Celebrating Guyanese Icons from New Amsterdam
NA_Town_Hall_1950
By Valerie Coddett
Who is Valerie Coddett?
Some eight years ago I shared the 1952 and 1954 British Guiana music festival results on F-Book with a group of Guyanese friends/acquaintances who insisted I record the event. I was born in Bread Street, New Amsterdam (renamed Charles Place after Sir Charles Woolley, a former British Governor). The first seventeen years of my life were spent there. Having emigrated to the United States some fifty years ago, I am now attempting to portray my impressions of the New Amsterdam I knew. It is my hope that in sharing these stories, they will provide not only an Afrocentric view of New Amsterdam but a Truth-centric one as well. I have included other stellar personalities the soil has produced.
Growing up in New Amsterdam, music lessons were foremost on my agenda. Here in New York when attending concerts at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall and other venues, I would reflect on time spent every year diligently preparing for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music Examinations that were held in Guyana. Ms. Edith Pieters, a prominent musician, taught me music. She was a gifted musician who also had a beautiful voice.
Read More: http://www.guyaneseachievers.com/celebrating-guyanese-icons-from-new-amsterdam-2/
Also read Wikipedia entry: New_Amsterdam,_Guyana
Comments
Fantastic! Well done.