Cayman Brac High School Concert Band Receives Instruments Thanks To Cayman National Bank
Following its maiden performance, the Cayman Brac High School concert band poses with the people who made it possible. Standing (L to R): Mrs. Shirley Wahler, CBHS Principal; Eric Crutchley, President and CEO of Cayman National Corporation; David McConney, CNB President; Peter Tompkins, founding President of CNB; Angela Martins, Executive Director of the Quincentennial Celebrations Office and Adrian Falcon, music teacher at CBHS. CNB donated the band instruments to the high school as part of its Quincentennial Celebrations sponsorship.
Cayman Brac High School has an impressive new concert band, thanks to the combined efforts of Cayman National Bank, the Quincentennial Celebrations Office, and the high school PTA.
The band's first public performance, on Wednesday, 20 November, followed a celebratory lunch at Bluff Café, a project of the high school's home economics class. Among those attending were President of Cayman National Corporation, Eric Crutchley, President and CEO of Cayman National Bank, David McConney and Peter Tompkins, Cayman Nationals founding President and member of the Board of Directors, along with QCO Executive Director, Angela Martins, CBHS faculty and PTA officers.
Mrs. Shirley Wahler, CBHS principal, welcomed the visitors and expressed her pleasure at the gift of band instruments and her optimism about the future of the CBHS music program, currently under the direction of Mr. Adrian Falcon. Mrs. Martins, introducing the bank officers, expressed satisfaction at the role that the Quincentennial Office had played in bringing together the bank, as a QC sponsor, and the Brac high school PTA, which had been fundraising for band instruments among its other projects. "It is exciting to be involved in such a community-based effort," she said.
Mr. Crutchley and Mr. McConney spoke briefly, saying how pleased they were that CNB was able to donate something of such lasting value to Cayman Brac as part of the bank's Quincentennial sponsorship. Local branch manager Ms. Zanda Scott, who said she was speaking as a parent, as a banker, and as a PTA member, talked of the importance of music to young people and expressed her pride as a bank employee that CNB had come forward to make the purchase of the band instruments possible.
With only two months' practice under their belts, the band gave a remarkably polished, if brief, performance, playing a Christmas carol and a jazz version of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", arranged by Mr. Falcon. Listening to the students play, no one in the audience could doubt that the brand-new CBHS band has a great future ahead. Education Officer Ms. Mexi-Ann Grant spoke for many when she described the gift as "a big step in the future of music for the high school and the Brac. I can't wait to hear them at the [Children's] Festival!" She went on to say,
"On behalf of the Education Department, I'd like to thank CNB and Ms. Angela Martinsfor their interest in the Brac."