A ten-day intense voice and choir workshop ended on Thursday with a concert at the National Cultural Center.
The workshop commenced on September 26, attracting primary, secondary and tertiary school students.
It was a collaborative effort of the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Ministry of Tourism, Investment, Creative Industries, Culture and Information, the Simon Bolivar Foundation Music Foundation, El Sistema and the National Combined Schools Choir.
The facilitators were Rafael Espinoza and Genaro Andres Quintana, Venezuelan master specialists in vocal technique and singing, and vocal trainer and choirmaster Robert Rene of Saint Lucia.
Present at Thursday’s concert were parents, students, and several dignitaries.
Among them, Ambassador-Designate of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Her Excellency Leiff Liubliana Escalona Barrueta, His Excellency Ambassador of Mexico Luis Manuel López Moreno Ambassador of Mexico, and Governor General Emeritus, Her Excellency Dame Pearlette Louisy.
Guibion Ferdinand, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, was among the government officials present and praised the initiative’s successful collaboration.
“This is really a testimony of the power of creative expressions,” Ferdinand said. “We in this part have a very special way of showing our talent and communicating with the world,” he added.
He attributed this uniqueness to Saint Lucia’s cultural exchanges with Latin America to the south and our close relation to the French territories to the north.
The performances for the evening reflected some of those cultural nuances.
The primary schools’ combined choir was up first singing heartily a Congolese folk song and a traditional South African Song.
They closed with a vibrant Caribbean folk medley.
The Secondary school choir’s voices were angelic as they did “Gloria – Athos Palma” and Wolfgang Kelbers spiritual, “Good News.”
The evening end on a high with the National Combined Schools choir bringing the house down with medleys in praise and calypso.
An animated Robert Rene thanked parents for not only coming out on the evening but for allowing their children to participate in the training.
He also thanked Arch-Deacon Glasgow of the Holy Trinity Anglican Church for using the Church Annex for the training.
The Anglican Annex, Rene disclosed, has also been a home for the National Schools Choir since its inception in 2021.
Rene said that the choir had attracted students from Dennery northwards to Gros Islet, and he assured them that a call would go out soon for students south of the island.
