Antigua and Barbuda well-placed to be festivals centre of the Caribbean

A weekend concert that will feature the internationally renowned Kanneh-Mason
family of musicians as well as the Antigua and Barbuda Youth Symphony
Orchestra, will help to solidify Antigua and Barbuda as the ‘festivals country’ in
the Caribbean.
Those are the sentiments expressed by Antigua and Barbuda’s High Commissioner
to the United Kingdom, Karen Mae Hill, one of the persons involved in this 5 th
edition of the ‘Music to Inspire’ concert taking place on Saturday night at the St.
John’s Pentecostal House of Restoration on Lauchland Benjamin Drive.
“When you think about Carnival, when you think about Independence, when you
think about Sailing Week which has a lot of festivities around it, we see a niche
working with the Kanneh-Masons’ to bring the world to Antigua and Barbuda for a
week of music. This is not just classical music; it also features our music because
we have found ways to incorporate the steel band into the things that we do. We
have found ways to incorporate local music such as Antiguan folksongs arranged
for the orchestra, and we have worship songs arranged for the orchestra and choir
as well,” she revealed.
High Commissioner Hill said the Kanneh-Masons’ are one of the best assets
available to the country, as they readily identify as Antiguans and Barbudans as
their grandparents were Antiguans, and so too is their father. “They have a strong
connection to the country, and they are working with us to build this programme
into something people all over the world and the region will come to Antigua and
Barbuda to celebrate, music,” she declared.