Concrete walls & Rosin

The first week of the summer term has passed quickly, with lots of lesson planning taken care of and many an hour spent in front of the photocopying machine. The past week has also been rather rainy and cool, which I hear has been a welcome break from the very hot weather Montserrat had been experiencing during the two weeks I was away. Ironically, London was still in the grips of some unseasonably cold weather when I was there.

Being in London over the Easter break gave me the opportunity to procure lots more resources for the island. Piano and music theory books, and small things like rosin and valve oil - which, while you would ordinarily get any other music store back home, cannot be found here and must be specially ordered in. I also managed to get some wall guitar hangers which, apart from doing what it does, always look good when it comes to sprucing up the image of a music classroom!

I have to say though, the walls that make up buildings over here are strong enough to withstand a hurricane - no pun intended. My classroom walls were made up of extremely sturdy and tough concrete brick, and the accompanying drill bits which came with the borrowed drill barely put a dent in it. So I had to run to the hardware store and pick up a new set of drill bits, and after screwing in five guitar hangers (two screws each), I had broken one in half, chipped off another, and two more are now too blunt to do anything.

Maybe I need a proper lesson in drilling school.

Battling with the walls.

All set up and good to go.

Having had a term to set up the old Salem Primary as the new designated music education 'centre' for the island is paying off well - we now are slowly amassing a steady stream of instrumental donations which will be taken care of looked after. The primary school wider-ops music programme Small Beginnings will also now be run from the new location in Salem. I am still in need for more wall guitar hangers (I only had enough space for a maximum of five to bring over), as well as basic keyboard damper pedals.

And from the looks of it, another new set of drill bits.

The Xinjiang Folk Dance which we did last month was recorded again, this time at Government House with full costumes and in proper HD! After trying to attempt some slick, multi-camera angle video editing on the frustratingly basic Windows Live Movie Maker, here's the result!

Effort & Legacy

Earlier in the week I had the pleasure of heading over to Isles Bay to have dinner with Gordon and Sylvie Young, who are currently on island for a short break. Gordon is the chairman of The Montserrat Foundation (UK), which, of course, is the charity that has been managing this entire project. After some very fine, exquisite French fare (whipped up by Sylvie herself, no less) - which is certainly a treat in these places - Gordon put on a DVD of Music for Montserrat, a concert which was held on 15 September 1997 at the Royal Albert Hall.

What so special about this concert was that it featured a plethora of famous musicians who previously recorded at AIR Studios in Montserrat, including Phil Collins, Sting, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Carl Perkins and Paul McCartney. Music for Montserrat was arranged and produced by Sir George Martin, and proceeds from the concert were used for disaster relief after a major eruption of the Soufrière Hills volcano the year before. These musicians agreed to appear, out of their own pocket, to raise the necessary funds for the sake of Montserrat. Below is a video of the show's finale, featuring a line-up of stellar artists singing Hey Jude. If anyone could have brought the likes of Sting, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton and so many more together on-stage to perform at the same time, it would have had to be George himself.

AIR Studios in Montserrat was also set up by Sir George Martin, who himself fell in love with (and still continues to play a huge part in the development of) Montserrat. It's main purpose was meant to be a get-away-from-it-all sort of studio, and saw many famous faces walk through its doors until it was finally destroyed by Hurricane Hugo in 1989.

Over the weekend I had the chance to visit what now remains of AIR Studios, located near the Belham Valley. It certainly looks like a ghost of its former self, but one can still certainly appreciate the legacy and the charm it must have held over its many visitors.

The entrance of AIR Montserrat.

Pool included for all those recording breaks.

All that's now left.

It is a somewhat of a shame that a lot of the island's music legacy as been lost on the young people here today, as I have observed from my classes. If only the government here could put in a bit more effort in restoring that by starting to spread awareness of the pivotal role Montserrat once played in - if not the development then at least the production - of what we would call iconic rock music today, I am sure the young people here would embrace it proudly.

Things like putting the Montserrat Cultural Centre to better, more intensive use would only serve to benefit the island's heritage. The only time I stopped by at the centre, the second day I got to the island, it was completely locked shut and the area behind the centre looked slightly overgrown. Yet the Montserrat Tourist Board lists the Cultural Centre as one of the tourist spots to visit. This place could be a perfect location to continue the legacy of AIR Studios and the Beatles - to set up a permanent, constantly-manned exhibition might be a good start.