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Following a charity concert dubbed Beyond Boundaries held at the UWI, Mona, chapel in May last year, four New York-based musicians with a philanthropic bent returned to the island to mount Beyond Boundaries ll at the same venue on Saturday evening. This time, the Renaissance String Quartet (RSQ) gave even more.
The funds raised will assist the restoration of Holy Trinity Cathedral, the 180 Degree Foundation, and the Immaculate Conception High School Symphony Orchestra (ICHS SO). The RSQ also invited the Immaculate Chamber Ensemble and the Charles Town Maroon Drummers to take part in the production.
An unusual and exciting musical dimension was added to the concert with the musical collaboration of the Drummers and the RSQ. Together, they played several Jamaican compositions to close a show that could indeed be “unforgettable” as was anticipated by its patron, Olivia Grange, minister of culture, gender, entertainment and sport.
The Drummers are Delano ‘Padim’ Douglas, a singer, songwriter and builder from the Charles Town Maroons of Buff Bay, Portland, and Oniel ‘Moustafa Reds’ Green, who started drumming at age 10 in Trench Town and is now a master drummer of traditional and West African rhythms. They began collaborating in 2010 and regularly perform with the ICHS SO.
The RSQ comprises violinists Randall Goosby and Jeremiah Blacklow, violist Jameel Martin, and cellist Daniel Hass. All graduates of the Juilliard School and the Itzhak Perlman Music Programme, they officially united in 2021 after more than a decade of collaboration and friendship and their inclusive vision for the future of classical music, wherein all cultures and histories are welcomed and celebrated.
Highlights of Part 1 of the concert – which came after the Quartet had played well-received pieces by Mendelssohn, Mozart, and Dvorak – were the evocative O’er Our Blue Mountain by Jamaican composer Peter Ashbourne and an incredibly energetic String Quartet Op. 59, No. 3 by Beethoven.
It was played at a frenetic pace by the musicians, providing, as RSQ leader Goosby had understated, ”a bit of a workout”. But one of the island’s most experienced classical musicians was not as reserved and declared to The Gleaner as the piece ended: “I have never, never heard playing like that, and you can imagine how many concerts I’ve attended in my lifetime.”
The highlight of the second half of the programme was the set of well-known Jamaican songs played by the RSQ and the Drummers, together. They included Bob Marley’s I Shot the Sheriff and Satisfy My Soul, Ashbourne’s Jamaica Folk (a medley of folk tunes), and Jimmy Cliff’s haunting Many Rivers to Cross. An audience’s supreme accolade, a standing ovation, was awarded to the musicians as their last delightful note sounded.
The other official events of the evening were a silent auction on the chapel lawn and a post-concert soirée hosted by Evence in the garden. There, members of the audience were able to share complimentary cocktails with the musicians.
One of the ICHS SO members told The Gleaner that the proceeds of the concert would assist with the purchase of musical instruments and the maintenance of the school’s Music House. The orchestra’s founder and director, Steven Woodham, said, “Providing an environment for the music to thrive takes money,” and ultimately, “socialisation is the goal.”
General Manager of 180 Degree Foundation Charmaine Edmondson Nelson said the foundation, which was established in 2021 as a subsidiary of Transformed Life Church on Hagley Park Road, has been helping several primary schools in the area, with a focus on St Jude’s Primary, where a smart lab has been set up.
According to promotional literature on the concert, it was part of the RSQ’s “annual mission to blend artistic brilliance with social impact”, and when I asked one of the members if they would be back next year, he said. “Oh, yes.”
English (US) ·