Tuesday, July 21st, 2015. Flora Pereira Reporting: On Monday, Trinidad’s St. Augustine Chamber Orchestra (SACO) participated in a fully guided tour of the sacred temple of Xunantunich as a part of their itinerary for visiting Belize.
As an avid supporter of music and arts in Belize, The Belize Bank invited SACO to participate in two days of concert which was held at the Bliss Center for the Performing arts on July 18th and 19th respectively.
Over one hundred students from all over the Belize District also attended the event. Excited teenagers and adults enjoyed the warm Belizean hospitality, showing fascination over the short ride across the hand cranked ferry on their way to the site.
Kenneth Listrop of the Chamber Orchestra believes that this is only the beginning of something great for Trinidad and Belize, he was impressed by how easily the teenagers bonded, through the love of music.
Tracell Frederick, member of the orchestra, expressed that the experience was beyond her expectations; she learnt a lot from the experience at Xunantunich and she also learnt a lot from the students about Belize. The tour was informative in that they have only heard stories about the Mayas and it was a great experience to visit the site.
Alexander Evans, the Musical Director at NICH, says that there are other initiatives to promote music in Belize. They recently did a country wide tour for Orchestra and Steel band. He stated that “the musical marriage was seamless” and that he will look forward to working closely with this group to assist our Belizean group to actively participate in music.
The Belize Bank has funded many events to get youths involved in music as a means of social control and discipline. This great initiative has definitely impacted both our Belizean students and the Trinidadian group.
The Belize Bank will work to ensure that this music goes to another level where Belize can be represented internationally.