Music Week 2006 ends with concerts at Bliss
As part of closing activities for Music Week 2006, this morning Belize City students were treated to a concert at the Bliss Centre for the Performing Arts. And as News Five’s Karla Vernon found out, the acts on stage might have even inspired the boys and girls in the audience to explore their own talents.
Karla Vernon, Reporting
Son y Tangeo de Tobasco, Mexico, were today?s special entertainment for Belize City schoolchildren. The performance even included one artist who used his feet as a form of percussion.
Roberto Sobrino, Director, Son y Tangeo
?The jarana, the requinto and the marimbol are the types of instruments we use. The marimbol is a base acoustic, of African origin. And there is also the tarima, on which one person stomps as a type of percussion.?
?As part of the project, we conduct workshops with children and young people, teaching this type of music and we hope to keep it alive.?
?We are very happy to be here, it is the first time we have travelled out of the country and we hope to get more engagements. We like the Belizean people a lot and we are very happy to share our music with them.?
Joining the foreigners on stage was a brand new Belizean ensemble Bileez Bruk Grong, coordinated by Bredda David Obi. Obi says the name suggests moving Belizean music into new areas while reflecting traditional styles and traditions.
Bredda David Obi, Coordinator Bileez Bruk Grong
?The idea came about as being a member of MIAB. We were getting Music Week together; talking about what we should do and would didn?t want to do. And the reflection was a lot of time was spent on bringing groups into Belize. Being a musician I thought that we needed to spend more time on nourishing our own Belizean musicians, you know, maturing them and they agreed and hence we decided to put a group together.?
The group features thirteen artists of Belize?s best artists and two technicians. The members hail from all six districts and it?s been a logistical challenge just to get everyone together.
Bredda David Obi
?You have to have financial help, and this is where NICH comes in, a very, very productive organisation helping the culture at this time. And also through MIAB, which is one of our associations. With help from those people and the willingness from the musicians that are in the band to travel and come and share their talent and want to be a part of bruking grong; it really, really feels good.?
?What a blessing we could have gotten today for our first performance under very good conditions, a good sound system, a good lighting system, and an audience of children. Hey, it don?t get much better than that, you know. Children are just so nice to play to all the time!?
Reporting for news five, I am Karla Vernon.
Bileez Bruk Grong and Son y Tangeo will be joined on stage tonight by Armando Pineda y los Hasta Atras of Guatemala for a Music Week concert at the Bliss. The show starts at eight p.m.
