Ms. Astra Da Costa

Chairman - Queen's Hall

Launch of Queen’s Hall 50th Anniversary celebrations

With the memory of the indomitable spirit of May Johnstone – key mover and shaker behind all that we see here today – with that memory in our hearts and the illustrious future of the performing arts in our hands, I am delighted to announce today the commencement of a year-long celebration to mark the 50th birthday of Queen's Hall.

More than just a celebration though, our Golden Anniversary activities represent a thanksgiving; an honouring of the people who believed that the performing of dance, theatre, music and song in one common space could unify us in the period of pre-Independence and beyond; an honouring of those who were committed to the idea that culture is not a pastime but a representation and a definer of our identity; an honouring of those who have gone on, those who are here with us, and those whose fresh and creative works are stretching the limits of our imagination and causing us to redefine our present and our future.

This is why our celebration is a thanksgiving. For then, as now, the performing arts allow us to grow, to breathe, to question, to understand.

50 years ago at a triumphant black-tie affair that officially opened this space, Sir Edward Beetham, the then Governor General of Trinidad and Tobago, displayed uncanny foresight with the statement: "I am confident that in the years that lie ahead Queen's Hall will become the centre of our country's artistic and cultural life."

And here today, a half-century later, we pause to reflect on the veracity of that statement.

Queen's Hall has made our culture and our performing arts accessible as never before. Each year scores of producers entertain, educate and elevate the hearts and minds of thousands of people who attend a wide variety of shows here. From the traditional Music Festival to the folk theatre of Best Village; from opera to calypso; from modern to Indian classical dance; from the spoken word to the sound of chorales; from the crescendo of the steel pan to the hush of the violin; Queen's Hall has offered a forum to connect a people to its culture and an audience to the performing arts.

Hard to believe that five decades ago this was just a dream …
With age and time, Queen's Hall has grown more beautiful. Three weeks ago 18 of our administrative staff and technical team, moved from very cramped quarters into this brand new Administration Building that, at last, also affording us adequate space for the many planning sessions it takes to run a facility like Queen’s Hall. At the back of the main Hall itself, our Maintenance/Storage Building is taking final shape, providing us with separate storage areas for audio, lighting and stage equipment, an electronic workshop, a carpentry workbench, and other multi-use areas.

But beyond her physical attributes, Queen's Hall, even as she ages, retains her soul. It may be because every second of every minute of every day, the spirits of many performing pioneers too numerous to name, wander this Hall, continuously showering their blessings on this space.

And so it is in holding to their legacy and the sturdy foundation that has been built for the performing arts in this country that our Board is pleased to announce that the 50th Anniversary Celebrations of Queen's Hall will include:
• A Golden Anniversary Awards Gala honouring those who have made significant contributions to the performing arts over the past five decades

• The May Johnstone Award, that pays homage to a person or persons representative of the pioneering spirit that gave this great Hall life

• A exhibit of photographs and video, documenting, as far as archives allow, the many superb performances at Queen’s Hall over the years

• A school-based Essay Competition for secondary school students

• A Programme for Youth at Risk – a performing arts experience that teaches essential life skills including responsibility, self-esteem, cooperation, discipline and patience

And finally …

• An Excellence in Journalism Award to recognise insightful reporting and writing about the arts in Trinidad and Tobago.

Let me say how thrilled we are to host these activities for and on behalf of the Performing Arts Sector – and indeed, our Nation. None of it would have come to pass without the commitment and support of the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and Gender Affairs, and the cultural philosophy of the Administration of which she is part. We are grateful. Thank you Minister.

As we close this chapter, we look at what it has meant to the lives of many and to our Nation:
• The opportunity for performers, producers, theatre technicians, stagehands and myriad of support personnel to make a full time living

• The opening up of an industry that will contribute increasingly to the national coffers

• The possibility of our taking a spot on the world stage in several areas of the performing arts

Indeed, Queen’s Hall has been and is the truly sturdy foundation, we described earlier, from which the Performing Arts Centres in Port of Spain and San Fernando will rise, realising a dream dreamt so many years ago.

Ladies and Gentlemen …
We believe that these year-long Queen’s Hall festivities will be the best record of what we have been, who we now are, and what we hope to become. We have therefore themed our 50th Anniversary Celebrations, "Symphony of Excellence".

Thank you.

Ms. Astra Da Costa

Chairman, Queen's Hall Board