Music Festival is on

THE 32nd Biennial Music Festival of the TT Music Festival Association will officially begin on February 18 with a gala opening ceremony. But before this, mini-preliminaries start from today and will continue to Saturday.

The festival consists of regional preliminaries held in Port of Spain, San Fernando and Scarborough (Tobago) and national championships in Port of Spain and San Fernando. Adjudication of the preliminaries, semi-finals and finals will take place in the three regions –North, South and Tobago – between February 19 and March 10.

The national championships will take place from March 12-17, and the grand finale for the junior classes will take place on March 16, with the gala closing ceremony scheduled for March 17.

This year’s adjudicators are Belinda Mikhaïl from the United Kingdom, Dorothy Howden of Scotland, and returning to his homeland for the festival, Richard Tang Yuk.

Mikhaïl has travelled extensively, performing both as a soloist and as a chamber musician, and has appeared as a concerto soloist at major London concert halls.

She has made numerous recordings for Sony BMG and Universal and is a vocal soloist on EMI’s Vocalise album, as used in trailers for Grey’s Anatomy, ER, and Lost. She appears as the featured soloist on many film soundtracks, including In the Shadow of the Moon (winner of the Sundance Film Festival), and Bobby Fischer against the World.

Having visited many UK festivals, this is Mikhaïl’s first overseas trip and she is extremely delighted to be one of the adjudicators for TT’s Music Festival this year.

Howden graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) having as her main studies piano, voice and violoncello. For over 30 years she enjoyed a successful career in classroom teaching of which 20 were as a principal teacher of music.

Away from school life she was involved in orchestral playing and extensive accompanying of solo voice, instruments and choirs. For over 20 years she was musical director of the Cunninghame Choir in Ayrshire.

During the latter part of her teaching career, she was seconded for three years to the post of education development officer (music) for Strathclyde Region in Scotland. This was followed by two years as adviser in music for North Ayrshire.

Howden has adjudicated at most festivals in Scotland, elsewhere in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong and is looking forward very much to the TT Festival.

Tang Yuk, who was born in Trinidad, holds a doctoral degree in choral conducting from the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and is a licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music (UK); and has undergraduate and master’s degrees in choral conducting from the Mannes College of Music in New York.

Since 2004, he has been artistic director of the Princeton Festival, where he recently conducted Beethoven’s Fidelio to critical acclaim. From the autumn of 2017, Tang Yuk has also served as the artistic director and conductor of the Voices Chorale, a community chorus based in Pennington, NJ, which has a decades-long tradition of presenting choral music in the greater Princeton community.

Tang Yuk is delighted to return as an adjudicator in 2018.

February 19

9 am

JR-C8 Primary Folk Song Choir: 20+

JR-E6 Piano Duet (13-15)

JR-B2 Boy’s Vocal Duet (13-15)

JR-E9 Jr Guitar Ensemble (U20)

1.30 pm

JR-B3 Boy’s Vocal Duet (16-19) P

JR-A1 Girl’s Vocal Solo (16-19) P

JR-A1 Boy’s Vocal Solo (8-10) P

JR-B6 Girl’s Vocal Duet (13-15)

8 pm

OP-A13 Veteran’s Solo

OP-C10 Contemporary Religious Music Choir: 20+

OP-A4 Tenor Solo

OP-B6 Ladies Vocal Quartet

OP-D4 Piano Recital

February 20

9 am: No session

1.30 pm

JR-B5 Vocal Duet (u13) P

JR-C3 School Choirs Girls (U16)

JR-A10 Folk Song Solo *u20)

JR-B1 Boy’s Treble Duet (10-12)

8 pm

OP-B1 Ladies Vocal Duet

OP-E 3 Chamber Music Duet/Trio

OP-A9 Contemporary Religious Solo (Ladies)

OP-A6 Bass Solo

OP-C14 Calypso Chorale (w choreography)

February 21

9 am

JR-C1 Primary School Choir P

JR-D10 Recorder Solo (16-19)

Jr-D16 Steel Pan Solo (13-15) P

1.30 pm - No session

8 pm

OP-A11 Negro Spiritual Solo

OP-E0 Woodwind Ensemble

OP-D6 Guitar Solo

OP-A- Soprano Solo

OP-B10 Family Ensemble

OP-C2 Mixed Voice Choir 20.

February 22

9 am

JR-E7 Jr Pan Ensemble (U20)

JR-E12 African Drumming (U20)

JR-E4 Prim Sch Recorder Ens

1.30 pm

JR-C15 Junior Choirs: Upper (U20)

JR-D12 Woodwind Solo (16-19)

JR-C9 Secondary School Folk Song Choir: 20- (U16)

JR-D7 Guitar Solo (16-19)

JR-E8 Jr String Ensemble (U20)

8 pm : No session

February 23

9am

JR-A5 Girl’s Voice Solo (8-10)

JR-A11 Rapso (16-19)

JR-D2 Piano Solo (13-15)

1.30 pm

JR-E11 Tassa Drumming

JR-C11 Secondary School Song Choirs: 20- (16-19)

JR-D9 Recorder Solo (13-15)

JR-D1 Piano Solo (U13)P

8 pm

OP-A12 Vocal Recital

OP-D5 String Solo

OP-C13 Calypso Chorale (choreography)

OP-C6 Male Voice Choirs

OP-E2 Lieder

SOUTH Schedule

February 23

9 am

A3 Boys Vocal Solo (13 - 15 yrs)

A7 Girls Vocal Solo (13 - 15 yrs)

E5 Primary School Instrumental Ensemble

C12 Secondary School Folk Song

Choir (over 20) (16 - 19yrs)

12.30 pm

C6 Secondary School Choir (lower)

B6 Girls Vocal Duet (13 - 15 yrs)

B2 Boys Vocal Duet (13 - 15yrs)

7 pm

A 15 Operatic Aria Gents

A14 Operatic Aria Ladies

D11 Improvisation on Steelpan

A10 Contemporary Religious Solo (Gents)

B9 Operatic

Ensemble C15 Parang

February 26

9 am

A9 Contemporary Religious Solo (16 - 19 yrs)

C10 Secondary Folk Song Choir (15 yr & under) (over 20)

12.30 pm

C3 Primary/Secondary School Girls Choir (15 yrs & under)

C13 Junior Parang Ensemble (19 yrs & under)

D6 Acoustic Guitar Solo (15 yrs & under)

D7 Acoustic Guitar Solo (16 - 19 yrs)

D12 Woodwind Solo (16 - 19 yrs)

7 pm

A1 Soprano Solo

D1 Piano Solo

D5 String Solo

C12 Folk Song Choir (over 20)

A6 Bass Solo

C11 Folk Song Choir (20 & under)

February 27

12.30 pm

E7 Junior Instr. Ensemble (19 yrs & under)

C1 Primary School Choir (15 yrs & under)

D4 String Solo (15 yrs & under)

C7 Primary School Folk Song

Choir (20 singers and under)

D14 Brass Solo (19 yrs & under)

D13 Brass Solo (15 yrs & under)

7 pm

D4 Piano Recital

E5 Steelpan Ensemble

E3 Chamber Music Duet or Trio

A16 Musical Theatre Solo Ladies

February 28

9 am

A2 Boys’ Vocal Solo (11 -12 yrs)

A5 Girls’ Vocal Solo (8 -10 yrs)

A10 Folk Song Solo (19 yrs and under)

7 pm

D8 Woodwind Solo

A8 Oratorio Solo Gents

D6 Acoustic Guitar Solo

A7 Oratorio Solo Ladies

A13 Veterans Solo

B4 Operatic Duet

A11 Negro Spirituals

March 1

9 am

A4 Boys’ Vocal Solo (16 -19 yrs)

A8 Girls’ Vocal Solo (16 -19 yrs)

C8 Primary School Folk Song Choirs (over 20 singers)

12.30 pm

C2 Primary/Secondary School Choir (boys 15yrs and under)

E11 Tassa Drumming (19 yrs and under)

D3 Piano Solo (16 - 19 yrs)

D17 Steel Pan Solo (16 - 19 yrs)

March 2

9 am

B1 Boys Treble Duet (12 yrs & under)

C15 Junior Choirs (upper voices) (19 yrs & under)

D2 Piano Solo (13 - 15 yrs)

C9 Secondary Folk Song

Choir (under 20) (15 yrs & under)

12.30 pm

C11 Sec. School Folk Song Choir (20 & under) (16 - 19 yrs)

B5 Girls Vocal Duet (12 years and under)

D1 Piano Solo (12 yr & under)

7 pm

B2 Mixed Vocal Duets

B3 Gents Vocal Duets

A19 Folk Song Solo Gents

A18 Folk Song Solo Ladies

B5 Ladies Vocal Trio

March 5

1 pm

C16 Junior Choir Mixed Voices (19 yrs & under)

D15 Steel Pan Solo (12 yrs & under)

D9 Recorder Solo (13 - 14 yrs)

8 pm

C13 Calypso Chorale (without choreography)

A4 Tenor Solo B6 Ladies Quartet

A5 Baritone

C14 Calypso Chorale (with Choreog)

A9 Contemporary Religious Solo Ladies

March 6

9 am

A1 Boys Vocal Solo (8 - 10yrs)

A6 Girls Vocal Solo (11 - 12 yrs)

C17 Junior Choir (Lower Voices)

8 pm

C2 Mixed Choir A3 Contralto Solo