On Wednesday (May 24), The Alpha School of Music will host its Inaugural Sister Ignatius Lecture and Jam Session featuring local and international band leaders from across the Caribbean.

For the lecture, Etienne Charles, critically acclaimed Trinidadian jazz trumpeter, and Barbadian bassist, Nicholas Brancker, will join band leaders Peter Ashbourne and Omar Francis for a comprehensive discussion about the state of band performance and education in Jamaica, across the Caribbean region, and the world.

The event is open to the public and is a unique platform to learn about the future of band music in the Caribbean and its implications for business, education, and entertainment.

There is no charge to enter the panel discussion or the jam session.

Following the panel discussion, on Thursday (May 25), Charles and Brancker will connect again with their local counterparts at ‘The Jam Is Back’, live music event.

As the manager of the Alpha Boys Band from the 1940s into the 21st century, Sister Mary Ignatius Davies (1921-2003), serves as a symbol of Jamaica’s music culture, defined by band performance.

Many of her students changed the direction of jazz and Jamaican popular music as members of bands such as the Skatalites, Zap Pow, the Wailers, and Black Disciples.

The Alpha School of Music is currently Jamaica’s only tertiary institution focused on ensemble, or band, performance.

For decades, band performance has been the way that music was taught, performed, and experienced in Jamaica and throughout the Caribbean. However, access to band music and band education is increasingly hard to find for many people.

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