Caribbean artistes to feature at London Olympics

CASTRIES—The Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) says it will showcase regional talent during the London 2012 Olympics. It said the Caribbean Soul Fusion on August 9, will feature six emerging artistes and two headline acts and forms a part of the agency’s London Engage initiative highlighting a wide range of Caribbean genres, namely reggae, soca, creole music, jazz and folk music.

The artistes are Dominican Michele Henderson, the Haitian BelO, Jamaica’s Hezron Clarke, St Lucian Claudia Edward, the Barbadian Mr Dale and Xiomara Fortuna from the Dominican Republic. “One of the best identifiers of the Caribbean brand and its uniqueness is our music. Its ability to have global appeal is unquestionable. What we are seeking to do with Caribbean Soul Fusion, is to showcase that authentic Caribbean culture and widen the market appeal for our regional music,” said Caribbean Export executive director, Pamela Coke Hamilton.

“As such, the artistes that will be performing will represent the diverse nature of musical genres across the Caribbean. “Not only will the entertainment industry benefit from the increased demand for the products on offer, but also performers will have the opportunity to display the export potential of their craft and its appeal to an international audience,” she added.

Headline acts for the Concert are Jamaican reggae singer/songwriter Christopher Martin and Barbados’ jazz/reggae saxophonist Arturo Tappin. Caribbean Soul Fusion will also serve to end the second Caribbean Forum-European Union Business Forum scheduled for August 8–9.

The forum is supported under the European Development Fund (EDF) Regional Private Sector Development Programme (RPSDP) in collaboration with the CARIFORUM Directorate, the Guyana-based Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, and the German-based Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). CMC