2012-Oct-02-2252Hrs
Hi Errol, The following is for the Blog:
It was Orientation ( Registration) Day. A diverse pioneer group of equally numbered , successful male and female high school graduate students, from all over Trinidad and Tobago had just been officially welcomed to the then newly built Mausica Teachers' College, by its first principal, the portly Harry Joseph.
Most, now aging Mausica pioneers, will recall elements of Mr. Joseph's somber welcoming speech:insufficient beds, insufficient mattresses etc. but, nevertheless, dormitory room keys were handed out and hostels were assigned. With apparently nothing else to do, the seemingly shy group of students wandered about aimlessly.
In one corner of the auditorium, just beneath the large stage, stood a new upright piano. An adventurous and apparently musically knowledgeable female student meandered over to the piano.Already at the piano, was a music score sheet, from which the student began to play. Though the music filled the air, it really caught no one's ear. It was merely background music.
Then, something magical happened. Another fellow student, whom we later came to know as Bertie Fraser, himself went over to the piano. At a convenient pause in the playing, by the person already at the keyboard, Bertie hesitantly asked: " Can I play?" Obliginly, the female student eased herself off the piano stool. Bertie sat down casually in front of the piano, discarded the music score sheet and, with no grandiosity, began playing popular songs and tunes of the day and times.( songs that were familiar to everyone)
Momentarily and slowly and slowly, a group of students began to gather around and encircle Bertie at the piano.. When Bertie apparently exhausted playing the library of songs that he had in his memory, he began playing requests being shouted-out by anyone from among the participating group.
Without skipping a beat, this multi-talented fellow pioneer student, easily changed from tune to tune, much to the delight of the now awakened and admiring bunch of first year students.
Little did Mr. Williams and Miss Cuffie know that therin was the genesis of The Mausica Teachers'College Choir.
P.S To this day, Bertie Fraser has been the most musically talented and multi-talented person that I had the pleasure to know.
I had known Bertie long before we both arrived at Mausica. We were both country boys from Arouca.
It was Bertie who, in my early teen years, taught me , at his home, to play the guitar. Likewise, at Mausica, he taught me to play the Cuatro. It proved to be an easy transition and, as a member of the Mausica Folk Band, it became my preferred playing instrument.
Upon graduating from Mausica Teachers' College, Bertie and I remained very close friends.
On Thursday,September 27,2012 in Columbia,Maryland,USA, Bertie passed on, from complications of a cancerous brain tumour.
Sleep on my friend, my pioneer Mausica brother. May your soul forever rest in peace.
Kelvin Esmond Francois ( a.k.a 'Es' )
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