Centenarians & Reports

I finally had the chance today to get my hands on a copy of the Montserrat Reporter, which had a two-page spread about the jubilee celebrations as well as an entire page dedicated to photos from the recital. An online version of this article can be found here.

Yesterday was what I would expect to be my last pan gig with Volpanics. Cupid called me up at lunchtime yesterday asking if I would be able to play at a centenarian's birthday party. It was a really nice, familial reception of relatives and close friends (which you would certainly accrue after 100 years!) and the governor Adrian was there to present the queen's birthday card.

According to Adrian, this was his 6th 100-year-old party he's attended in Montserrat since he took office slightly over a year ago. Not too bad, if you consider this island's population of only about 4,800.

Performing at the Lookout Community Centre.

Another stunning Montserratian sunset.

Graduation at MSS takes place on next Wednesday, and the principal has requested for the Montserrat Youth Choir to perform. Looks like I'll be kept busy to the very end! Certainly looking forward to it though.

Recitals & Rum shops

About a fortnight ago Volpanics put on another gig - a tribute performance of sorts, for two of its players, Caroline & Henry, who will sadly be leaving the island soon. This time it was at People's Place, one of my favourite spots in Montserrat. It's a scenic spot that serves up food and drink overlooking the valley adjacent to Forgathy Hill. And in true Montserratian style, we simply set up right beside the road and 'panned' away, with drivers who were passing by just pulling up and to enjoy a lime with live music.

As part of Caroline and Henry's leaving series of parties, Talus - Montserrat's only rock and roll band - also did a gig right on the helipad of MVO. Talus comprises of MVO employees Henry, Paddy and TC, and they certainly rocked away in style with the Soufrière Hills volcano as their stunning backdrop.

Volpanics and their roadside gig.

Talus on the helipad.

Special guest guitarist?

Last weekend has been especially busy, considering I managed to squeeze in yet another rum shop tour on Saturday. I'm starting to really enjoy the finer points of such tours - cramming onboard a bus with an assortment of instruments whilst traversing the entire length of the island, stopping off at various rum shops for a raucous good time! Think of it as a Monopoly-style pub crawl, only with lots and lots of the aforementioned rum.

The newly-formed MSS pan ensemble has been thriving well so far. The turnout for players has been positive, and at the moment we are working on a couple numbers hoping to be ready for the next concert that I have been planning. As part of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, my fiancée Jocelyn Freeman (who just so happens to be visiting) will be giving a solo recital, along with the Montserrat Youth Choir who will also be performing. Filipe Sousa, a very good friend of mine as well as an accomplished pianist, is also visiting next month; he will join me for some four-hand piano pieces, most of which will most likely be rather improvisatory, given our style of working together.

This will also most likely be the last big music event that I will be planning - indeed, I have decided that, while my time here has been immensely well-spent, it is time to hand the baton on when my fixed-term contract finishes on 15 July 2012. Clare Catchpole, from GSMD, who has been assisting with managing this project, has sent out a few feelers to scout for the next possible replacement.

And given my impending departure from the island, I've decided to make the most of my time left by exploring bits of the island which I have left out so far. And only yesterday did I finally make my first visit to the last of the six 'main' beaches of Montserrat - Lime Kiln Bay. The others being Rendezvous Bay, Old Road Bay, Woodlands Beach, Bunkam Bay and Little Bay. There are also a few other beaches such as Foxes Bay and Isles Bay, but they are either more difficult to access or are in the restricted zone. Not that that will be stopping me!

Sunset at Lime Kiln Bay.

And as the end of term slowly approaches (already?!) I will soon be swamped with writing exam papers and planning practical tests for my music students. In the months since January, some of them have indeed displayed some innate musical talent and I am keen to see them do well over the next few weeks. In the meantime, however, planning for the upcoming recital should take up most of my time.

Steel & Pans

Having travelled quite a fair bit for work and performance over the past four years has presented me invaluable opportunities to pick up a wide myriad of different instruments from different cultures and amalgamate them into my performance practice and teaching methods. For example, during my time in Guildhall, SEZENYŪM travelled to Palestine for professional development and creative exchanges with local musicians. There, I fell in love with the darbuka and picked up a bit of playing and technique on that.

More recently, during my stint in Gordonstoun, I was completely enthralled by the bagpipes and picked it up as well. And now, living in the Caribbean, how could I possibly avoid the steel pans! My first foray into arranging for Volpanics has turned out well - we can now crack out a pretty good rendition of Big Spender, which certainly isn't a common tune for steel pans. And riding on that, I have decided to set up a steel pan ensemble for MSS students. However, instead of just focusing on Caribbean classics (and a few indispensible Bob Marley tunes, of course), I will be arranging music less commonly heard on steel pans. What exactly? I'm still mulling over it. But as I'm typing this, Lady Gaga's Born This Way is playing on MFR, and I'm thinking this might be a good one to tackle.

Anyone interested yet? All are welcome!

Veils & Shamrocks

Last week gone has been an ultimately busy week - it was St Patrick's on Saturday, and let me tell you, St. Patrick's really is a big thing in Montserrat! A week-long festival which started last Monday saw myself conducting the secondary school choir for their debut performance, playing with Volpanics in what was my first ever steel pan gig, dance behind a truck loaded with massive speakers moving at half a mile an hour (this is called a jump up!), embark on a rum shop tour, crash a stage where the string band was playing (well, not quite: I just grabbed a pair of shakers and edged in), and eat lots of food. Glorious, Caribbean food!

More pictures of these all to follow. But first, last night was the Emerald Community Singers' annual cabaret performance (as part of St Paddy's festival), and the Chinese folk dance quartet finally had their chance to showcase their moves in complete splendor. This folksong is native of the Xinjiang region in China, where majority of the region's total population adheres to Islam. This lyrics describe a young lady whose beautiful features are covered by a veil, and she is being edged on by the singer to reveal some of her alluring facial features, while he extols her resplendent qualities in song.


This item was performed by Gerren Gerrald, Beth Breuer, Vicky Wilson and Cupid Francis, with Sujue Davis providing artistic advisory and myself playing music man, of course.

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.