Teen musical prodigy Michael Hudlin will star in the upcoming concert A Breath of Fresh Air. The show will feature the original compositions and arrangements of 18-year-old musical Hudlin who performs with the Lydian Singers and the UWI Arts Chorale. Hudlin is a multiple Music Festival winner and the most recent recipient of the Suraj Boodram Prize for Best Music Certificate Student at UWI St. Augustine.
Also on the bill are the UWI Arts Chorale, dancer/choreographer Trevorn Cudjoe, and soloists Arianna Rodas Laing, who recently completed her run as Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar; Rondell Mungal – recipient of the Meyer’s Shield for excellence in over 10 classes at the 2016 T&T Music Festival; First Class Honors UWI Music Graduate Anikha Ballah; emerging Lydians Singers soloist Kory Mendez, Tevin Gall, Jonathan Corbie, C’Rel Harper, and Dominique Friday.
Hudlin said he has always been interested in music.
“My parents tell stories of me playing the piano before I could talk, because I had a toy keyboard and I used to bang on it and be humming along to whatever I would play. I eventually started music classes when I was seven years old, and from there I grew a love and appreciation for music.”
Hudlin grew up watching his father, John, composing music for the Roman Catholic Church, and young Michael began composing himself at age 14 when the Church liturgy changed in 2011. He started some of the compositions which will be performed at the show when he needed to compose a piece for CSEC Music.
Hudlin said part of his motivation for doing the concert is to show people that there is a rich culture of vocal, choral and classical music in T&T. “Our voices are naturally suited for singing, and if you listen to us speak, our intonation always sounds as though we are singing. I want people to realize that our talents should not be confined to singing soca or singing in church, we can take what we have and create our own pathways to expose what else we can provide and produce here in T&T.”
He is also applying to study Music at the State University of New York (SUNY) Plattsburgh Campus. “I intend on pursuing voice and piano at the university and hopefully forge a path into musical direction and conducting.” Hudlin would also like to one day organize a Choral Festival, so that the choirs in T&T, and possibly across the Caribbean, can exhibit their talents without competing against each other.
A Breath of Fresh Air is being produced by Chandelier Productions. Hudlin said he had wanted to do a concert for some time and recently decided he would try to do one that was entirely original compositions and arrangements. He approached Tiana Chandler of Chandelier Productions, where he is the musical director, as he knew she had the ability to make the concert happen.
Related: Tiana Chandler Vocalist, thespian and theatre producer
“I asked the UWI Arts Chorale to do the show because I know they would have been able to learn the music quickly and I appreciate the calibre they perform at, they always have a particular standard which I appreciate and I love.”
He said he feels most comfortable being on stage and performing “because once you do it in a way that you know you are doing your best, you would always feel comfortable and people will appreciate what you’ve given.”
Chandler said she’s excited to do the concert because she wants to feature the exceptional work that Hudlin does.
“One of the main goals of Chandelier Productions is to really showcase young talent, especially in the area of music, but also all across the board in all the Arts disciplines, and what Michael does is something that’s made to be shared with the country, so why shouldn’t I be the one to bring it to the stage? He’s really good as a singer, as a musical director, composer, arranger, piano player, he is good across the board and very all-rounded in the musical field.”
She also said one of the most important things to her in producing the show is to get young performers on the stage, as she did last year in her first concert, “Theatre Night Out.”
She said while there are a lot of well-known arts practitioners in T&T, there is also a lot of less well-known talent as well. “A lot of them don’t get as many opportunities or they’re not as seen or heard as some others, so that is really something I want to do. The people performing the work are young, some of the instrumentalists are also young, and it’s really exciting for me to pull all these very young, very talented people together. What motivates me is seeing all these people my age and younger, doing so much good work in the performing arts and having the opportunity to put them on stage to put on a concert that I think that the country needs to see. As the title says “A Breath of Fresh Air,” it’s new music, it’s new talent, people should want to hear what the music sounds like and it really is something they should come out to see and support.”
A Breath of Fresh Air takes place on Saturday, October 22, 7PM at the Southern Academy of the Performing Arts (SAPA) San Fernando CLICK HERE to book your tickets online and for more information email chandelierproductions1@gmail.com or call (868) 710-9436
The Trinidad and Tobago Performing Arts Network 
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