String players in the country’s Youth Symphony Orchestra’s (ABYSO) junior programme were all smiles and excitement as they spent an interactive afternoon with American violinist Diana Ladio.
Diana is a five-string violinist, writer, educator and humanitarian who was the fiddler for the notorious Celtic rock band, The Elders.
She is a passionate educator and health advocate who developed a non-profit called the Mox Project to provide music enrichment workshops in schools.
Diana is also a regular visitor to Antigua and Barbuda. As serendipity would have it, she was on a plane in 2022 travelling from Antigua back to the United States seated next to ABYSO violinist Emily James and her mother Francine.
A conversation began which resulted in Francine putting Diana in touch with ABYSO Director and Chief Operations Officer, Claudine Benjamin. The plan to hold a workshop with the ABYSO junior violin, viola and cello players was thus developed.
Diana described her time with the ABYSO juniors in glowing terms, saying, “It was my honour and pleasure to work with the ABYSO students. They were enthusiastic, polite, fun, and extremely talented. It was a joy. I can’t wait to see you all again.”
ABYSO student Julia George said, “It was fun and exciting. At first, I didn’t know what the things on the ground were and then I found out when she started tapping them with her feet. I was amazed at how she played and I liked the song she taught us.”
The ABYSO is a year-round after school music programme dedicated to providing quality, accessible music education, instruments, performance and mentorship opportunities to young musicians and music educators across Antigua and Barbuda.