The Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) has announced the staging of a student
Information Session on Thursday for the 2024 Eastern Caribbean Central Bank/
Regional Security System Asset Recovery Unit (ECCB/RSS-ARU) Creative Youth
Competition.
The ECCB said in a release that the 2024 competition will feature songwriting, and is
open to secondary school and community college students, aged 13-19. The session is
designed to assist the competition participants with their submissions and will be
facilitated by singer and experienced songwriter, James Harrigan out of Anguilla, and
calypsonian and songwriter Gael ‘Trilla-G’ Jno Baptiste from the Commonwealth of
Dominica.
The presenters will address the following areas:
1. How to start writing a song
2. Musical inspiration
3. Composing catchy melodies and hooks
4. Developing interesting harmonies
5. Exploring a variety of styles for songs
6. Understanding common structures
7. Writing inspirational lyrics
The ECCB/RSS-ARU Creative Youth Competition, launched in September 2018, is
geared towards stimulating the minds of the region's youth on issues that impact the
socio-economic landscape of the region. The initiative is part of the Bank’s Community
Outreach Programme and is executed in collaboration with the RSS-ARU. It also affords
students the opportunity to express themselves through creative expressions such as:
essay writing, poetry, songwriting, and art.
This year the students will compose and perform songs on one of the following topics:
1. Food security for the Caribbean
2. My vision for the Eastern Caribbean Dollar
3. Mental Health of Teens and Young Adults
The Information Session will be held virtually and will be shared subsequently via the
ECCB social media platforms and website, where students will be able to access the
content for reference.
