year-old Kingsway Academy student Mya Cooper was the youngest in the group. Shy Mya was just happy to be at the workshop to play her recorder and make new friends.
The intense workshop culminated with a concert at the St. Anne’s School Auditorium, where the students showcased their newly acquired knowledge in front of an audience of family and friends. After receiving their certificates of participation, they delighted the crowd with their talents.
The trio of David Burrows, Natasha Wells and Seth Wells performed ‘Summertime’ from the musical, ‘Porgy and Bess’. Later in the programme, the entire group performed three songs written by Antoine Thompson, which they titled, ‘In The Bahamas’, ‘Never Give Up’ and ‘All the Love in the World’.
Dames told the audience it was remarkable how well the students had performed, given that that the vocalists and the rhythm section had only come together one day before the concert to produce their soundtracks.
“For the first three days they practiced separately, so the fact that they played cohesively was amazing,” Dames noted.
Both Dames and Thompson are veterans of the music industry and have worked with numerous international recording artists. They said they usually need a minimum of two to three weeks to record songs with more seasoned performers, but the camp’s young students were extremely quick studies.
Thompson told the young musicians that their song, ‘In The Bahamas’, has the potential to be used in a commercial and that he planned to present it to his contacts at the Ministry of Tourism.
The IGM Ltd. Summer Music Camp and Mentoring Programme was created in 2008 and has served more than 300 Bahamian students to date.
© Copyright 2013 by thebahamasweekly.com
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