Bringing classical music festival to Barbados
Turquoise seas, white sandy beaches, rum, reggae, and Rihanna.
And next week, the island of Barbados, population 293,000, will add yet another reason to visit, the first ever Barbados Classical Music Festival. And that’s thanks in part to Hamilton’s Norman Reintamm.
Reintamm, who turns 60 on Friday, is director of music at St. Joseph’s Parish and principal conductor and artistic director of the Scarborough-based Cathedral Bluffs Symphony Orchestra as well as chorusmaster of the Brott Music Festival’s recent production of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute.” He is now adding another feather to his cap, that of artistic director of the aforementioned Barbados Classical Music Festival.
Reintamm’s connection to the island dates back some six years. Never one to loll about on a beach lounger, local beverage in hand, Rihanna CDs blaring in the background, Reintamm cold emailed Julian Bowen, a former civil servant now organist and choirmaster at St. Peter’s Anglican in Speightstown on Barbados’ northwest coast, population 2,400, and asked if he could come down for a visit and help out with the Christmas music. To Reintmann’s delight, Bowen’s reply included an offer to be associate organist for the parish’s Christmas music and to give a small recital.
“I went down and we hit it off well,” said Reintamm. “We started talking about the needs of the island. Barbados is an extremely cultured and musical island. They have everything from classical music to reggae to whatever. But what they’re looking for now is to develop the classical side of things.”
Reintamm to the rescue. For the past few years, he’s been making biannual jaunts to give small concerts. Bit by bit, his programs have become more intense. In October 2016, the Hamilton-born Reintamm brought Trio Estonia + 1 — Estonian violinist Arvo Leibur, cellist Aare Tammesalu, soprano Arete Teemets, plus himself at the 88s — to Barbados to present masterclasses at Barbados Community College and the Barbados National Youth Symphony Orchestra, and to give concerts in Speightstown’s St. Peter’s Anglican and Bridgetown’s Frank Collymore Hall, the latter a softseater for 490 with its own ninefoot Steinway grand. Earlier this year, Reintamm led the 20-24 voice Barbados Chamber Choir in a work that he says had up until then never been performed on the island, Franz Schubert’s 1815 “Mass in G Major,” one of the more popular settings of the mass ordinary well known to church and cathedral choirs across Europe and beyond.
“They’ve been very much steeped in the Anglican-English tradition, but doing masses and slightly extended choral works is a little bit different on the island,” said Reintamm.
“What they really loved was working on a professional level and me demanding as much as possible out of the group and pushing them. They just loved it.”
Over the course of Reintamm’s visits to the island, he and Bowen have been discussing how to put musical events such as those described above in an annual or biennial package that would centre on the church.
“They take their church very seriously there,” said Reintamm of the Barbadians. “A lot of events are based around the church, which is sort of how the Elora Festival (in Ontario) started with the centre of activities being around St. John’s in Elora. With their choral traditions in Barbados and with the organ music being very strong, it seemed logical to do what Elora did and transport it to Barbados.”
This Sunday, Reintamm heads out on a 10-day trip to Barbados for the inaugural Barbados Classical Music Festival (BCMF), which will have four official events, including a choral evensong of Stanford’s “Service in C,” a performance of Haydn’s “Missa Sancti Nicolai” accompanied by a string quintet, a recital by Barbados’ Philip Forde on St. Peter’s 79 stop, four manual Allen digital organ, plus workshops with the BNYSO.
“What Julian and I are trying to do is really trying to engage the youth on the island and to grow a generation of musicians that is attuned to what is really required on the international level so it will prepare them to do stuff in the future,” said Reintamm.
On the surface, one would think that Barbados’ classical music scene is ripe for the pickings. However, that’s not quite the case. The island has no professional adult orchestra or national choir. Students who want to pursue music invariably leave the island to further their studies or find employment.
And as for funding, don’t yet count on the current government, which is battling a deficit worth 170 per cent of GDP. For the time being, Bowen, who’s taken on the mantle of the festival’s general manager, and his team of five to six volunteers have mustered together some corporate and private sponsors.
“This is initial stages,” said Reintamm of the festival. “I’m thrilled to be part of this.”