After the visit of the Governor General yesterday, we were delighted to welcome their excellencies, John Hamilton MBE, Resident British Commissioner to Antigua and Barbuda, Charley Williams MBE, Deputy Head of Mission to Barbados and Non-Resident High Commissioner to Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Her Excellency Karen-Mae Hill OBE, High Commissioner for Antigua and Barbuda to the United Kingdom and member of the Commonwealth’s Board of Governors. They engaged with the group at length, learning about the course from both students and tutors.

 A feeling of excitement was already in the air before their visit, Reuben had demonstrated his Korean Drum as part of the fusion composition group, the compositions were coming together and rehearsals allowed students from Antigua & Barbuda, St Kitts & Nevis, and Montserrat to hear the entirety of their works for the very first time.

During our breaks, Venelle Powell from St Kitts and Nevis introduced us to some local Caribbean fruits, including soursop, sugar apple, and sugar cane. The variety of flavours and types of fruits were amazing. The sugar apple was a fleshy fruit with seeds that you sucked on before spitting out the seeds once the flesh had been eaten. The soursop was deliciously sour and very soft, while the sugar cane was brittle—you bit off a small piece, sucked out the juices, and then spat out the leftover cane. We were surprised to find that the sugar cane also doubles as a toothbrush!

Final preparations meant the film group truly experienced the pressures of a recording session. This was invaluable professional development, as the realities of film composition often require strict deadlines. The students were well-prepared and managed to complete everything within the allotted time!

After the completion of the course, we cleared up the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium before heading back to the Jolly Beach Hotel, where we rehearsed and made our final preparations for tomorrow’s concert.

Day 4 in Antigua was dedicated to a deep dive into the world of harmony. Our young composers gathered together to explore the intricate relationships between dissonance and consonance, and to investigate how different chord separations can affect the overall feel of the music.

The morning session started with an engaging discussion on the basics of harmony. The students learned about dissonance and consonance—clashing and non-clashing chords—and how these elements create tension and resolution within a piece of music. The tutors illustrated these concepts with examples from various musical genres, showing how composers use dissonance to build suspense and consonance to provide relief.

Next, the students experimented with creating their own harmonic progressions. They worked in small groups, each tasked with composing a short piece that employed both dissonant and consonant chords. This hands-on approach allowed them to hear the immediate impact of their harmonic choices and understand how subtle changes can dramatically alter the mood and emotion of a piece.

The next step was to move the focus to chord separations. Demonstrating how spreading out the notes of a chord—placing them in different octaves or giving each note to a different instrument—can change the texture and feel of the harmony. The students then tried techniques in their compositions, experimenting with various ways to voice their chords.

After a day working on our compositions and integrating newfound skills, the day culminated in a sharing session, where each group presented their compositions. The variety of harmonic textures and the creative use of dissonance and consonance were truly impressive. It was clear that the students had not only grasped the theoretical concepts but also begun to develop their own unique voices.

Adding to the excitement of the day, our team was featured on the national breakfast TV programme, Good Morning Antigua. Key tutors Ellen and Ka Youn, along with Alison Cox, were interviewed, sharing insights about our project and the impact it is having on the young musicians. Our wind duo, Rosemary and Lily, performed a new fanfare written especially for the occasion, showcasing the talent and creativity of our participants.