The Morlens School of Music, under the directorship of Mr. Lennox Vanterpool, last Sunday afternoon exhibited the talents of young music students in concert.
The event, which attracted a modest audience consisting of adults and children alike, was held at the St. Augustine’s Anglican Church in East End. Remarkably, it was staged in recognition of Molens 30th anniversary.
Prior to the start of Sunday’s event, Mr. Vanterpool addressed the audience: “ Welcome to this, our first recital, marking the thirtieth anniversary of Morlens School of Music. Let me say how rewarding we feel to be serving our community musically, for the past thirty years, in the development of our youth. Overall, we have come a long way, and so we say ‘to God be the glory’.
“But in addition to giving God thanks, we also want to especially recognize and thank a group of young music educators, who, through obtaining their education at Morlens, have been able to develop themselves as young music teachers. These youngsters have had music so engrained in their ‘dna’ that once they would have reached a certain acceptable standard in the arena of music, as long as they are interested to do so, then they would be qualified to teach.”
He said that two such students/teachers were present in the persons of Ojeda Vanterpool and, Kamal Vanterpool, and that he heartily applauds them for their talents. He noted that other students who turned leaders and coaches along the way included Shermel Archibald, Calyn Harrigan, Elson Richardson, Chrystal Duncan, Krystal and Krystie Webster, Josef Hughes-Caines and Michael Matthew.
Finally, it was time for some thirteen children to demonstrate the skills they learnt, on the piano, by rendering classical pieces.
The renditions included: Arvin Narine “The Echo”; Cael Smith “Minuet in C”; Jamyoi Hodge “The Egyptian Level”; Khorey Barret “Happy Day”; Sharvin Narine – “Wiegenlied”; Reyna Rico “The Egyptian Level”; Alex Payne “Lonely Road”; Draidahn Lico “Lazy Bear”; Cayson Caragliano “Who Said Mice”; Ethan Harrigan “Sonatina in F”; Amelia Olivacce – “Black Eyes”; Kieron Edwards “Bow Chika Wow Wow”; while Damarai Gumbs did a double on “Presto Sonata in E minor”, and “Intermezzo in A minor.” Special guest features were two vocal performances by Stacey Ann Porter who enthralled the audience with, “Hebè” and “The Flowers that Bloom in the Spring”.
An extract from the event’s programme leaflet noted: “Morlens was so named in honor of the Vanterpool siblings’ late parents, Morris and Lenore. Founded in 1989 by Lennox Vanterpool, the Morlens School of Music, with its motto ‘playing is work’, was conceptualized as a center of musical excellence, developed primarily to serve Anguilla’s youth community through music education. Thirty years later, the institution is firmly entrenched as one of Anguilla’s premier music education institutions.”
According to Mr. Vanterpool, Sunday’s recital was the first of
other musical feature displays to be staged throughout the rest of the year to observe Morlens 30th anniversary. These would include solo recitals, small group recitals, recitals by senior musicians, and a general school recital that would feature all of the students.
– Staff Reporter, James Ronald Harrigan
