US Ambassador Brenda LaGrange Johnson (left), along with members of the audience, listens and enjoys the soothing music of Poetica Musica in concert, at the US Embassy, on Thursday, January 15, 2009. - Peta-Gaye Clachar/Staff Photographer
A trio of American musicians, playing mainly American compositions, on Thursday evening gave the final in a series of concerts at the United States Embassy initiated by Ambassador Brenda LaGrange Johnson.
"Tonight we're offering for the Ambassador's final concert, an all-American group," Public Affairs Officer Patricia Attkisson told the approximately 60 invited guests gathered in the embassy's atrium. One of the guests, Lorna Golding, wife of the prime minister, sat in the front row with the ambassador and her husband.
Ms Attkisson introduced the trio, Poetica Musica, as a "wonderful group" of musicians based in New York City. They are currently artistes-in-residence at Old Westbury Gardens, a mansion in Long Island.
Folk songs
Introducing the music, one of the trio, Eleanor Valkenburg (soprano), said that the group has performed in 40 countries and that she had been to Jamaica, having spent four months in Mandeville when she got married. She then spoke briefly on each of the first four songs she was going to sing, all folk songs arranged by Aaron Copland (1900-1990).
Accompanied by Maria Antonia Garcia on piano, she sang the nostalgic Long Time Ago, the cheerful Simple Gifts, the gentle lullaby The Little Horses and the comedic I Bought Me a Cat. The singer's manner was as folksy as the songs, and she especially conveyed humour when she mimicked the several animals referred to in the final song.
Contemporary melodies
A work by the contemporary art music composer Lowell Lieberman (1964) was presented next, with Garcia accompanying flautist Barry Crawford. The latter opined that though contemporary music is "not the most lyrical", he thought Lieberman was "under represented in the world", and the particular piece to be played had "great contemporary melodies", even while containing some "almost scary" passages.
Thus prepared, the audience absorbed the composer's 1987 piece Sonata for Flute and Piano Op 23. Judging by the applause, the long, technically challenging, two-movement work was enjoyed.
The other items were all easier on the ear. Leonard Bernstein's Five Kids' Songs were introduced by Valkenburg as being written by the composer for children's concerts which involved "kids playing for kids". She asked the audience to suspend their disbelief and pretend she was the child she was portraying as she sang.
Backed by the piano, she then mimicked boys and girls from six to ten as she sang and recited the lyrics of five simple 'songs'.
A spoken riddle
One was actually a spoken riddle: "Two Indians were walking in the woods. The little Indian was the son of the big Indian but the big Indian was not the father of the little Indian. How come?"
Garcia introduced the next item, Two Piano Rags by Pulitzer Prize winner William Bolcom (born 1935). She spoke of rag time music as having "jaunty rhythms and syncopation", and indeed it had many in the audience tapping their feet, nodding their heads and moving their fingers in time to the bouncy music she went on to play. One tune was Old Adam and the other Graceful Ghost Rag.
One non-American composer featured for the evening was Mike Mower, a British musician, whose Sonata Latino (1994) also caused many to jig in their seats. The number, comprising Salsa Montunate, Rumbango and Bossa Merengova, mixed the various rhythms indicated by the titles of the movements - the Rumba and the Tango, and the Boasa Nova and the Merengue, for example.
Brawta'
Enthusiastic applause encouraged the trio to give a 'brawta', Une Flute Invisible (An Invisible Flute) by Saint-Saens (1835-1921). The beautiful piece saw all three musicians performing and brought to an end a truly delightful musical evening.
The ambassador had the last word. She thanked the audience for coming to the concert, the last she would be attending in Jamaica, as she returns to the US shortly. She said the series (which began early last year and featured monthly lunch-hour concerts) was inspired by the musical offerings at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC, on the board of which she had served.