While community members will have to wait until Sunday’s jazz benefit at the Reichhold Center for the Arts to hear the sounds of Dion Parson and his 21st Centry Band, local students got the chance Thursday to warm up for the show in their own private workshop with the musical great.
The proceeds from Sunday’s benefit will help the Education Department and University of the Virgin Islands expand its music programs, which Education officials said during Thursday’s class have turned out some exceptional talent.
Students from Bertha C. Boschulte Middle School, Addelita Cancryn Junior High School, Edith Williams Alternative Academy, Charlotte Amalie High School and Ivanna Eudora Kean High School participated in the event – along with their band directors and music instructors, who said the class would go a long way in inspiring many to pursue their musical dreams through high school and college.
CAHS and Kean’s bands will also be opening the benefit, playing before Parson and his band come on stage.
"Events like these give the students the chance to see other musicians from the Virgin Islands," Bertha C. Boschulte music teacher Liston Sewer said Thursday. “It gives them a chance to see multiple instruments being played together at the same time in multiple styles. It gives them a chance to play together and most importantly hear how they sound together on stage.”
Parson started out the workshop by debuting a remix of Sonny Rollins’ famous "St. Thomas," which the students then got the chance to play for themselves with members of the 21st Century Band. Everything from bass guitars to steel pans and African drums were used, and students said afterward that they were thankful for the experience.
"This is my first time participating in a workshop like this, and I think I really like just being able to sit here and soak up the music," CAHS junior Quianah Joice said.
Joice, who plays guitar and recently picked up the drums, added that she’s moved by the feel of jazz music, and said that Rollins and Parson are on her regular playlists.
"It’s great for us to be able to see how the band moves together and how they work in harmony," Joice said. "It’s really wonderful being able to be here and be a part of this."
Rajah Persad, a seventh-grader at Cancryn, said later that the workshop gave the students the chance to see how they could evolve as musicians. Persad said he’s been exposed to music since elementary school, but recently started to see it as something he could do professionally.
"This gives me the chance to see things up close and talk to people who know what it’s like to do music and what it takes," he said. "So far, it’s been a lot of fun and I’m glad we were also able to see what the music sounds like when it is all put together."
The benefit will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Sunday and is also sponsored by the United Jazz Foundation’s "Mentoring Through the Art of Music" program, which Parson founded.
Tickets are available from the Reichhold Center Box Office at 693-1559, V.I. Bridal and Tuxedo Center, International Records & Tapes, Urban Threadz and Essentric Shoe Boutique on St. Thomas and the Love City Barber Shop on St. John.
