Above: local musicians at the workshop in Georgetown

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Guyana’s Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and the United States Embassy in Georgetown recently collaborated to host a series of music workshops and a concert at the Umana Yana in Georgetown.

The events were highlighted by a visit from a Florida-based US Military Band.

The band, which included woodwind, piano, bass and percussion musicians, had come to Guyana to mark the Embassy’s Fourth of July celebration.

The band conducted a workshop with Guyanese in the first week of July for elementary training in saxophone, trumpet, trombone, keyboard and bass guitar.

According to the Culture Ministry, approximately 100 persons, including some from the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Music Teachers Association and others, attended the workshops.

The military band culminated the events with a concert attended by US Ambassador Brent Hardt and Guyanese Culture Minister Dr Frank Anthony.

Hardt has previously stated a goal of increasing the exchange of cultural activities, particularly music, between the two countries.