Selected high school students will have their education base widened with exposure to music production and recording engineering through a collaboration between the Ministry of Education’s Allied Arts Unit and Kross Kolor Records.
According to a press release from the Ministry of Education the Music Producer Incubator Programme is being made possible through UNESCO and Caricom and administered by the University of the West Indies.
The release explained that over the next six months, 13 students from several secondary schools will undergo training in music production and recording engineering. The aim, it stated, is to have them become independent emerging producers capable of creating professional-sounding rhythm tracks.
According to the release, the course will cover basic music theory, and the use of keyboard controllers to make rhythm tracks within standard music creation/audio software. It will also feature audio engineering basics for sound recording, music marketing basics, and understanding the functions of music industry specialists like producers, arrangers, publishers, road managers and music managers.
Head of the Allied Arts Unit Nicholas Fraser said that the programme was in keeping with the ministry’s vision of ensuring that students are exposed to some aspect of music before graduating secondary school, the release added. Thus, every Saturday, the students will be trained at the Allied Arts Unit, Queen’s College compound.
The release said that the unit’s Music Coordinator Joel Gonsalves is part of the team spearheading the programme, while Chief Executive Officer of Kross Kolor Burchmore Simon, who is a local music teacher and producer, will be the lead instructor. Simon explained that the selection process for the students started earlier this year and 13 of the best were singled out.
The release quoted beneficiary Justin Whyte, 16, of St Rose’s High School as expressing his passion for music and saying that a programme such as this will help propel his career. And Rehaicia Romain, a Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination student at the Bishops’ High School said she was grateful for the opportunity to be part of such a programme, the release added.
