Bonfire & Fireworks

While In Montserrat has been a great success, and on that evening we managed to raise nearly EC$4,000 for our efforts to go to the Montserrat Foundation (UK). Guests were treated to an eclectic line-up of musicians and student performers, including Jo who did a brilliant first half of classical repertoire from Schumann and Prokofiev, amongst other works. Filipe did more than just visit Montserrat when he also took to the piano, and both of them were immensely well-received.

Filipe & I revisited our days in Guildhall when we also performed some four-handed works on two pianos, one of which was collaboratively composed during his stay here in Montserrat and the other completely improvised. The MSS steel pan did an amazing debut appearance, playing Buddy Tom and Hold My Hand, and the Montserrat Youth Choir shone as usual with a few amazing soloists standing out in particular.

I will be posting up for photos and videos up here once I get hold of them.

The past fortnight certainly has been particularly busy - apart from planning this recital, I had Filipe and Jo over from London to visit. And to perform as well, of course. But apart from all that, we also went about to take in the sights and sounds of Montserrat, including a bit of diving, venturing into the destroyed capital Plymouth, and catching the transit of Venus across the sun on the MVO helipad.

Being the week of the Queen's diamond jubilee celebrations, Montserrat as a British overseas territory certainly wasn't left out either. There were fireworks and a bonfire last week, a jubilee medal reception for the fire and police servicemen and women, and of course, the recital itself.

Fireworks & bonfire at Little Bay.

Sunset on the evening of the Venus transit.

Filipe & I heading off to dive at Rendezvous Bluff.

The extended beach at Plymouth.

Venturing into the destroyed capital.

At the jubilee medal reception.

And with barely any time for a breather, exam period at MSS quickly approaches. I, however, have managed to somehow squeeze in time to write all my exam papers, and now with that out of the way, I am certainly looking forward to a quick weekend sojourn in Antigua with Jo this Saturday.

Next week, I will be back in London for a job interview. If any prospective applicant for this project placement would like to have a chat with me then about the work being done here, please do get in touch.

Volcanoes & Work schemes

After six weeks on the island, I finally made a trip up to the Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO) to pay a visit. Having got to know quite a few scientists and staff who work at MVO, I thought it would be nice to spend my half term holiday up at MVO to see what actually goes on there. Half term here, by the way, is one day. Not one week. Gotta learn how to treasure it!

The MVO's main function, as you can imagine, is to closely monitor volcanic activity coming from the Soufriere Hills volcano, as well as issue travel advisories for the exclusion zone. Although pyroclastic activity has more or less ceased today and eruption continues on a much reduced scale (such as a few rockfalls, etc.), Soufriere Hills has in the past caught Montserrat and its residents by surprise on a number of occasions - with the most severe impact being, of course, the eruption on 25 June 1997 which resulted in the deaths of nineteen people.

Since its eruption began, the volcano has become one of the most closely monitored volcanoes in the world. The MVO takes detailed measurements and reports on its activity to the government and people of Montserrat. A typical MVO visit consists of a self-guided tour and activities include poster displays detailing information about past volcanic activity, a short documentary film and displays of rocks, ash and other artefacts. And of course, stunning views of Soufriere Hills

On approach to the MVO.

Every Friday is helicopter day.

A stark example of how pyroclastic flow destroyed Plymouth.

A relatively clear day for volcano admiring.

With Mel, one of the MVO volunteers.

The documentary film was very informative, and showed impressive scenes of Soufriere Hills at its peak in activity - it's hard to imagine how this calm, beautiful scene today can in fact be so immensely beguiling. Compare this to when it was erupting back in 1995 with these pictures here and here.

This past week has gone by relatively quick - with no teaching on Wednesday and Friday due to Parents' Day and half term respectively. I met quite a number of parents on Wednesday, and so far all the feedback has been really positive and encouraging. In actual fact, I realize that the focus what I came here to do initially has shifted quite a bit. Prior to starting work here, I thought I would be running a more after-school based music programme and service. However, the focus has now changed to establishing a music curriculum for Montserrat Secondary School, and implementing a work scheme to be delivered in classrooms.

A lot of this sounds very education- and teacher-based, and it has been indeed. At the moment I am planning and delivering lesson plans for Years 7-9, spread out to a total of 10 different classes. Compared to a normal teaching timetable back home, this is definitely more than a normal full teaching timetable. Combine that with after-school activities such as choir and peripatetic teaching, this translates to a lot of hours spent solely with MSS.

However, given the current state of music education and outreach on the island, it would be hard to establish a 'wider ops'-styled programme when the nucleus of formal music education in schools is yet to be properly established. I have decided that my main aim, for MSS at least, is to sustain a keen level of interest amongst students so that they continuing taking music as a subject option and, finally, take music as an O-level subject in their CXC examinations in Year 11.

This will require a constant occupancy of the role of music specialist in MSS, and I hope this is something that the Foundation is willing to support in the years to come. Having being trained in music education and outreach, as well as workshop skills, has nonetheless helped me immensely in delivering a music curriculum in the classroom - combing different teaching methods and approaches seems to have spurred continual interest amongst students, even though the topics covered could be as basic as music notation.

The current plan is to widen the music subject to Years 10 & 11 as well, however I think this will require at least two full time music specialists within MSS - just like any other regular school in the UK. I think there is a very fine line between 'music teacher' and 'wider-ops workshop leader' here, although I have found both roles to be quite interchangeable most of the time.

In other community-based project news, rehearsals for Volpanics is now in full swing and I'm now in the midst of doing up an arrangement for Big Spender on pan orchestra - which I'm quite excited about. I am also drawing up a proposal to conduct CPD weekends for professional musicians, music educators and music practitioners in Montserrat. Truth be told, setting up new projects can be quite a lengthy affair - ministry officials seem to have quite a pre-defined mindset about how music education, activities and programmes should be conducted, and any new projects always seem to be met with quite a lot of initial apprehension.

I shall now leave you with other scenes I've recently encountered over here - and since a royal visit is approaching, here's an apt photo of Prince of Wales & Duchess of Cornwall's guestbook entry in Government House, the official residence of the governor of Montserrat.

Charles and Camilla leave their mark.

Sunset at Little Bay on Valentine's Day

Tomorrow marks the fifth round of Montserrat Idol - things certainly are heating up! Should you find yourself curious about the ongoings, you can watch scenes on PTVMontserratIdol.com and catch the live stream every Saturday at 1am UTC.

Antigua & Mini-planes

So, here we go. Day 1 on this tropical paradise isle that is Montserrat. Well, I say paradise - that's from what I've seen so far when the Britten-Norman Islander I was in flew above Montserrat as it approached landing. The day started early yesterday with a delayed & packed flight to Antigua from London Gatwick, brought on by terrible gales lashing the runway. By then I was quite grateful to be leaving such foul weather to sunnier lands.

After a very quick & hectic layover in Antigua, I found myself onboard a six-seater Islander aircraft - the only type of aircraft that FlyMontserrat operates - heading towards the Emerald Isle, pop. 4,822, along with three other fellow passengers. Whilst en-route I got to know another passenger who was also starting a new job in Montserrat - the new customs head, who himself also travelled from London. There was indeed a moment of hilarity which ensued when he, having arrived without making himself known to customs that he was their new boss, was asked to step behind the yellow line and wait his turn.

There are currently only two ways to get to and from Montserrat. The first is either a 40-minute long ferry ride or a 20-minute long flight, both from Antigua. Montserrat's former airport, along with the former capital Plymouth, were destroyed in the 1997 eruption of Soufriere Hills volcano. For several years afterwards, Montserrat had been only accessible by helicopters or boats until July 2005 when the new John A. Osborne Airport was completed on the north end of the island, prompting flight services to resume.

The pilot & stewardess. Talk about cosy.

Upon landing, I was picked up by representatives from Montserrat Enterprises, then driven to the police station to obtain my local temporary driver's license before being shown to my accommodation. For the next seven-months I'll be put up in the lower half of a colonial-era styled house which has been divided into two apartments, one on the ground floor and the other on the first. I still have yet to meet my neighbour(s), but let's hope they weren't too put off with me blasting the local radio belting out hits from Enrique Igleasis and Westlife (I like this place already!) whilst I was doing my unpacking.

Day One has thus kicked off in the most relaxed manner possible. Last night I sent out a deluge of emails checking-in with the various powers-that-be that I would be working with, but I still have yet to get any response regarding official meetings or school tours. Perhaps I'm just still stuck in hectic big city mode and need to take time to calm down and adapt to the Montserratian way of life.

I have been invited to dinner with the governor of Montserrat, Sir George Martin and their respective families tomorrow. Time to start all that ironing!