AFTER SPENDING 58 YEARS TRAINING small and large choirs; of leading school choirs on how to master rhythm, harmony and melody; of preparing hundreds of students for pianoforte examinations; of directing mass choirs or combined choirs; of organising Christmas concerts and directing choirs for Royal visits or State funerals, Ms Pam Wall, Music Teacher extraordinaire, was able to sit back and listen to the sounds of a High School Music Festival named in her honour.
The St. Kitts-Nevis CARICOM Youth Ambassadors collaborated with the Ministry of Education, Department of Youth Empowerment and Department of Culture to host the first ever High School Choir Festival, and could find no better person after which to name the Festival than Miss Pamela Wall whom they described as ‘one of the greatest musical icons in the Federation’.
The Festival was held at the Sir Cecil Jacobs auditorium, ECCB on the night of Wednesday 24th February. It was graced by the presence of His Excellency the Governor-General, Sir Tapley Seaton.
The honour was well deserved coming as it did in Black History Month when we too often see our black heroes always coming from outside the Federation and we tend to ignore those at home who have made such a difference in our lives by their dedication and commitment to service.
Miss Wall expressed how much she appreciated the recognition.
“It’s a big surprise to me. People have been meeting me and saying. I hear you’re putting on a concert at Central Bank and I say really, I don’t know about it. So it was a secret that was certainly well kept and I really would like to thank Clyde (Richardson) and all the others who have been in the background planning this thing behind my back. Thank you very much”, she told the audience.
The Festival’s aim was to bring about awareness of the Arts in the Federation and to also shed some positive light on the lives of young people, especially at this time when the Federation is being plagued by crime and violence. The Festival also featured performances by the CFBC Choir and local artists. It ended with a combined choir of all the schools participating raising their voices in a triumphant ‘One Love’ by the late Bob Marley.
The St. Kitts-Nevis CARICOM Youth Ambassadors must be complimented on this novel idea of hosting a High School Choir Festival. The six participating school choirs showed great potential and members of the audience expect to see great strides next year as students continue to hone their vocal skills.
