By Anthony Layne

TWENTY-FIVE young, up-and-coming musicians seized the opportunity to showcase their talent and skills when the Clemsville Music Conservatory recently held its 2018 recital at the National Cultural Centre.

Performances were done in several categories: violin, piano, clarinet, saxophone, and trumpet. Top student in the piano category was 15-year-old Angelique Leonor Forero, who attained the highest score nationwide. In an invited comment to the Guyana Chronicle, the School of the Nations Fourth Form student said she loves music with a passion; her burning ambition, she added, is to become a professional musician and put Guyana on the world map through music, the way Jamaica’s musicians have made Jamaica internationally famous through reggae. Asked how she intends to achieve this, she said through a fusion of different elements of local music to create a unique Guyanese genre. Did she find it difficult balancing school work with music lessons? “Yes,” she replied, “but my passion for music saw me through.”

Judah Scotland, age 14, the 2017 top student in the violin category, also spoke with the Chronicle. A Fourth Form student of Saint Stanislaus College, Judah also plays the piano, which he started playing before also taking up the violin after about two years. Asked about his preferred genres, Judah said he likes mainly gospel , but appreciates calypso, reggae and soca as well.

The budding musicians were all successful at examinations of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM), which is based in the United Kingdom. The ABRSM is an examinations board and registered charity, which was established in 1889. More than 600,000 candidates take ABRSM exams each year in over 93 countries.

The event was graced by the presence of former U.S. Ambassador to Guyana, Mr Perry Holloway; Head of the Delegation of the European Union in Guyana,Ambassador Jernej Videtic; Country Representative for the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Ms Sophie Makonnen; and former Mayor of Georgetown, Mr Hamilton Green