The opera Dido and Aeneas, staged in April, in addition to featuring older performers, showcased the talent of 15 children from low-income communities trained in an ongoing programme by the Classical Music Development Foundation.The children were thrilled at the opportunity and accepted the rigours of rehearsal enthusiastically, said Annette Dopwell, one of the foundation's directors. But almost as important was the reaction of family members."One aunt said, 'I'm not really an opera person but I had to come because I couldn't understand what it was in this thing that had my niece so excited she didn't want to be late for a rehearsal'," Dopwell recalled.
The aunt's conclusion?"'It's beautiful'," said Dopwell. "She didn't know before coming that opera is beautiful. It was an eye-opener for her. But it was her niece that literally led her to come there."
This kind of ripple effect–encouraging young talent while at the same time fostering appreciation among their family and friends–is why the foundation has focused on young people over the eight years of its existence.Its latest endeavour in this direction is a competition for classical music students enrolled at local and foreign institutions. The competition is open to both vocalists and musicians. The final comes off in August but the deadline for entry is July 15. The range of cash prizes total US$10,000 with $5,000 going to the top winner. All finalists will get $100.Many talented musicians don't choose to study music because the cost is prohibitive and the long-term payoff doubtful, said Dopwell. The effect is seen down the line with not only fewer musicians, but fewer music teachers as well."The (music students) who are away studying that I know of right now, you see a lot of them coming back to do concerts," said Dopwell. "The reason for the concerts is that they need money to continue. There's no scholarship for them."
Dopwell hopes the concert will not only help them but continue the process of introducing audiences to talented performers outside calypso and soca."I don't think Trinidadians even know the wealth of talent we have out there," she said.The relative lack of attention given to classical musicians was shown when only one newspaper carried a story about rising star Jeanine De Bique despite Dopwell's attempts to get others interested."It's painful to me that Trinidadians don't even know her name," said Dopwell. "If someone had to pick the top 100 sopranos in the world, she would be among them. Jeanine is someone we should be showing to our youth as an example of what comes from hard work and discipline."T&T is missing out on the advantages classical music can bring, said Dopwell. Studies have shown it improves learning among children and calms patients with dementia. It also helps instil discipline, said Dopwell, which in the long run can help with the social problems the country is grappling with."What we are hoping for through this competition is to highlight something that is beautiful and that should be encouraged," she said, "and to also encourage the younger ones, who can look and say, 'Hey, I can study music and be like Jeanine De Bique'. We want our children to aspire to greatness."
For more information on the competition, check cmdftt.org or the foundation's Facebook page.