Quickies

 

Bay-C endorses

 

 

One Health Ja

 

Bay-C, bass vocalist of dancehall/reggae quartet T.O.K, will serve as celebrity patron for the One Health Jamaica project.

'One Health' expresses the joint effort of different disciplines to improve the health of humans and other living beings. Professionals from fields such as environmental science, veterinary medicine, human medicine and agricultural science collaborate to implement One Health solutions in the built and natural environment.

The One Health Jamaica team has developed a project that will provide education and outreach on river-edge farming in Scotts Hall. Scotts Hall is a Maroon community in the Blue and John Crow Mountains National Park buffer zone. River-edge farming was not considered a serious problem in Scotts Hall until two years ago when severe droughts and conflicts over water, as a result of climate change, became a critical issue.

"I agreed to be the celebrity patron because of the 'oneness' of the project. We all are one, and everything we do is interconnected one way or another. One Health. One Caribbean. One Love," explained Bay-C.

Bay-C will voice an ad and serve as a celebrity judge for a river-health song competition, as part of the outreach, training and education related to river-edge farming. Bay-C will grant winners of the river-health song competition opportunities to perform at the Blue Mountain Music Festival and appear on ListenMi news.

He will also make a presentation during the opening ceremony of the One Health Caribbean Leadership workshop on Tuesday, June 23, at 9.00 a.m. at the Cardiff Hotel, Runaway Bay, St Ann.

 

Classics in

 

 

June on Sunday

 

On Father's Day, Sunday, June 21, the Soroptimist International Club of Jamaica, Kingston, will once again stage its Classics in June concert. It begins at 5 p.m. in the University Chapel, Mona, at the University of the West Indies.

Classics in June 2015 is being held under the patronage of the French ambassador to Jamaica, His Excellency Monsieur Jean Michel Despax, and Madame Line Despax.

Featured artistes include sopranos Nomali Lumsden and Danielle Watson, Angella Elliot and Karl Van Richards on piano, Emily Dixon on violoncello, Monique Harrison on violin, Stephen Shaw-Naar on voice and piano, and the quartet Chrome on steel pan.

Classics in June is not only a major fundraiser for projects of the Soroptimist Club of Kingston, but it has also become a much-anticipated annual event among local lovers of classical music and young musicians who are able to gain exposure through performing to an appreciative audience.

Over the years, Classics in June concerts have raised funds for a number of organisations and projects, including the National Children's Home, Jamaica AIDS Support for Life, and the St Margaret's Church Nursery. Funds raised from this year's staging will continue the club's ongoing support to the National Children's Home and other Soroptimist charities, with a focus on children and young people at risk.

 

All-white launch for Appleton Special Dream Weekend

 

The organisers of the Appleton Special Dream Weekend, in association with title sponsor Appleton Special Jamaica Rum, will host the All-White 'Cooler' Launch Party along the downtown Kingston waterfront on Sunday, June 21, from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Admission is free with invitation, along with a bottle of Appleton Special Rum. Without invitation, patrons will pay $2,000 and bring a bottle of Appleton Special Rum. The all-white dress code will be strictly enforced.

Marketing director of Dream Entertainment, Ron Burke, said "the Dream Team always pushes the boundaries of what to expect at our events and our new partners, Appleton Special, have come in and helped us to push the boundaries even further."

Patrons will be rocked by Coppershot, DJ Nicco, Chromatic and Di Unit and also see celebrity performances from top acts. The full weekend kicks off on Wednesday, August 5, in Negril with the Magnum Dream Live Concert, featuring Busy Signal, Chi Ching Ching, Dexta Daps, Jah Cure, Ding Dong, Chris Martin and more.

 

Lignum Vitae Awards entries close June 30

 

The deadline for submissions for the Lignum Vitae Writing Awards is June 30. Recently resuscitated and expanded under the Jamaican Writers Society (JaWS), in association with the Jamaican Copyright Licensing Agency (JAMCOPY), the Lignum Vitae Writing Awards now boasts a cash purse of $1 million.

Entry is open to all Jamaican nationals at home and abroad, as well as permanent residents of Jamaica. The three categories are the Una Marson Award for adult literature, the Vic Reid Award for young adult literature, and the Jean D'Costa Award for children's literature.

Entries in the adult category must be no less than 50,000 words and can include novels, creative non-fiction such as memoirs, biographies, autobiographies, as well as essay and short-story collections. The young adult and children categories are geared towards novels and short-story collections of no less than 30,000 and 15,000 words, respectively. All entries must be submitted electronically as a pdf document to lignumvitaeawards@gmail.com.

Additional information about the awards can be found at www.facebook.com/lignumvitaeawards and jamaicanwriterssociety.wordpress.com.

Sweetened by the attractive purse being offered through the JAMCOPY Cultural Fund, the Una Marson Award offers $500,000 while the Jean D'Costa and Vic Reid prizes each offer $250,000. The Lignum Vitae Writing Awards is aimed at becoming Jamaica's premier literary award and will promote and celebrate new Jamaican writing.

"We're building on the solid foundation left by the National Book Development Council," said JaWS president Tanya Batson-Savage. "Professor Mervyn Morris, Pam Mordecai, Garfield Ellis and Kei Miller are some of the esteemed Jamaican writers who have won the Una Marson and Vic Reid awards. We are looking forward to receiving an encouraging number of entries of this continued high-quality event come June 30."

The 2015 Lignum Vitae Award is supported by Nucleus Creative, Scarlett Beharie & Associates, and the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica, which supports the Jean D'Costa Award.

 

Rock, paper, Scissors on June 26

 

The fourth staging of Rock, Paper, Scissors will be held at Redbones Blues Café, New Kingston, on June 26.

The event is organised by Dominique Brown of Random Chaos Productions and is a part of the Kingston On The Edge Urban Arts Festival, which is a 10-day festival featuring various music, dance, film and visual arts events.

Rock, Paper, Scissors is a rock music event which creates a combination of music meets art. Acts slated to perform at this year's event are Downstairs, Sezi, Jason Worton, Random Chaos and The Sky Is Broken.

The event will also feature visual arts displays from various artists such as Reve Jewelry, Phillip Clayton, Victoria Silvera, Stefan Clarke, Jordon Terry and Vidal Dowdling, among others.

The event begins promptly at 8:30 p.m. Admission is $1,500 at the gate, $1,200 presold and $1,000 for students with ID. Part proceeds in aid of the Edna Manley College for the Visual and Performing Arts.

 

Speech-writing Workshop with Baugh

 

The Department of Literatures in English, the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, will host a speech-writing workshop on three consecutive Saturdays in July, the 11th, 18th, and 25th, from 10 a.m. to 1p.m. The workshop, led by Professor Emeritus Edward Baugh, former public orator of the UWI, Mona, will be useful to professional speech writers, such as public relations practitioners and executive assistants, as well as non-professionals who want to improve their speech-writing skills.

Professor Baugh has garnered an international reputation as an authority on anglophone Caribbean poetry in general and on the work of Derek Walcott in particular. As public orator, he has delighted and entertained audiences at the university's annual graduation ceremonies with his presentation of citations for honorary graduates. Professor Baugh will share with participants the knowledge, skills and techniques in the art of speech-writing which he has accumulated over his many years as a public speaker and speech writer.

Interested persons are invited to email litsengmona@gmail.com or call the department at 927-2217 for further details. Space is limited.

 

Sizzla Kalonji unplugs for

 

 

We Are Reggae

 

Sizzla Kalonji will perform unplugged for Montego Bay's monthly live music series We Are Reggae, on Saturday, June 27, at the Beach Bar of the world-renown Doctor's Cave Bathing Club.

He has more than 70 full-length solo studio albums and numerous number-one tracks, two MOBO Awards nominations, 21 sets on the Billboard Top Reggae Albums, the peak position being number five for his Words Of Truth album. His 2013 The Messiah album was nominated for the Grammy Award in the Best Reggae Album category.

In addition, We Are Reggae will introduce rising talent Dahvid from Kingston, Jamaica.

"We continue to present the best of the reggae genre, up close and unplugged. Sizzla has never performed in this format before in Montego Bay. His many fans will be able to experience his artistry in its purest form and within arm's length," said Peter Lloyd, international reggae artiste, and one of the three organisers of the We Are Reggae series, dubbed the Apostles of Production. The team also includes Patrick Casserly and Orlando Maxwell.

Showtime is 10 p.m. Tickets are available at Fontana pharmacies islandwide and The Beach Bar.

 

Immaculate Prep overall winner in

 

 

art contest

 

At the awards ceremony for the 53rd annual Junior Art and Craft in Schools Competition, held on Wednesday, June 10, at the Institute of Jamaica Lecture Hall, East Street, Kingston, Immaculate Conception Preparatory was crowned overall champion. They won Best Overall in the Competition, Best Preparatory in the Exhibition, and Best Presentation and Finish.

Village Primary received an honorary mention and Best Primary in the Exhibition, while Queen's Preparatory won the Teacher's Award as well as Best Design and Composition. Monsignor Colin Bryan Preparatory won Best Creativity & Originality and Ananda Marga Preparatory gained an honorary mention.

Chloe Stewart from Gospel Chapel Preparatory received a scholarship for the Junior Centre's summer school programmes. Chloe Stewart was featured on CVM-TV's Inspire Jamaica and Kerlyn Brown, host of the show, attended the awards ceremony to present the scholarship to Chloe and her mother. Chloe Stewart, along with Kerlyn Brown, accompanied the executive director of the Institute of Jamaica, Anne Marie Bonner, to officially open the 2014-2015 Junior Art and Craft in Schools Exhibition.

Along with the presentation of awards, the audience was treated to a number of performances by schools which had entered the competition. These included Rose Garden Preparatory, Gospel Chapel Preparatory, Immaculate Conception Preparatory and Ananda Marga Preparatory. The performances by Liguanea Preparatory and Monsignor Colin Bryan were especially profound, promoting positive social commentary.

The Junior Art and Craft in Schools Exhibition, formerly known as Art in Preparatory Schools Exhibition, is a yearly endeavour to showcase the creative and artistic talents of students ages six to 12 years old in primary and preparatory schools across the island. Fourteen schools participated in this year's competition.

 

Nesbeth named on roots reggae list

 

A recent article published by MTV IGGY, a division of Viacom Media Networks, has named Nesbeth among the local acts keeping authentic reggae alive.

The article titled 'Jamaican Acts Keeping Roots Reggae Alive' stated:

"Roots reggae has seen an infusion of young talent in the last few years, but not all of its new hitmakers are overnight successes. Nesbeth has been working the circuit in Jamaica for years, but it wasn't until 2014 that he had his breakthrough with the grassroots hit Ole Gangalee. The uplifting Taste Victory is his latest local hit in Jamaica."

Responding to the feature, Nesbeth said "it's an overwhelming yet humbling feeling to know that MTV IGGY has chosen to highlight my work, which serves as further evidence that the music is reaching not just locally, but also on an international level. It's a good vibration that encourages us as artistes to push even harder to get the message out there to the four corners of the globe."

Nesbeth is currently preparing for a tour this summer.