Treble Clef

Brampton’s philosophy attract Treble Clef

   “You know Brampton has a great beat. This is the city with a rhythm. it’s the city with soul. This is beat town. Brampton is a great city”. – Mayor Susan Fennell

By William Doyle-Marshall
“This whole thing that you see here was because a young man was allowed to dream and that’s all that was. It was a dream and somebody once said to me ‘Al, this thing is a dream. Isn’t it? You are really dreaming, you can’t do this.’ And I felt bad at first but I don’t feel bad anymore because everybody dreams and he is absolutely right. This was a dream and it has come through today because of you guys. So thank you.”
    Award-winning musical arranger Al Foster, owner/operator of Treble Clef Music School and Musiquariam, made the foregoing comments recently at the official launch of a new  facility in Brampton to house the Treble Clef Music. He  proudly dedicated the facility to the City of Brampton.

Al Foster, of Treble Clef
Music School, left, welcomes
Mayor Susan Fennell
to the launch

     Susan Fennell, Mayor of the City of Brampton turned up to the occasion and was elated by the enthusiastically warm welcome she received from the gathering. “I bet as we are learning these instruments, we are going to make some noise and it’s going to be hot, hot, hot,” the Mayor observed.
    “I love it because there are so many traditions; there are so many drums and there are so many instruments and to carry on and learn a musical instrument; how to make music as part of a group is just so fulfilling,” Mayor Fennell continued.
  Treble Clef Music School and Musiquariam, conducts  classes for tutoring students in the art of playing  steelpan piano guitar, tabla and harmonium. There are plans to add West African Dance classes to the programme.  This is the school’s tenth anniversary. In 2002 this was just an idea that influenced Foster’s decision to create a job for himself.
   Among those present for the launch was veteran steelbands man Pat (Panman Pat) McNeilly who was Foster’s high school music teacher. “He gave me my first pan sticks and I still call him Sir. “Sir it’s an honour to still be in your presence,” Foster said.
  McNeilly was thanked for everything he gave to Foster, including  all the life lessons and music lessons. “I hope we could continue doing lots of things together, lots of music; play lots of music together,” Foster added.
  The Mayor congratulated Foster and his team for providing a place for people to come to Brampton and learn  to play the instruments. She brought with her an experience of volunteering a few years ago at the Caribbean pavilion to lead a conga line performance at the annual Carabram cultural festival. At the conclusion of the speeches Mayor Fennell sat at the drums and played along to the song “Celebration” much to the audience’s delight.
   Foster thanked the City of Brampton through the Mayor for welcoming Treble Clef into the city. He did a lot of research and concluded  “Brampton picked us”.
  “I would like to tell you how appreciative I am of that,” he told the mayor, to loud applause.
    Brampton’s philosophy and commitment to the arts reflect so strongly in what Treble Clef Music School does and Foster admitted that has brought joy to his heart to be able to be actually operating the school in the city of Brampton.
   “You know Brampton has a great beat. This is the city with a rhythm. it’s the city with soul. This is beat town. Brampton is a great city,” the mayor emphasized.
   Prior to arriving at Treble Clef that Saturday afternoon, Fennell had been cutting ribbons at  other new businesses. She urged Treble Clef celebrants to imagine living in a city where they were cutting ribbons that simply represented the significance of the real work that’s gone on that somebody had become an entrepreneur; invested; were hiring employees and growing in Brampton’s economy.
    Treble Clef, it is impacting on the city’s creative economy and this, according to Fennell is the way of the future. “We are very grateful for you for taking this idea and making it happen and that takes a special kind of person,” Mayor Fennell affirmed.