June 3, 2002 – The Alton Augustus Adams Music Research Institute (AMRI) is hosting a free public summit of musical tradition bearers at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 8, at Marriott's Frenchman's Reef Resort Hotel.
The "Summit of Tradition Bearers" will provide the general public with an opportunity to hear discussions of issues surrounding Virgin Islands traditional music and interviews with four local musicians who are keeping Virgin Islands traditional music alive. The musical tradition bearers to be featured are: Stanley Jacobs and Eldred Christian of St. Croix, and James "Jamsie" Brewster and Alwyn ("Lad") Richards of St. Thomas.
Dr. Gilbert Sprauve will serve as the Summit's master of ceremonies and, "Stanley Jacobs and Six Pack" will provide musical entertainment. Gov. Charles W. Turnbull is expected to attend. Refreshments will be served.
The summit culminates and is the highlight of AMRI's five-day workshop entitled "Documenting Living Treasures," which is being held this week at the Virgin Islands Cultural Heritage Institute. This free public workshop is focusing on collecting, documenting, and recording V.I. musical traditions as well as designing oral history projects to preserve the stories of Virgin Islands' musical tradition bearers, and will be offered next year on St. Croix. (See earlier Source article on the workshop in Showcase section, "Adams Institute Sets Oral Music History Program.")
Both the workshop and the summit are funded in part by the Virgin Islands Humanities Council. For more information about either program, contact Janet Mescus at 776-8605 or jmescus@sprynet.com.
AMRI is a branch of the Center for Black Music Research, Columbia College Chicago and its purpose is to assist in discovering, studying and documenting black music in the Caribbean region, particularly the Virgin Islands. AMRI and the Center for Black Music Research's international initiatives are funded in part by a congressionally directed grant administered by the federal Institute for Museum and Library Services.
The V.I. Cultural Heritage Institute has provided the space for the workshop, and the V.I. Historic Preservation Division has donated office space for AMRI during its site remodeling.
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