Grounation Series to Highlight Alpha Boys’ School

This year’s Grounation series of the Jamaica Music Museum (JaMM) will highlight the musical legacy of the Alpha Institute, a non-profit vocational school for inner-city boys.

It will also focus on the role and contribution of one of the Institute’s foremost educators and mentors, Sister Mary Ignatius, who passed in 2003.

The staging of the Grounation series, which is marking its 10^th anniversary this year, will coincide with the 140^th anniversary of Alpha Boys’ School as a lifelong institution.

The virtual discussion forum will begin on Sunday, February 7 at 2:00 p.m. under the theme, “Upward and Onward: Alpha, Sister Ignatius and Music”.

The production, which will continue on February 14, 21 and 28, will be aired on CPTC TV and the Institute of Jamaica (IOJ) YouTube page.

Grounation is among the plethora of virtual events being organised to celebrate Reggae Month in February.

Director of JaMM, Herbie Miller, told JIS News that Grounation will feature “biographical recollections and performances” by Alpharians.

Additionally, he said Alpha past and current students will speak of their experiences at the institution.

“So each week we have different Alpharians telling their stories… their history, how they got there (Alpha) and how the institution has moulded and shaped them to [be] who they are today,” he added.

Mr. Miller said the public will also hear “what it was about the institution that enabled it to turn out quality students”.

He indicated that many of the School’s students went on to become artistes, notably Don Drummond, Tommy McCook, Bertie King, Leslie Thompson, Leroy Smart, and King Yellowman.

The Alpha Institute was established in 1880 by a group of nuns, who were part of the Sisters of Mercy Order, as a facility catering to at-risk youth, serving as a place for them to live, learn and grow. Today, it is similarly operated with grant support and private donations.

JaMM is a Division of the IOJ, which was established in 1879. The IOJ is an agency of the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport.