Trinidad & Tobago Music Festival
The music festival has been a part of the trinidad and tobago music association's vision for promoting music in our society since its inception in 1947. It has been a vehicle for showcasing the talent and the prowess of both children and adults througout the country.
A continuous biennial battle between Soloist and Soloist, School and School, competitors North, South , Tobago and now the East, the Trinidad and Tobago Music Festival goes ever onwards from strength to strength fulfilling the wishes of May Johnstone and the original Festival Committee that the musicians of Trinidad and Tobago should forever continue the Music Festival and meet in competition to "pace one another on the road to excellence".
Photo Credit: http://newsday.co.tt/
Since its inception the Festival has enjoyed national popularity and is a tradition among performers and audiences drawn from private groups, individuals and the public at large. The Trinidad and Tobago Music Festival over the years has been the showcase for aspiring musicians. It is considered a major launching point for the career of many now prominent individuals in the music world.
There is a long tradition of western classical music, both instrumental and choral, dating back to the colonial era under the British. The Trinidad & Tobago Music Festival is a primary showcase for these art forms. Choral groups, steelband and traditional western orchestras, smaller ensembles, music schools and programmes, and others stage shows at venues around the country, particularly at the Queen's Hall in Port of Spain; the University of the West Indies (St. Augustine Campus); Central Bank Auditorium [under renovation as of August 2011]; Simon Bolivar auditorium; churches and cathedrals; and at the new National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA), which completed construction in late 2009.
The programme starts with live entertainment from local musicians and entertainers. Every year there has been a definitive tightening of class structures in the instrumental ensemble classes to provide a broader possibility of instrumental combinations and in some cases, specific combinations since the trend in the past has been for the steel pan to dominate and even overwhelm.
2012 Music Festival is on at the Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s. The Festival is usually held in February. Now, don’t confuse this with the biennial Steelband Music Festival which will also be on in 2012. So bathroom singers start getting those vocal chords in order.
Organisers are moving with the times and have put the festival detail online. Registration, too, is on line as well as the syllabus. Registration forms for all classes can be downloaded from the Music Association Web site . Music for the 30th biennial trinidad and tobago music festival will go on sale at all festival offices:
- Port-of-Spain: The Festival Office (entrants North of Couva), The Dretchi Building, 13 C Wrightson Road, 2nd Level, Port Of Spain. Monday to Friday, 8 am-4 pm. Tel: 623-2129
- San Fernando: (entrants residents in Couva and further South) South Trinidad Music Festival Office, Red Cross Building, Ruth Avenue, Naparima Bowl, San Fernando, Monday to Friday, 10 am-4 pm. Tel: 333-0402
- Tobago Music Festival Office: Bishop’s Anstey High School, Mt Marie Road, Scarborough, from Thursday November 3, Monday to Friday, 9 am-1 pm. Tel: 496-6441
Trinidad & Tobago Music Association Website: http://ttmusicfestival2012.webs.com/
Pan Trinbago hosts a National Steelband Music Festival each year alternating between the school bands and senior bands on a biennial basis.