Beckford

The Jamaican Military Museum and Library, under the auspices of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), is to host its inaugural concert, 'A Dream Before Freedom', featuring renowned international soprano Abigail Kelly. It will also be the Jamaican premiere of a West Indian cantata, A Dream Before Freedom, with soloists, choir and the military band, on Sunday, August 10, at 11:30 a.m.

The music and text of the cantata were composed by Dr Richard Beckford and the late Norman Rae, CD.
Exhibits at the military museum. - photos Contributed

Jamaican debut

British-born Abigail Kelly, who is of Jamaican parentage, will make her Jamaican debut in a programme that spans items from Bach cantatas, operatic and popular arias, folk songs and Negro spirituals.

Abigail has toured with the British Youth Opera in France, Italy and the UK. Dr Richard Beckford is a senior member of the Music Department of South Carolina State University. His most recent performance was an organ recital at the St Andrew Parish Church.

Dr Beckford will be guest conductor for the concert. The choir is rehearsed by Winston Ewart, formerly head of the Music Department at the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts.

The concert will act a fund-raiser for the Jamaican Military Museum and Library and introduces a programme to expand the museum's cultural influence in the community through a series of quality programmes in music and theatre offered to the public.

not a new activity

This is, however, not an entirely new activity for the JDF. In the past, officers participated in local theatricals. For instance, the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta that opened the Ward Theatre, after the destruction of the previous Theatre Royal by the 1907 earthquake, included a number of officers in principal roles. This tradition has continued through the years.

The proceeds from the concert are important to the preservation of part of Jamaica's heritage. To this end, it is hoped that a chamber orchestra will be formed to give periodic concerts.

The concert, followed by lunch, will be held at the Garrison Church of the Ascension, Up Park Camp, Kingston 5. The box office opened on Monday, July 21, at 9 a.m. at the Jamaican Military Museum and Library complex at Up Park Camp (entrance through Cotton Tree Gate), and tickets may be purchased from Mondays to Saturdays between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Abigail Kelly, young soprano, to headline 'A Dream before Freedom'.