Music Matters

Short notes from the St Lucia School of Music

When the music school reopens on 18th September for the new school year, students will welcome a new face on the staff, Mr Eric Bliss, who will be joining the Department of String and Piano Studies. Mr Bliss holds a Bachelors in Music from the San Francisco Conservatory where his principal studies were cello and piano. Mr Bliss is expected, to be of great help in what is the School’s number one growth area – string studies. Over ninety students are now enrolled in the Primary and Secondary Schools String Programmes, with more primary schools expected to come on board this school year. Also joining the staff as a full-time member is Mr Ryan Finn, formerly a music teacher at the Entrepot Secondary School and part-time brass tutor at the School of Music. Mr Finn replaces Mr James Nowickas, the School’s former wind tutor.

Music research continues to confirm what many have long suspected: one of the reasons that we like music so much is because it is good for our health. Take, for example, recent research at Berklee College of Music in Boston with patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. According to Suzanne Hanser, Chair of Music Therapy, Alzheimer’s patients often respond to music when they respond to nothing else. Research suggests that listening to and performing music has a very positive influence on the way the brain works. Similar findings coming out of work such as the Music Making and Wellness Project indicate that active involvement in music making activities – in this project’s case with older students taking group keyboard classes – decreased anxiety and depression levels, which in turn helped improve cognitive performance, enhanced leadership, decision-making, and general feelings of well-being. Not convinced? Just ask a musician how they feel.

Are old instruments of any value? The simple answer to this depends on who made them and how well they were made and have been cared for. Most instruments deteriorate, especially in our climate, and need to be very well serviced to retain any value: they rarely appreciate. That is, of course, unless they were made by the family of Antonio Stradivari (1644-1737). One of these violins, made in 1707, and known as “The Hammer”, was recently auctioned at Christie’s International in New York for the record amount of EC$9.5 million. At this kind of price such instruments are rarely purchased by musicians, but at least the banks, corporate giants and collectors who do acquire them as investments often let famous musicians play them for concerts. Who knows – perhaps it’s time to dig out of the back room grandad’s old violin and ask the School of Music to check it out? We would be only too happy to oblige!

Watch this space for details of the National Music Festival, “Sont Sent Lisi” taking place for the first time this November. The Festival, a collaboration between CDF, HMS, STAMP and the St Lucia School of Music, will feature six main events at various venues around the island: two band nights, a concert for small pan sides, a concert for traditional music, a night for solo instrumentalists, and a night for solo voices and choirs. The festival will culminate with an awards ceremony on St Cecilia’s Day, 22nd November. The Festival aims to raise standards of singing, playing, arranging and composition, through adjudicated performances and training workshops.

Impressive CXC Music Results

The St Lucia School of Music continues to record impressive CXC scores. This year’s results were one of the School’s best ever. Seven candidates entered for CXC music through the Music School. All seven passed with five scoring 1’s, and two scoring 2’s. Three of the five ones were distinctions. Our congratulations to the students, and to the School’s practical tutors and CXC tutors, Mrs Deanna Clarke (Castries Centre) and Mrs Priscilla Lucien (Vieux Fort Centre). Though the numbers are small, we believe outstanding CXC students are destined to be tomorrow’s musical leaders.

Music Students Out and About

This summer vacation saw a number of Music School students out and about. Thanks to assistance from Consul-General Hon. Cassius Elias, a group of five violinists were invited to attend a week’s workshop in Martinique as part of the Fort de France Festival. They were surprised to find only three other participants from Martinique, but reported that they learnt much from the outstanding Parisian violin teacher, and were very well treated. They eagerly await further such opportunities. A second group of students also spent time overseas, spending a week at the Soar Valley Music Centre in Leicester, UK, as part of an on-going exchange programme with the Soar Valley Centre. This group comprised two cellists, a violinist and a trumpeter, chaperoned by two staff tutors. The Soar Valley Week was intensive with numerous concerts, school visits and trips to cultural sites. The group stayed with families and made some new friends, and felt this trip too was most worthwhile. The Soar Valley visit was sponsored by the School, with assistance from the Ministry of Education, the Cultural Development Foundation, and Jeffrey & Jeffrey Insurance Agency.

Music May Help Children Read

“Music Matters” aims to keep you abreast of recent research findings on the value of a musical education. Last time this column looked at the strong links between music and wellness. Today, let us note research at Stanford University into music and language development. The results of this particular study suggest that people who learn to play musical instruments as children process spoken language faster and more accurately as adults than their non-musical counterparts. The study found that musical training helps the brain differentiate between rapidly changing sounds, which researchers believe is a key ability to understanding and using language effectively. According to psychology Professor John Gabrieli, what is new about these research findings is that there is a specific aspect of language that is changed in the minds and brains of people with musical training. For the research methodology, brain scans were used to measure and compare brain activity between a group of adult musicians and a group of non-musicians. The scans showed, as might be expected, that the musicians’ brain activity was more focused and efficient in distinguishing between pitches in rapid succession. But when asked to rapidly differentiate between similar word syllables, the musicians also did so with far more accuracy and speed than those without musical training. Professor Gabrieli believes that early musical training may well help children become better readers, as many poor readers have trouble making auditory distinctions.

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