SUNDAY was International Music Day, and at the National Cultural Centre in Georegtown, the Guyana Music Teachers’ Association presented Musicians on Stage, their annual showcase of students who did very well at the London School of Music Examinations.

The progamme was rewarding, featuring vocal, trumpet, violin, guitar, piano and saxophone solos, with the National Steelband Jazz Ensemble and two offerings by the National School of Dance thrown in for good measure.
The Music Teachers’ Association must be commended for its work in keeping alive an interest in good music here. There is so much today that passes for music, not that the today brand of compositions are all bad; it is just that there is so much that is mindless and sheer nonsense, that the discerning listener is smothered in a torrential blast of sound.
But all is not lost. We commend parents for seeking a classical music education for their children, a pursuit with a string of benefits, including discipline and the joy of creating something beautiful.
However, the Association speaks of a shortage of music teachers. There are not enough teachers to cater for all children desirous of joining classes. There is a shortage in just about every discipline offered by the Association.
“I have my hands full with piano students, and, lately, my husband has thrown in his lot by offering guitar lessons,” says Association secretary, Marilyn Dewar.
The Ministry of Culture and our corporate citizenship could play a part in assisting the Association and it would be more than worth the while.
Last Sunday, it was a joy to listen to the budding musicians, many of them performing with that irrepressible quality that is the preserve of the very young, glossing over their occasional faltering as if it never happened.
We owe it to our next generation to keep good music alive, and if there ever there was a time to start, that time is now.