By Sarah Bridge

Copyright caymancompass

The not-for-profit Cayman Arts Festival is rebranding as CayMusicA to reflect its role promoting classical music through festivals and events throughout the year.

Cayman Arts Festival was launched 21 years ago to fill Cayman’s entertainment gap by bringing classical music artists and other musicians to Cayman to perform and also to promote musical education to children in Cayman’s schools.

The idea for a Cayman Arts Festival came about when internationally-renowned pianists Jennifer Micallef and Glen Inanga performed together in concert in 2001 and decided to bring music to the community on a regular basis.

Performing to thousands

Since then, Cayman Arts Festival has held hundreds of concerts and provided educational and performance opportunities to thousands of students in Cayman.

Inanga, the organisation’s co-founder and creative director, said that the new name is more suitable for the year-round nature of the work of CayMusicA.

“We are no longer a bi-annual or even annual festival,” he said. “We offer festivals and events throughout the year to promote classical music as well as other genres such as jazz. Our in-class and after-school music education programme has also grown significantly.”

He said that there was a healthy appetite for live classical music in the Cayman Islands across all ages, especially with people who are introduced to classical music at an early age.

The name CayMusicA, said Inanga, ensured that the name had music as a core element and would be less likely to be confused with other visual arts events such as Cayman Art Week. It also represented a shortening of Cayman Music Alliance, which was also considered, showing that the organisation operated with many partners, including its patron Governor Jane Owen, sponsors, local musicians, schools, teachers, government and other organisations.

The name Cayman Arts Festival will not disappear altogether but will be used under the CayMusicA umbrella for the festival that takes place in February each year.

CayMusicA’s afterschool programme has grown significantly since it was launched and as a result has been given its own name – Starlight – as a sub-brand.

Fran McConvey, former head of music at John Gray High School and the driving force behind the educational programmes, said: “We have grown from a handful of students when we first started to a few hundred at the start of this term, with teachers coming from many schools to instruct students. We chose the name ‘Starlight’ as we believe this will help children to feel united and excited about the programme.”

She added that Starlight provided lessons to children who would not otherwise have the opportunity to learn, whether due to cost or having other priorities.

“We have children who are passionate and talented and deserve the opportunity to learn … so we have group lessons, which the children learn together,” she added. “We have a variety of instruments and have had some amazing successes.”

The 2025/26 performance season kicks off on 18 Sept. at the George Town Public Library with a concert of Chopin and Beethoven from Inanga and CayMusicA’s star alumnus, cellist Dequan Smith, who went to John Gray school before attending Wells Cathedral School in the UK.

Smith, 22, is currently studying for a degree in cello performance at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow and is giving the concert just a few days before he flies back to the UK for the start of the new term.

For more information, visit caymanartsfestival.com, email enquires@caymanartsfestival.com or call 922-5550.