Local and international faculty at Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts will take to the stage today for a benefit recital The Chords That Unite Us.

Proceeds of the event will gotowards bursaries for students.

Acting dean at the School of Music André Adman shared that funds raised from this recital will go towards assisting students who have completed the Fundamentals of Music Literacy and Performance (FMLP) Programme and are now about to enter year one of a degree programme, as it has been found that these are the students who need the most support.

“In terms of attrition, a lot of the time we have students leaving in the first year due to the financial burden. Scholarships are not usually given until after year two, so in this instance we want to focus on these FMLP students entering either the Bachelor of Music or Bachelor of Music Education programme with a focus on piano,” said Adman.

Saturday’s recital will explore the universality of musical communication as Jamaican members of faculty collaborate with colleagues from other countries.

The performers will include pianist Yuko Aoki (Japan), violinist Paula-Kay Beswick (Jamaica), soprano Diana Sancho Ibarra (Cuba), and pianist Stephen Shaw-Naar (Jamaica). Among the composers whose works will be performed are Cuban Eduardo Sánchez de Fuentes, Jamaica’s Peter Ashbourne and Tōru Takemitsu from Japan.

Also included will be items from the pens of Austrian Composer Schubert, Elgar from Britain, German luminaries Brahms, Mendelssohn and Schumann, as well as Norway’s Grieg.

Shaw-Naar noted that the programme has been curated to explore masterpieces of standard vocal and instrumental repertory, along with items representative of each country’s creative output.

“A feature of this performance is the realisation of the great piano concertos of Grieg and Schumann, performed in their entirety in two-piano form. Edna Manley College is one of the few local venues equipped with two grand pianos of equal power to support this venture. We have prepared an evening of truly fine music and look forward to sharing it with a receptive audience,” he added.

A number of similar initiatives have been undertaken by the college with the aim of providing financial assistance to students in need. Most recently, a concert in observance of International Jazz Day (April 30) was held at the college with the proceeds earmarked for a similar cause.