Write-ups & Recollections

About a month and a half ago I was invited to write down my experiences on Montserrat for the Guildhall School's student and alumni magazine, in order to give prospective applicants a brief introduction to life here. Now that it's been published, I'm reproducing it on the blog here.

Black sand beaches, goat racing and a volcano in the backyard, occasionally shrouded in mystic cloud cover. It’s no wonder Sir George Martin was enthralled by this place when he first visited in the seventies, enough so that he would then go on to set up AIR Studios Montserrat in 1979. And before the studio’s tragic demise during Hurricane Hugo in 1989, Montserrat was graced by a stellar line-up of artistes such as Sting, Elton John, Paul McCartney and Phil Collins, all of whom enjoyed recording in this paradise isle whilst enjoying a relative level of anonymity which could not be found in the big cities.

Then awoke the Soufrière Hills volcano in 1995 – this previously-dormant volcano suddenly erupted for the first time in the nineteenth century and changed the landscape of this small island permanently. With Soufrière Hills still active today, it’s hard to not mention the words ‘Montserrat’ and ‘volcano’ in the same conversation. 

Today, the Montserrat that I live and work in is vastly different from when the former capital Plymouth was still standing. Now, with more than half of the island in the exclusion zone, the population has declined from 10,500 to 4,800. While the islanders are ever so friendly with a resilient smile, they too feel the after-effects of this massive brain drain that happened along with the mass evacuations. Industries such as engineering, medicine, environmentalism and education have suffered, with little or no specialists in their respective field on the island. 

Still, Montserrat exudes a numinous sort of charm, which was first evident when I was flying in from Antigua on a seven-seater Britten-Norman Islander. Montserrat loomed in the distance, in a fashion that would not be out of place in a certain television series featuring a mysterious tropical island. The reason that took me across the Atlantic was because I responded to a call – Sir George and Lady Judy Martin were looking to send a music specialist to Montserrat to, in simplest terms, inspire young people to take on music. And I went. 

With a job description as vague as that, I was wielding a double-edged sword – I could plan and execute countless possibilities of music education programmes, but at the same time not knowing what support I would receive and what response I would get. Thankfully, being given tabula rasa in this sense allowed me to bite the bullet and start where I was most needed – in the secondary school. 

Montserrat has only one secondary school, with no formal scheme of music education in place before I arrived. And within 48 hours of boots touching the ground, I was tasked with planning and delivering the national music curriculum in the secondary school, running after-school music activities as well as wider-ops styled workshops for students and CPD sessions for professional musicians. 

Demand for instrumental teaching continues to grow, and lots of opportunities have opened up for expansion of music education on the island. I continue to set-up and support different music ensembles on the island that deal with young people, as well as raise awareness and highlight the necessity of music education within the school system. 

Montserrat certainly has a definitive legacy in recording industry, and while most of it has been lost with the eruption of the volcano, the community is working hard to restore it to its former glory. Projects such as the one I’m working on serve to build on that, giving the young people living here not only an avenue to explore their own musicality, but to take what they discover with them far and wide into the future. 

Currently, this project is sponsored and supported mainly by The Montserrat Foundation (UK), of which Sir George and Lady Judy Martin and both foundation trustees. It is also assisted by the Government of Montserrat, and the Rotary Club of Montserrat. I have been fortunate to be able to raise more funds to procure more music resources for the island, all of which are much-needed. Piano books, hand percussion instruments, 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. 

A lot of expats who have lived here for awhile will say Montserrat is amazing to visit, but sometimes a challenge to live in. Whilst avoiding the pitfall of calculative weighing of the pros and cons of such a situation, I must add that having a purpose whilst living here does make it more enjoyable, and in this case it has certainly proven to be a worthwhile effort. In one month you could be playing your first ever public steel pan gig, dance behind a truck loaded with massive speakers moving at half a mile an hour (this is called a jump up!), join in onstage with a Caribbean string band, or bet on your favourite caprid at the next goat race.

Canines & Sunsets

This morning I found myself at the Montserrat Animal Protection Society (MAPS), along with Emily who took me along to one of her regular volunteering duties. MAPS does an admirable job looking after neglected and abused animals on the island, providing them shelter, food and attention until they can be fostered out. It is entirely staffed by volunteers who operate wholly on the goodwill of donors and sponsors.

I have been looking to adopt a dog myself, and hence Emily suggested I head down to the MAPS shelter to get to know the dogs better before making a decision. We had a brilliant morning and I found myself growing quite fond of an active canine named Jack.

The MAPS canine shelter.

Greeting the new visitor.

Em hosing down the kennels while the dogs enjoy a run.

The weather recently has been rather chilly - now those of you reading from Europe (how's the snow?) might think me mad, but Montserrat does experience 'winter' too. The coldest months are from December to February; with an average daily temperature of about 24 deg C, this is a few slight notches below summer temperatures which soar up to about 33 deg C. There have been plenty of gales lately, but also quite a few stunning sunsets.

View of the sunset from my apartment.

In other music-related news, rehearsals for the Montserrat Secondary School choir have started, and I have started a peripatetic teaching programme for students wanting to learn the piano. Currently I am running it single-handedly, but I will be starting to find out if anyone on the island might be willing to give instrumental lessons to students after school as well. I will be working on more contemporary songs with the choir - I don't think the young ones will quite enjoy singing about Irish immigrants getting off at Ellis Island to carve out a future in the New World!

Radio interviews & Folk dancing

Last Wednesday, ZJB Radio Montserrat paid a visit to the music classrooms to catch a glimpse of some of the Form 1s in the midst of their music lessons, as well as to give some of my students and myself a quick interview. Students were asked about their impression of the music programme so far and what they hope to achieve from it. We talked briefly about my role on the island, what I have set out to achieve and whether there will be someone taking over when I leave in July (of which there will be someone).

A Form 1 student being interviewed.

Students sharing their thoughts.

Lesson activities written out in old-school chalk.

The radio interview was broadcast on the same day an hour later, which I unfortunately missed. In other news, my exploration and familiarization of Montserrat continues, and last week marked the first time I explored Lookout, a big housing 'village' project meant to relocate Montserratians after the last major eruption in 1995. Lookout has quite a young demographic of residents and is quite a hive of community bustle.

Marguerita Bay, adjacent to Lookout.

I have embarked on another community 'cultural' project, this time with Sujoe Davis - the governor's wife. She originally hails from China and is a well-travelled lady who has, along with her husband, served in many different diplomatic posts with the Foreign Office in many various countries around the world. She is also quite a linguist, who fluently speaks Japanese, Teochew, English, Mandarin, and a smattering of Arabic and Thai.

She has proposed that a Xinjiang folk dance be performed during the St Patrick's Day celebrations, with Cupid - the Director of Culture - singing in Mandarin whilst accompanied by a bevy of dancing ladies. Sujoe herself has choreographed the Chinese folk dance routine, and I have been arranging the music and accompanying rehearsals. So far they have been a good laugh, although sooner or later we'll have to buckle down if we want to get that pronunciation sorted out!

Cupid enjoying a wee tease.

Community-based ensembles such as Small Beginnings and Volpanics commence this month, having broken up for Christmas. Workload will certainly increase, and this, however, has not been placated by a somewhat frustrating lack of logistical and administrative support from the school. I am now considering trying to run after-school activities through a more 'community'-based channel through the Ministry of Culture (of which Cupid does a fantastic job in leading it), instead of trying to run them through the school and, indirectly, via the Ministry of Education.