BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - AFTER four weeks of hard work and dedication, 35 men, women and children have successfully graduated from the Fife, Banjo, Quatro and Guitar Workshop that was held by the ‘Cultural Doctor’, Winston ‘Zack’ Nisbett.
At a small ceremony held at the Cloud 9 Lounge, the students were presented with Certificates of Participation in the presence of their parents, other family members, friends and specially invited guests all of whom, while congratulating the students, expressed how pleased they were with the work he is doing.
Prior to the distribution of certificates, each student presented to the audience a sample of what they learned over the past four weeks.
Pieces such as ‘Yellow Bird’, ‘Give Me Oil In My Lamp, and 'Can't Help Falling In Love’ were played on the various instruments.
Nisbett described the workshop as a huge success and one that was unique because the students were not only children but adults as well.
He said that it was a pleasure to see adults taking an interest in learning to play instruments, noting that one is never "too big to learn".
With regards to the youths, Zack stated that teaching them to play the instruments gave them a sense of pride, joy and self motivation.
"Too often the young minds get involved in things that are of no importance or significance and having them at such a workshop is beneficial as they are on a path to cultural excellence," Nisbett expressed.
Nisbett said that Saturday classes were not only for the children to learn musically but academically as well, as a teacher was on hand on those days to teach the youths in areas such as Mathematics and English.
During the course of the programme, Nisbett took a number of prominent individuals in the Federation, including former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sports, Lloyd Lazaar, and Deputy Commissioner of Police, Stafford Liburd, to speak to the children to not only help them as they learnt to play their instruments, but to leave them with sound words of advice that could be applied to all aspects of their lives.
The workshop was the sixth to be held over a 15-year period and will continue as an annual event catering to children from as young as four years old to young adults.
The Delisle Walwyn-sponsored workshop began on July 30 with some 30 men, women and children learning about the instruments and how to play the Guitar, Quatro, Fife, the Tenor Banjo and the Ukulele Banjo. However, as the workshop progressed, it attracted five more persons.
Nisbett indicated that he would be hosting another workshop in the coming year, but would like to host another sometime later this year.
