Small: National School Bands Music Showcase ‘out of this world’

Coordinator of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers Co-operative Credit Union(SVGTCCU) National Secondary School Bands showcase, Rodney Small, has applauded the maturity and confidence of the performers calling last Saturday’s musical event one that was “out of this world.”

The National School Bands Showcase was held at the Cruise Ship Terminal last Saturday, March 25 featuring music bands from 14 secondary schools nationwide.

The event, sponsored by the SVGTCCU and done in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, and the Ministry of Education saw each participating school rendering a 15 minute performance from a pre-selected music genre.

The bands also created a 40 second jingle with information from the SVGTCCU which was a judged segment.

Small told SEARCHLIGHT that the response from patrons was great.

“…a lot of owners of business houses were there, and they expressed their interest in supporting the showcase next year or whenever we’re having it, so from a patron standpoint, it was really successful and even for the students. They are now saying that they feel so motivated and they want to continue doing music and what not so in a nutshell, I think everybody accepted and received the showcase well.”

Rodney Small

He said he also was pleased with the performances as he is aware that some of the students may not have been familiar with some of the genres they were asked to present.“…one of the things that I recognised is that the students brought their own creativity and interpretation to some of these music that they are not even aware of. Some of them don’t even listen to these styles or genres of music, but they were able to go and do their research and basically come back and put together a presentation that I think was out of this world. “

He noted though that there is still some room for improvement as he saw that some students struggled in different areas.

“We still have a lot of room for improvement…there are still some kids who are not at the same level and who’s still fighting to be able to perform in front of an audience of that magnitude, but we as a committee were able to evaluate and look at some of the different areas that we can do different workshops and training that we can make sure that everybody is on the same level and basically make them a holistic performer,” the Cultural Ambassador said.

Small believes that those who did not attend the showcase missed a great and memorable experience.

“…one of the things that was evident is that there was a cruise ship in, and the committee and myself basically tailored the showcase to incorporate that merge, that collaboration.
“One of the things that we want to highlight is that the ship was scheduled to leave at six o’ clock but the ship didn’t leave until nine o’clock because there were persons from the ship enjoying the show…”.

Small encouraged Vincentians to be part of initiatives of this nature where the tourism product and the cultural product can be brought together.

“…for those who missed it, they missed a clear picture of our future in terms of not only entertainment but also for our young people in terms of their creativity and their expression, and their level of confidence, and their ability to stand on a stage to command and demand, so for those who missed it, they missed a picture of not just now, but of where we are going and what we ought to be.”

Prior to the showcase, at 11:00 a.m a craft fair was held which transitioned into a pre-show at 2:00 p.m that showcased traditional aspects of Vincentian culture.

“..we reached out to persons who are part of the Craft Association to come and set up at the Cruise Ship Berth to show some of our traditional creativity in the area of craft. It is something that was really important and throughout the day the tourists from the ship kept going to the craft booths, asking questions, even purchasing items to take back to their various homes so even that in itself is good for the craft industry…”.

The schools that performed were: the Central Leeward Secondary (Barrouallie Secondary); Emmanuel High School, Mesopotamia; Thomas Saunders Secondary; Bishops College Kingstown; Dr J.P Eustace Memorial Secondary; St Vincent Grammar School; St Martin’s Secondary; Campden Park Secondary (Bethel High School); West St George Secondary; Intermediate High School; Girls’ High School; North Union Secondary; St Joseph’s Convent, Kingstown; and the Union Island Secondary School.

The genres from which students selected pieces for their presentations were: Calypso, Ragga Soca, Soca, Folk, R&B, Soul, Slow jams, Parang, Clean Dancehall, Reggae, Gospel, and Motown.