Dr. Eric Conway, Director of the Morgan State University Choir, www.msuchoir.org, writes:
Hello everyone,
This is our first communication from
Jamaica. Many of you already know that our plane had to depart from
Ronald Reagan Airport in DC at 6:05 AM on Thursday, June 28, which meant
that we needed to leave from Murphy at Morgan absolutely no later than
3AM, which was actually too late a departure time. Of course my biggest
concern was leaving someone behind that early in the morning. Well, my
worst fear was realized, and one choir member did not make the flight
with us to Jamaica. Thank you God for stand-by flights. The one
student did manage to get to Jamaica by himself through Miami airport.
We were made whole again.
We are staying at a
very fine hotel, paid for by the United States Embassy in Jamaica.
Fortunately, the schedule was not too rigorous the first day and
everyone is well rested.
Our first concert was
at the Institute of Jamaica, almost as old as Morgan, founded in 1879.
Before we began, we experienced some of the almost third-world
conditions that exist here in Jamaica, in when we arrived at the school,
the electricity just went down. Just about everyone in Jamaica has a
generator, except for this school. We planned to use our electric
keyboard, but fortunately, there was a relatively in-tune piano on the
premises. Just before the concert began, the electricity cut back on
and we were ready to go! We had a very good concert and Ambassador
Bridgewater, herself was in attendance. She wanted to hear our full
concert despite the fact that we are invited to sing for her at her
residence during her 4th of July bash, where only the most important
VIP's on the island will attend, given on this Monday, July 2, 2012,
hours before we depart on Tuesday, July 3, at 6:40AM.
After
the concert, we were graciously invited to her residence for a meal
cooked by her executive chef. Simply scrumptious. He prepared for
us perhaps Jamaica's most popular food - jerk chicken. In attendance
were several Morgan alums - notably Minister Anthony Hylton, Minister of Industry and Commerce in Jamaica. He is a very proud Morgan
graduate who in addition to meeting with us at the ambassador's
residence, provided tickets for us to attend the Jamaican Olympic
trials. Many of you already know the great competition between Jamaica
and the United States in the track and field events. For many of us,
this may be the closest we physically get to an Olympic related event.
The trials were very exciting. As a matter of coincidence, one of the
best track and field participants was a cousin to our own choir member,
Tristan Morris. He won his best event - 200 meters event.
Some
how, we happen to always be in good favor. We were glad that we had
the opportunity to attend. Please see photos attached. More to come. .
. .
Eric Conway, D.M.A.
Fine and Performing Arts Department, Chairperson
Morgan State University
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