The idea for a National Philharmonic Orchestra was birthed seven years ago–then petered out in 2010 amidst controversy over foreign musicians being paid millions to join; expensive pianos finding their way into private homes; and criticism about its necessity.The Government quietly rebooted it a year ago on a test basis with 29 musicians who rehearsed for months and gave an invitation-only performance at the Little Carib Theatre in December.The orchestra gave its second performance on July 25, sharing the Napa stage with another invitation-only audience, leaving the main auditorium empty. Its first public performance is scheduled for August 26 at the same venue.
The 27 musicians–far fewer than what typically makes up a philharmonic orchestra, which may have about 100 members–played an adaptation of David Rudder's 1990, sandwiched between Mozart and Beethoven.It was composed by the orchestra's musical director/conductor Dr Roger Henry with the help of the musicians. He called it "an experiment" with "a lot of mistakes.""The process that we started with is the musicians saying, 'Roger, that really isn't going to work. We need to do it this way'," he explained to the audience at the end of the piece. "This is part of the process that making music is about."
He exhorted the audience–made up of government officials and others who are involved in the arts–to join in a similar process to develop and grow the orchestra.Back in 2011, Henry, an assistant professor at UTT and assistant musical director with the Marionettes Chorale, responded (via letter to the editor) to pan icon Nestor Sullivan, who criticised the suggested orchestra in a letter of his own.Nestor decried the spending of large sums of taxpayers' money on "colonial" music instead of our own–pan."The honourable members of Cabinet should recognise that we are the masters of our own new instrument, the steelband, we are second to none... best in the world," Sullivan wrote.
In his energetic response, Henry wrote: "Trinidad music did not pop into existence with the discovery of the pan. This country is heir to an extensive, expansive heritage of music in the Western tradition... We own that tradition–we are part of it."Our national anthem says, 'Here every creed and race find an equal place.' So let Western music have its place, and don't be a player hater. There is room for everybody," he wrote.In an interview earlier this year with the Guardian, Henry once again made the argument that Western culture is also T&T culture."The most important reason why a philharmonic orchestra is necessary is because we have musicians who want to play in one," he said."The violin has been around since before the pan. There are people in Japan who have made the pan their own," he added. "There's nothing wrong with us taking the violin and making it our own. These are our instruments. This is our culture."At the July 25 performance director of culture Ingrid Ryan-Ruben said part of the purpose of the orchestra is to provide local musicians with opportunities and options.
Producing better music
"I want people to see the philharmonic, not from the point of view of a European thing that we putting together," she said. "This is going to hone the skills of our musicians and help us to produce better music that will last a longer time."When this becomes a part of the palette that is available, people have choices," she added. "And we want our young people who are musicians to have choices."Asked about concerns that the orchestra could follow the fate of Divine Echoes, the big-band ensemble established by Prime Minister Patrick Manning when the PNM was last in power and dismantled by the current People's Partnership Government, she pointed to the seven-year-old National Steel Symphony Orchestra.
That orchestra has been able to survive, she said, partly through connection with audiences."When people hear them, see them and experience them, we build the kind of credibility that causes the public to say, 'No, you can't end this. This is too important to us'," she said.Francis Pau, a music teacher who plays French horn in the orchestra, said there's a long way to go to before T&T has a full orchestra of international standard."We need music in the schools–really starting at primary and secondary level," he said. "Here we have the programmes at a tertiary level, but we don't have the feeder programmes into it.""There are not enough people who have gone into the music profession," said Pau, because of the lack of regular employment for musicians. "It's really been just gigs."But Pau said a small start is enough."You don't need to have big orchestras," he said. "The important thing is to be making music."