WITH activities already lined up for this season’s National Carnival festivities, including the popular Groovy and Power Soca Monarch competitions—a two-day training programme has been scheduled to better prepare participants and judges for these events.
Hosted by the Association of Musicians, Performers and Producers of Saint Lucia (AMPP SLU), the training exercise is designed to develop competencies where Soca music is concerned and upgrade the standard of performance and adjudication of the Groovy & Power Soca competitions in Saint Lucia. The workshop is supported by the Judges’ Association of St. Lucia, which has a majority of its members officiating at scheduled shows.
The workshop, which runs from June 11 to 12, is being funded by the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Creative Industries, the Carnival Planning and Management Committee CPMC) and the Carnival Music Management Committee (CMMC). Dr. Josephine Torrel-Brown of Trinidad & Tobago is the facilitator for the exercise.
Dr. Torrel-Brown is an educator, researcher, musician and consultant who possesses a doctorate in Cultural Studies from the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT), a Master of Philosophy (MPHIL) degree in Cultural Studies from the University of the West Indies (UWI) and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Musical Arts (UWI). She has served as an adjudicator for a number of competitions in T&T including the International Soca Monarch as well as Grenada’s Soca Monarch, earning her role as the Chief Adjudicator of the prestigious International Soca Monarch Competition and T&T’s National Schools Soca Monarch Competition.
Her experience has taken her to other countries in the region and also to the United Kingdom as a guest of honour and facilitator, among other key roles in various seminars and training workshops.
According to AMPP SLU, the organization is fortunate to have someone as accomplished and highly esteemed as Dr. Torrel-Brown, to share in her wealth of knowledge and expertise with the participants. Attendees will be exposed to the fundamentals of music composition, performance, music analysis and adjudication.
The Soca Training Workshop will be held at the National Skills Development Centre (NSDC) in Bisee, Castries. Day one, Saturday June 10, will be a seminar for Soca artistes, particularly participants for the upcoming Soca competitions. A workshop on day two June 11, will cater for judges for the Soca competitions.
Organizers say, the response for participation in this weekend’s Soca training exercise has been overwhelming and they are looking forward to a stimulating and rewarding exercise aimed essentially at “Taking Soca to Higher Heights”.