We've heard of Women's Week, Children's Week, Senior Citizens' Week, End Abuse Week...pretty much all 52 weeks of the year have some cause claiming them. And now this, the 14th week of 2005 is Music Week. That's a first because, usually you just listen to, dance to, or perform music, and it seems, there's never much good in talking about it seems pretty much like what Frank Zappa called "dancing to architecture." But the organizers of Music Week say talk, and lots of it, is what the Belize Music Industry needs. And that's what has been planned with a string of panel discussions, workshops, and yes concerts to discuss and display the diversity of music that is enjoyed in Belize.
The event is organized by MIAB, the Music Industry Association of Belize with the cooperation of NICH. NICH's Cultural Ambassador Andy Palacio explained that music is about the nation's soul.
Andy Palacio, Cultural Ambassador
"I see music week as an investment in the soul of Belize. You know the artists represent the soul of this country. We are the ones who provide a great deal of the entertainment and the leisure and these elements are very critical to the daily life of the Belizean person. So by developing the people, who are the practitioners of the arts, we are investing in society as a whole and realizing that the traditional exports of Belize: sugar, banana, citrus, are going through difficult times and its time to start looking at alternative markets and alternative products and Belize's cultural products is a very strong and viable one with great potential."
Jules Vasquez,
Where do we stand amongst those nations that have managed to market their music effectively internationally and turn it into a international industry?
Gerald Seligman, Consultant
"A lot of countries have managed over time to really promote their music both at home and abroad. And when you think of Irish music, people know that all over the world, you mentioned Brazilian music, Jamaican Reggae. When you think of these places you immediately think of the music and Belize is very much at the beginning of that process because they aren't many people who know about the music scene in Belize and not much Belizean music has come out of the country and in a certain way, that's a very envious position to be in. What would you rather be - yet another hip-hop artist out of Los Angeles or New York? Yet another Jamaican reggae or dancehall artist trying to breakthrough or would you rather have a really rich tradition that nobody knows about yet? There's a lot more opportunities here than there might be for the next thousand reggae artists."
Joan Duran, Stonetree Records
"Music Week is an important step for the music industry in Belize because for the first time we are going to be looking at the real issues affecting the artists in Belize, which are not necessarily artistic issues and are more from an industry standpoint. They're issues dealing with professional development, with knowing your skills other than your singing skills or composing skills. We have, as you know, a lot of talent in Belize but talent is just a part of the equation to be successful in the music business. Apart from talent, you need professional skills to be able to develop as an artist and to have a successful music career. You don't become successful by chance or just by having good talent and I think Music Week will look at those issues."
Seligman, seen in that interview, is an internationally recognized world music promoter and he will be hosting a number of seminars on developing the Belize product. The artistic highlight of the week comes on Wednesday night with a performance by the Orquesta de la Papaya, followed on Thursday by the Paranda legends featuring Paul Nabor and Aurelio Martinez.
