Music is focus at Trinidad Farm

A camp for young footballers is not the only specialized recreation for youths this summer. While some of the kids were kicking ball at St. Martin’s, others were beating out up the road.

Jacqueline Woods, Reporting

It was the students’ last day at the third annual Summer Music Camp held at Trinidad Farm. The fifteen young people, who will now be enlisted in the National Youth Orchestra Band, come from all over the country. Although most are musically inclined, they have not had any formal training. It took them only four days to learn a variety of instruments and they were sounding good when News Five visited this morning.

Luis Chan, Musical Director, Belize Arts Council

“I am so happy and thrilled that I am able to work with the young people that came in and I have seen a lot of interest and I am so motivated because they are doing two instruments and I know that they will do something out of it.”

For the first time, the students had to learn at least two instruments. Luis Chan, the Musical Director of the Belize Arts Council said it was policy born of necessity. Too often the National Youth Orchestra Band suffered because when members were absent from practice sessions or shows, there were no young musicians to replace them.

Luis Chan

“The idea behind the policy is that we can always shift from one position to the next. When students leave the camp here, they have to go to high school, from primary level to high school and sometimes they find themselves with a little more work and that is why we ask them to learn two instruments because they can always fill in the next vacant place for the person who is not there.”

“It was not easy learning the flute”, says fourteen-year old Dinah Augustus. Augustus, who has no trouble playing on the keys of a piano, found that wind instruments demand a very different technique.

Dinah Augustus, 14 years old

“Yes, the flute because it is very tricky, you can’t really blow into the hole but over the hole and when we do that sometimes it comes out a little bit squeaky. It sounds really funny so the flute gave some problems blowing it at first.”

Also for the first time, Chan has introduced the tuba bass to his female students. Eighteen-year old Karen Chan was not afraid to take up the challenge.

Karen Chan, 18 years old

“Well, it’s fun but you have to blow more air into it so its a lot of breathing you have to work on.”

Jacqueline Woods

“So you had to do a lot of breathing exercises?”

Karen Chan

“Yes.”

Jacqueline Woods

“This is something knew for the young women of Belize, learning how to play that particular instrument. Is this one of the reasons why you decided to try it out?”

Karen Chan

“Yes that is one of the reasons because I have never seen a female play tuba bass before and I always think that I didn’t want to stick to one instrument. I wanted to learn other instruments so that is another reason why I got into the tuba bass.”

While the children are now back home, they will have only a little bit of time to rest before they take up music classes. In September they start practicing for this year’s Christmas show. Reporting for News Five, I am Jacqueline Woods.

Anybody interested in joining the National Youth Orchestra Band can contact the Belize Arts Council at their temporary office behind Macmillan Brothers on Regent Street.