22/07/2020
INTERNATIONAL COVID-19 BENEFIT WILL INSPIRE THE NATION
The novel coronavirus has disrupted daily life as we know it, especially for musicians who have found their livelihoods threatened by performance venue closures across the world. This time of isolation and great uncertainty brings us an opportunity to reflect on collective and individual futures. With their innate ability to bring people together in times of crisis and apply creative problem solving, who better than musicians to lead the way?
That was the thinking behind the latest initiative by The Inspire Foundation, which will host a weekend of online workshops culminating in a free virtual concert as part of The Inspire International Music Festival.
Now a benefit for COVID-19, the event itself called for adaptation from its resilient organizers who found themselves at a crossroads when a Ministry of Youth Sports, and Culture grant for this carefully-planned programming for eight thousand schoolchildren was withdrawn, and the summer camp itself cancelled, due to restrictions to control the spread of COVID-19 in The Bahamas.
“You know how tectonic plates shift under the earth? That’s what it’s been like for us—as soon as we get our footing it’s been like, oh wait, we’re shifting again, let’s see what we can do!” says performer and educator Tanya Hanna, who founded The Inspire Foundation with her husband and accomplished Bahamian musician, Paul Hanna.
“Even though the original structure went away, the students still exist and the need still exists,” she adds. “We had to decide if we would still be able to meet that need on our own.”
Not only did The Inspire Foundation find the resources they needed internally from their forty-person team to continue, but all of the presenters and performers involved also committed to dedicate their time and talent to expanding this programming into a full-blown and cutting-edge International Music Festival.
Formed just last year, The Inspire Foundation hosted a successful benefit concert in the wake of Hurricane Dorian, raising $33,000 to aid communities devastated by the unprecedented storm. Though Tanya and Paul Hanna are no strangers to community outreach as they have provided educational opportunities, concerts and performances for the Bahamian public since 1984, little did they know that their next task would be to re-imagine the role of a benefit music festival in an age of COVID-19.
“We always think of benefits as just about giving money, but value doesn’t begin and end with money,” says Tanya. “We realized that what we have to offer is still valuable, because it is speaking to this situation where a lot of people are asking, ‘Where do I go from here? What’s next?”
“We wanted to bring home the idea of connectivity because we are all going through the same experience right now,” she continues. “This is a good time to reflect and think about what direction you should go in.”
Utilizing digital platforms to reach the widest audience possible, most of the educational programming and the benefit concert will stream for free on The Inspire Foundation website, ZNS, Cable Bahamas and The Learning Channel. The Inspiration Foundation has also built upon this framework to provide workshops through their website, for a small fee, with leading industry professionals at home and around the world,
You don’t have to be a musician to gain valuable insight from these workshops—though many of their presenters are musicians and some master classes will cover = topics specific to the music field, these industry professionals will provide valuable resources for creative, emotional, physical, and financial well-being. So whether you would like to learn how to write songs in a workshop with Bahamian musician Theo Coakley of T-Connection, find out more about the training tools available to you to succeed with Jamaican producer Rohan Alexander Mcleish, or heal your heart with Israeli vocalist Ron Paz, you stand to gain valuable insight during a challenging time.
“Even though we are musicians presenting this, we are also in business and we can lead participants to examine what they want to do, how they want to present it, and what they can use to present it,” explains Tanya.
“Most of our content is designed for you to integrate into your life, for you to grow, for you to find peace even in this pandemic, and for you to think, ‘How can I use what I have to get where I want to be?’ You’ll be able to discover that.”
The weekend will culminate in a free virtual concert under the theme “Celebrating Our Bahamian Musicians and Global Music Friends”, which will bring together beloved Bahamian artists like Vice Versa, Giveton Gelin, Princess ‘Abdiel’ Pratt, and Lee Callender with international artists to provide a pre-recorded showcase of inspiring musical talent during these turbulent times. The event is even a welcome balm by its organizers, who are excited to celebrate with their talented musician friends around the world.
“One thing I really like about this whole event is that so many musicians and entertainers are coming together for the first time who are so far apart,” says Paul Hanna. “It’s been so hard to reach my friends lately, but doing this has brought us all a little closer and we hope we can continue to make events like this happen.”
The Inspire International Music Festival takes place on July 29th to 31st. To find out more and to register for workshops, visit www.theinspirefoundation.net. Tune in to the free virtual concert on July 31st between 6-10p.m.
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