Background Over the years it has become customary for the University Singers to participate in tours during the summer period, some based on invitation others self planned. From the summer of 2009 it was suggested that a tour be proposed for 2010, with suggestions being put forward for the Eastern Caribbean (particularly Trinidad & Tobago), Florida in the United States and the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom was chosen as the preferred destination following discussions with the Musical Director and late Artistic Director. This was suggested as the Choir’s last tour to the UK was in 1997, thirteen years prior.

A theme was chosen to reflect the goals we were seeking to achieve by undertaking this tour. The theme was “Connecting with the Diaspora: Building Bridges through Music”.

The choir sought the assistance of the Jamaican High Commission in London which was approached to partner with us on this tour. It was later decided that an external event coordinator should be engaged to undertake the arrangements in the UK. Romord Lindsay of Quizzard Entertainment/Quiz Media was chosen for this role.

The Organisers were mandated to arrange performances in London, Birmingham, Manchester Leicester and/or Nottingham. They were also to arrange promotional

media appearances and any other activity which would advance the process of attaining our goals on the trip.

Upon confirmaton of the tour Ambassador Joy Wheeler of the Embassy of Jamaica in Berlin invited the choir to perform as part of the independence celebrations in that city. We were limited to a group size of 23 for that leg of the tour.

Sponsorship Sponsorship was arranged to be a collaborative effort between the event coordinator and the University Singers. Locally the following were approached for sponsorship/funding:• The CHASE Fund • Jamaica National Building Society • National Commercial Bank • Ministry of Tourism • Jamaica Tourist Board• Ministry of Youth, Culture & Sports• Ministry of Foreign Affairs and

Foreign Trade• Office of the Prime Minister • Swift Cash • Moneygram• Grace Kennedy Remittance Services/

Western Union • British Airways • Virgin Airlines • UWI Vice Chancellor’s Office • UWI Mona Campus Principal • The British Council/British High

Commission

From the UK the following were to be targeted for sponsorship:• Jamaica National Overseas UK • The Birmingham City Council • The Makers of Taboo Energy Drink • Grace Kennedy (Grace Foods UK)• Pepsi • Coca Cola

Sponsorship support recieved• British Airways offered all tickets at

US$1000.00 a discount of US$275 per standard ticket. Additionally a baggage waiver was offered on 10 pieces of luggage at US$50 each way. Total package of US$10,075.00

• Vice Chancellor’s Office £4,000• UWI Mona Principal’s Office -

£20,000• Jamaica National Overseas UK -

£7500. The final financial sponsorship from JNOUK was higher based on

other non-cash support offered. • Birmingham City Council - £3000.

Used for the booking of the Adrian Boult Hall and accommodation in Birmingham.

• Jamaica Tourist Board, Berlin provided airfare travel between London and Berlin. Cost unknown.

• The British High Commission hosted the group prior to departure and offered a contribution of $80,000.

Technical and other non-cash support• Jamaica Tourist Board provided public

relations support in London through its agency.

• Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade provided diplomatic support with the British High Commission and arranged Schengen Visas for the group travelling to Berlin.

The University Singers with Georgette Naanning, District Manager, British Airways, at the Norman Manley International Airport prior to departure for the UK.

Issues with event managers

Three days prior to departure, the event manager Quiz Media through its principal Romord Lindsay, became difficult to access by phone or email. A number of areas which were supposed to be confirmed we discovered were not, though we were in contact and making arrangements relating to technical matters. Most of these issues came to light as a result of monies not being paid. Among the issues were:• Fairfield Hall requesting payment

to confirm venue. £1000 was transferred to the venue to confirm.

• The Martin Harris Centre, Manchester cancelled event

• Camden Centre threatened to cancel. (Payments made on arrival by JN)

• Albert Hall Nottingham threatened to cancel. (Payment made by JN)

• Deposits on accommodation unpaid.• Sponsorship: No sponsor, except

Birmingham City Council, was confirmed. Had to have emergency meetings and telephone conversations with Jamaica National to secure their sponsorship.

• No ground transport had been booked up to Wednesday July 21

After having discussion with the choir we departed knowing there would be some challenges and that we were heading out with some amount of uncertainty. Nadia Roxburgh, our technical manager, who had travelled prior to the group, had done a bit of work to ensure that we would have accommodation and the first performances were arranged.

Upon arrival in the UK all arrangements for the tour were managed internally along with the help of Jamaica National Overseas UK in particular Paulette Simpson and Samantha Bristol.

The UK Experience

Accommodation London The group had to be split up in London to reduce costs with a number of persons being accommodated by family and friends, while the others were accommodated primarily at the London School of Economics’ Passfield Hall, Carr-Saunders Hall and Bankside House

Berlin • Hotel Holiday Inn Express• Hotel Domus• Ambassador’s Official Residence • Residence of staff of the Embassy • Private residence

Birmingham Majority of the group were accommodated at the Campanile Birmingham Hotel while others were accommodated with family and friends.

Ground Transportation • While in London a coach was hired for

airport transfer on arrival. For most other engagements public transport was utilised.

• Public transportation was utilised for all other movements except to and from the Jamaica Independence Service. Thereafter we were provided with transportation organised and paid for from our funds. • Chauffeurs of Birmingham was the coach service used to transport the group on all major trips from Birmingham. • Jamaica National underwrote the cost of moving the group while back in London and the group from Reading provided transportation to take the group to that performance.

Meals The group was asked to take care of their own meals. At all performances except Camden

a meal or snack was provided for the group. Additionally on two days a meal was provided by a civic group in Birmingham.In Berlin all meals were taken care of by the Embassy.

Performances All the performances were done to a high standard with the choir giving their best. The audience numbers at the majority of the shows was rather low. However they were not treated to any less a performance.

July 24, The first engagement on the tour was fundraising reception for the British Foundation for the UWI, BFUWI. The event took place at the Triniddaian High Commission located in Belgrave Square, London. In attendance were a number of UWI alumni and other Caribbean expatriates. Former Chancellor of the UWI, Sir Shridath Ramphal and the Jamaican High Commissioner to London Anthony Johnson were in attendance.

Sir Shridath Ramphal addressing the BFUWI fundraiser.

High Commissioner Anthony Johnson Enjoying the performance.

July 25 The Fairfield Hall, in Croydon South London hosted the first full performance of the Singers on this UK tour. Audience support was rather low however this did not change the resolve of the group to deliver an excellent performance. The performance also served as good promotions for the rest of the tour and resulted in requests for other appearances.

The Singers performing the Nine Night Suite on stage at the Fairfield Hall, Croydon.

Dr. Murphey Osbourne performing at the the Fairfield Hall, Croydon.

Singers join a busker at an Underground Station performing Ave Maria

July 28In the heart of Central London, the Singers had the second major performance. This was at the Camden Centre which was across from the famous Kings Cross Station. Again the audience numbers were disappointing, however a much younger demographic was in attendance. The Deputy High Comissioner Joan Thomas-Edwards represented the Jamaican High Commission at the performance.

July 31The Jamaican High Commission, Jamaica Independence Service took place at the St. Martin in the Fields Church, Trafalgar Square, London. The event was attended by over one thousand (1000) Jamaicans and others who came out to celebrate Jamaica’s independence.

The sermon was conducted by the Rev. Dr. Stephen Jennings with University Singers member Emily Elliot, who was studying in the UK, reading one of the scriptures.

August 1The Jamaica Basic Schools Foundation’s fundraiser was held at Crystal Palace, South London. The event was a daytime event in the famous park.

August 2As Jamaica celebrated its 48th Anniversary the Embassy of Jamaica in Berlin, sought to present a different programme as part of its Independence celebrations. The University Singers was invited to present a programme which would display the diversity of Jamaica’s culture . As such, a programme which took guests through the various genres which the group performs, was showcased. There were over 350 invited guests from the Jamaican community, diplomatic corps in Berlin and others drawn from the business and civic communities. The performance was hosted at the Akademie der Kunst (Academy of the Arts), Berlin. Mrs. Joy Wheeler Ambassador of Jamaica in Germany

Pat Samuels, Regional Director, Europe, JTB

Audience in a standing ovation after the prformance in Germany

August 5A consequence of the cancellation of the venue at the Martin Harris Centre in Manchester, we were also cancelling the appearance in that city. However one if the Jamaican Diaspora groups in Manchesr requested that we make an appearance there. Scheduled initially fo rthe West Indian Social club it was later moved to the Moss Side Millennium Powerhouse, a community centre. This turned out to be our most challenging performance in terms of the quality of the performance and the audience turnout.

August 6Two UWI and University Singers Alumni, Marlon and Sjokvist Stewart, invited the Singers to perform for their son’s school fundraiser. However when the school reneged, they decided to proceed on their own. The performance attracted persons who travelled from London, Northampton and other areas to Hertfordshire to see the group on Independence Day. The Event was held at the Eric Morecambe Hall.

August 7The Association of Jamaican Nationals led by Beverly Lindsay, hosted the Singers in performance at the Adrian Boult Hall, Birmingham. This event was primarily sponsored by the Birmingham City Council. While the venue was not sold out there was a large turnout of Jamaicans and other Brits. Also in attendance were the Lord Mayor of

Birmingham Councillor Len Gregory and his wife, members of the all female group Black Voices and radio personality Bishop Joe Aldred.

Members of the Singers sharing with Celia Wickham-Anderson of the group Black Voices.

August 8 The Association of Jamaican Nationals also hosted an Independence Service, which was held at the Handsworth New Testament Church of God. The church building accommodates over a thousand and was at capacity at the end of the event. The Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Jamaican High Commissioner along with a number of clergy from across the UK were in attendance.

August 12The Singers traveled to the city of Nottingham for the final performance before returning to London. The event was held at the Albert Hall.

August 14The Jamaica Society, Reading Folk Ensemble hosted a fundraiser at the YMCA Reading. The small group which made the trip aquitted themselves very well. The Folk Ensemble

was keen on having us in Reading, to share with them, having seen our first performance in Croydon.

Though a small venue the audience thoroughly enjoyed the one hour performance, which was narrated by Dr. Murphey Osbourne, who gave little anectdotes on the pieces.

August 15Jamaica National Money Transfer organised the inaugural I Love Jamaica Day at the Crystal Palace grounds. The event was scheduled to run from noon to 7 pm. Among the performers were, a steel pan band from a UK School, Fashion Show by Jamaican designer Nealis, the University Singers and Luciano. In addition to the performances there were a number of booths selling Jamaican food and crafts. The official estimate of attendance stated that there were over 15,000 persons inside the venue. The

University Singers total performance time, in three sets, was one hour and twenty minutes, more than the main act Luciano.

This was the last event prior to our departure from the UK

The UWI, Mona on Tour

Mrs. Althea Gordon-Clennon. Senior Assistant Registrar, International Students Office, joined us on the tour in Birmingham, where she presented material about studying at UWI, to the patrons at both events.

During the intermission of the performance at the Adrian Boult Hall, Mrs. Gordon-Clennon addressed the audience on studying at UWI, including the various programmes available and extra-curricular life including participation in groups such as the University Singers.

Material was also sent which was distributed at the I Love Jamaica Day event organised by Jamaica National.

Media exposure The group received significant media exposure as a result of the tour. This was mainly in the form of interviews and appearance in print advertisements.

• BBC Caribbean Service • BBC West Midlands• BBC Berkshire • BBC Leicester • BBC London • Colourful Radio London • New Style Radio, Birmingham • Community Radio, Manchester

• Two weeks circulation as part of advertising campaign for “I Love Jamaica Day” in The Voice Newspaper. • Two week circulation on radio in London, Birmingham and Manchester as part of advertising campaign for I love Jamaica Day.

• Two week circulation in the voice newspaper as part of advertising campaign for concert at the Adrian Boult Hall, Birmingham. • Direct mailing of flyers to over 800 households by Jamaica National.• Text messaging to all of Jamaica National’s customers in Birmingham, Nottingham, Leicester and parts of London. • Facebook campaign • Website uwisingersontour.com

Home News Sport Radio TV Weather Languages

Archive

REGIONS

Latin America &

Caribbean

Africa

Asia-Pacific

Europe

Middle East

South Asia

------------

---

RELATED SITES

NEWS

SPORT

WEATHER

Last updated:

Email a friend

Printable version

BBC Caribbean's Year-end Specials

*****HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM BBC CARIBBEAN*****

Log on or tune in to BBC Caribbean on-air and online for a

season of year-end specials from 23 December 2010 to 3

January 2011, plus get regular updates in our News in Brief.

December 23

Parang special

Tony Fraser looks at the roots of parang music in

Trinidad and its development into the popular

modern soca parang.

December 24

London Community Gospel Choir

A profile of the renowned London-based choir

which started as a UK-Caribbean diaspora church

group and now also provides backing vocals for top

international pop and rock singers.

December 28 and December 29

Peter Tosh - Arise black man

The music, life, times and legacy of the legendary

Jamaican reggae artiste who went from being one

third of The Wailers to become an international -

and controversial - icon.

Peter Tosh pt 1

Peter Tosh pt 2

December 30

The University Singers

An in-house performance and interview for BBC

Caribbean by the famous choir of the University of

the West Indies recorded during their 2010 tour of

the UK.

EXTERNAL LINKS

London Community Gospel Choir

(LCGC)

Irving Burgie

The University Singers

Peter Tosh

Lord Bill Morris

The BBC is not responsible for the

content of external internet sites

SEE ALSO

3/31/2011

BBCCaribbean.com | BBC Caribbean's Y…

bbc.co.uk/…/101222_yearendspecials.s…

1/2

The University Singers featured on the website of the BBC Carribbean Service.

Representatives of the choir visited Broadcast House of the BBC at Aldwych where a 20 minute interview was done. The

choir presented pieces which were recorded in the studio and aired during the broadcast.

The interview was included as part of the BBC Caribbean’s year-end special and featured prominently on its website.

Conclusion

The University Singers tour of the UK 2010 was affected by several challenges which could have derailed all the plans. Had there not been for the steely resolve of the members to make it work the tour could have had a different outcome.

The culture of doing business in various communities in the UK was quite instructive. Lessons were learnt from this which should provide a basis for any plans to return to the UK in the future. More of the planning and organisation could be done locally to ensure success of the tour.

Despite the great challenges however the tour would not be described as a failure as there are several successes:

1. The University Singers now has a presence in the UK after being absent for thirteen years. 2. The University Singers now has a presence in Germany which it didn’t have before. 3. The University of the West Indies, Mona Campus has been given a presence in the UK through the promotions which were done directly and through the media. 4. To have performed to an audience in excess of twenty thousand (20,000) persons. 5. Exposed a number of members to (a) new country/countries.

MEMBERS OF THE TOURING GROUP

Adams, Stacy*

Adams, Brianne

Allen, Lurane*

Allen, Peter*

Bailey, Kester*

Baker, Toni-Ann

Benjamin, Chris*

Boothe, Heston*

Brooks, Rochelle*

Brown, Katherine*

Chambers, Jerren

Dunkley, Archie*

Ellis, Elisha

Fearon, Wayne*

James, Shauna-Kaye

McIntyre, Marsha

Miller, Stacie*

Morgan, Kristal

Mundle, O’Neal*

Osbourne, Murphey*

Reid, Mark-Anthony*

Reid, Carolyn*

Roxburgh, Nadia*

Sinclair, Stephan*

Smith, Lorenzo*

Spence , Sharda

Strachan, Ana*

Taylor, Suzanne*

Thomas, Marcelle*

Thompson, Roy*

Thompson, Warren*

Williams, Jhana*

Williamson, Johann

* Members of the Berlin team.

INCOME AND EXPENDITURE STATEMENT

INCOME Item J$ £ Sponsorship

Campus Principal's Office, UWI Mona 2,640,000.00 Vice Chancellors Office, UWI 454,451.51 British Airways 876,525.00 Jamaica NationaL Overseas UK*

7,500.00

Gate Reciepts/performance fees

4,337.00 CD Sales

2,722.00

Miscellaneous

2,257.00

Total revenue 3,970,976.51 16,816.00

EXPENDITURE UK VISAS 285,200.00 - Airline Tickets 3,747,525.00 -

Transport

15,000.00 2,220.00 Per Diem 944,468.00

Accommodation - 8,357.00

Meals -

600.00 Payments to Quiz Media 583,315.00 -

Uniforms

41,377.63 - Equipment Hire - 1,609.00 Venue Hire - 6,011.24

Miscellaneous 100,000.00

725.00

Total Expenses 5,716,885.63 19,522.24

Amounts covered by the University Singers (1,745,909.12)

(2,706.24)

Exchange rate

129.00

Jamaican dollar conversion

(349,104.96) Total

(2,095,014.08)

The University Singers Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts

University of the West Indies, Mona Kingston 7

(876) 702-3518theuniversitysingers@uwimona.edu.jm

universitysingers1938@gmail.com

www.uwisingersmona.comfacebook.com/uwisingersmonayoutube.com/uwisingersmona