Faculty to raise funds for School of Music students

The financial need of students at the School of Music at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, receives focus this Saturday, July 15, as local and international faculty stage the benefit recital The Chords That Unite Us, with the proceeds going towards bursaries.

Acting dean at the School of Music André Adman shared that funds raised from this recital will go towards assisting students who have completed the Fundamentals of Music Literacy and Performance (FMLP) programme and are now about to enter Year One of a degree programme, as it has been found that these are the students who need the most support.

“In terms of attrition, a lot of the time, we have students leaving in the first year due to the financial burden. Scholarships are not usually given until after Year Two, so in this instance, we want to focus on these FMLP students entering either the Bachelor of Music or Bachelor of Music Education programme with a focus on piano,” said Adman.

Saturday’s recital will explore the universality of musical communication as Jamaican members of faculty collaborate with colleagues from other countries.

The performers are pianist Yuko Aoki (Japan); violinist Paula-Kay Beswick (Jamaica); soprano Diana Sancho Ibarra (Cuba); and pianist Stephen Shaw-Naar (Jamaica). Among the composers whose works will be performed are Cuban Eduardo Sánchez de Fuentes, Jamaica’s Peter Ashbourne, and Tōru Takemitsu from Japan. Also included will be items from the pens of Austrian composer Schubert; Elgar from Britain; German luminaries Brahms, Mendelssohn and Schumann; as well as Norway’s Grieg.

Shaw-Naar noted that the programme has been curated to explore masterpieces of standard vocal and instrumental repertory, along with items representative of each country’s creative output.

“A feature of this performance is the realisation of the great piano concertos of Grieg and Schumann, performed in their entirety in two-piano form. Edna Manley College is one of the few local venues equipped with two grand pianos of equal power to support this venture. We have prepared an evening of truly fine music and look forward to sharing it with a receptive audience,” he said.

A number of similar initiatives have been undertaken by the college with the aim of providing financial assistance to students in need. A concert in observance of International Jazz Day was held on April 30 at the college, with the proceeds earmarked for a similar cause.