Music students to have a blast with new trumpets |12 November 2011

Swedish Carl Lennart Swenson, the honorary consul of Seychelles in Umeå, gave four trumpets to the school and it was principal secretary for culture Raymonde Onezime who accepted the instruments during a small ceremony at the National Cultural Centre.

A university town in the north of Sweden, Umeå is the biggest city in Norrland and the 12th biggest in Sweden. The town is a centre of education, technical and medical research in Sweden, with two universities and over 30,000 students.

The NCPA signed a memorandum of understanding this year with the Midgardsskolan – a high school in Umeå – and the agreement covers exchanges between the two schools.

Music teacher Jerry Souris said they previously did not have enough trumpets to properly teach classes, but now they can even give students the instruments to take home to practice after each class.
“We have already bought other accessories we need, such as lubricants so as to keep the instruments in great condition,” he said.

Under the agreement, local music student Alisha Ernesta – who plays the piano and guitar – will be leaving the country for a six-month attachment at the Umeå Midgardsskolan from January to June next year.

Mr Souris said that under the school’s strategic plan, the aim is to have students in secondary four or five go on exchange visits to other countries’ music schools so that when they return to Seychelles, they can get good results in their final exams and qualify for a full scholarship in a music-teaching institution overseas.

The agreement also covers the training of instructors, where next year music teachers from Umeå will come to Seychelles to help further the knowledge and develop the skills of those working with the NCPA.

There are also ongoing negotiations on the possibility of having a music scholarship inserted in the memorandum of understanding and hopefully a lucky NCPA student would get a three-year scholarship at the Midgardsskolan.

I.H.