Next year’s Carib Soca Monarch Competition promises to be bigger and better than ever before thanks to efforts by ANSA McAL to nurture musicians through a two-day workshop.
At the launching of the 10th annual Carib Soca Monarch and an accompanying two-day workshop on Monday, Darshanie Yussuf, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of ANSA McAL, stated that she wanted to see music excel in Guyana and, despite last year’s successes, she hoped that this year’s would surpass them.
For the past decade, ANSA McAL has played a role in the launching of the careers of several local musicians, including Jumo, Shelly G, and Adrian Dutchin and is proud of these achievements.
Yussuf is optimistic that the workshop will yield first class improvement for next year’s Soca Monarch Competition. During the launch, the facilitator of the workshop, Klase (pronounced “class”) Gonsalves, was introduced to the over two dozen musicians gathered to gain wisdom from his expertise.
Gonsalves, better known as ‘1st Klase’, is a Trinidadian songwriter and producer who has worked with the likes of Vybz Kartel, Kes the Band, Pitbull, and has even danced with Machel Montano for six years.
‘1st Klase’ is the latest in a series of prolific musicians that ANSA McAL has worked with. The company had previously worked with famed Barbadian saxophonist Arturo Tappin, legendary Trinidadian bandleader Roy Cape and iconic music producer Darryl Braxton.
‘1st Klase’ will provide both budding and established musicians with advice on creating top-notch music and becoming better artistes. The workshop will be focused on creating music that is of the same calibre with that of international music, he said. According to Klase, the quality of music is dependent upon what you put into it.
Next year, the competition’s semi-finals will be held in Berbice on February 9, Yussuf said. The finals are scheduled to be held in its traditional location at the National Park on February 15.
