We are sitting in the guitar room of Avant Academy of Music. Drum mentors and social media consultant, Ramon Watson is behind the camera and I have my phone out to record this interview. I hope you enjoy the telling of his journey and how noble his path has been.
The very first London College of Music examinations were held at the Music Mart on Friday, November 10, 2019, in Kingston, Jamaica.
They were two electric guitar entrants. from the ART centre led by guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Fitzroy Bennett. They were Aayush Jain and Chrystal Elvey who are both teenagers.
The exams were conducted by Philip Aldred, the Chief Examiner of the London College of Music.
I met Shawn Richards when he started attending the Edna Manley College. His abilities as a classical guitarist were abundantly evident yet he seemed to carry himself as a person who started his musical journey later than many and considered it a blessing to be studying music and to be amongst academic musicians. When I heard that he had gone to Venezuela to study Classical Guitar I could not think of anyone more deserving of the opportunity.
As we sat to discuss preparations for the upcoming “Acoustic Delights” performance at Cannonball Cafe I took the opportunity to find out more about his journey and found myself in listening mode. My responses were reduced to nodding, saying “right” and “wow” as he passionately told his story with gratitude.
In preparation for the Acoustic Delights performance at the Cannonball Cafe on Thursday, November 28, 2019, I met with him and guitarist Shawn Richards, who is also performing on the show and like myself was taught by Norman in a group music room at Avant Academy of Music. After we discussed the guitar repertoire for the show and with Shawn playing some stunning guitar in the background, I proceeded to ask Norman a few questions about his journey and his feeling about the place of Classical Guitar in Jamaica.
Avant Academy of music has confirmed that Notis Heavyweight Rockaz band is scheduled to perform at their inaugural Avant Music Festival which is scheduled to take place at the Phillip Sherlock Center July 5-7 2019.
Seretse Small enjoys his job, building Avant Academy of Music and he is particularly pleased about it’s latest project; create a world class orchestra that will transform Jamaican lives….
