THE DENNIS EMANUEL BROWN TRUST
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Keeping the memory of the Crown Prince alive... DEB Award For Excellence for School of MusicBY BASIL WALTERS Observer staff reporterFOR the first time this year, a promising student attending the School of Music at the Edna Manley School for the Visual and Performing Arts will be bestowed with The Dennis Emanuel Brown Award for Excellence. The award, to be instituted in November, is yet another effort by the Dennis Brown Trust to keep alive the memory of the late Crown Prince of Reggae."The Dennis Brown Trust will contribute music resource material to the student who has the most outstanding performance in the area of music education," states a release from the Trust. The release stated that "the rationale, is to help promote music education at the primary level, by providing resources that will enable a (music) teacher to give adequate instruction." 
In addition to the DEB Award for Excellence, the Trust has also established scholarship for nine
students who have left the Central Branch Primary School, the singer's alma mater, to attend high
school. Last Saturday a luncheon for the scholarship winners was hosted by the Trust. Seven of the nine recipients were in attendance. They were 12-year-old Marlon Bennett who now attends Kingston College (KC); l3-year-old Dadrian Germain who also attends KC, as well as; l2-year-old Aldeen Carter; 11- year-old Monique Richards and Marceline McKenzie, all three of whom attend Wolmer's High School for Girls; l3-year-old Adona Willox who attends St Hugh's High School and from that same school, 13-year-old Latoya Irons. Absent were Ewan Wizzard and Rolando Brooks now attending Camperdown High and Calabar High Schools respectively. Providing that their grades are maintained at a high standard, all nine students will benefit from bursaries until their high school education is completed. Attending the luncheon were trustees, Junior Lincoln (chairman), Daniel Brown (son of Dennis Brown), Tommy Cowan, Colin Leslie, Joan Higgins, Heather Rodney, Graig Codner, Nigel Bois, as well as lawyer Lance Cowan and Mrs. Jackie Cowan of RBTT Bank. One of reggae's most prolific hit-makers, Dennis Brown's music resonates with all age groups and cuts across social lines. The former child prodigy, who died three years ago, remains an enduring favourite among Jamaican entertainers. D Brown, as he is fondly called, was also extremely popular in England which for him was a second home. It is against this background that the Dennis Brown Trust will also be launched in England between the months of June and July 2003. "Most of our benefactors are in England," Trust member, Joan Higgins told Splash. She explained further that major birthday celebrations for the late Crown Prince are being planned there for next year. "We are working on putting on a UK tribute to the Crown Prince to involve a host of British-based reggae acts, the likes of Aswad, Alton Ellis, Horace Andy, Maxi Priest and Steel Pulse" Higgins said. She also mentioned that there is a possibility of a link up between Jamaican radio station KOOL 97 FM and an as-yet unidentified station in the United Kingdom to bring the event live to a Jamaican radio audience. September 2002 |