Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Speaker A: The best insight, instant feedback, accountability. The all new talk radio Freedom 106.5.
[00:00:08] Speaker B: We do a pretty interesting interview for you. At this point in time, we're going to be talking about an annual celebration of music, one that's celebrated in over 700 cities in 120 countries. It's my pleasure to welcome to our program here this morning his Excellency, french ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago. That is Mister Didier Shaber. Good morning to you.
[00:00:36] Speaker C: Good morning. Good morning, Trinidad and very happy to be here this morning.
[00:00:41] Speaker B: It's definitely my pleasure to have you in studio and I welcome as a guest somebody who's right next to me. It's not often that you get to interview your coworkers, but let's welcome to our program from nine five, DJ Danny in her capacity, not as a DJ this morning, but as president of the board, Alliance Francais.
[00:01:02] Speaker D: Yes. Did I get that? Yes.
[00:01:04] Speaker B: I'm proud of myself.
[00:01:05] Speaker D: Yeah, like, you have a little french talk going on.
[00:01:07] Speaker B: I did it in high school. Yeah, I did, actually. It's a revision. Let's, um. Before we get into the discussion about exactly the event and all of those things, let me allow the, the ambassador to familiarize our listeners with him. Tell us a bit about yourself and how long you've been in the role and some of the things that you're involved in.
[00:01:26] Speaker C: So I'm here in Trinidad for two and a half years now. So it's quite already a long time to appreciate and to be in contact with Trinidad, with the people of Trinidad. And mainly we also with the music of Trinidad and culture of Trinidad. So my role here is not only to be in the promotion of the french culture in Trinidad, but also to the french culture, to the trinidadian culture in Paris.
I am very, very proud to be here. We have a lot of things to do because we cover all the bilateral relation. It means the security bilateral relations, the economic bilateral relations, and also the political one. So we are not only focused on culture, which is very important, but only to many other aspects of the relations that two countries can develop together.
[00:02:23] Speaker B: Well, we've had a long standing relationship with France as a nation, haven't we? We've been involved in these diplomatic talks and relations for a long period of time.
[00:02:32] Speaker C: We have been recognizing Trinidad from the very first day. And even before we had stronger relationship, we had a consular here. Alliance Francaise is older than the independence of Trinidad and Tobago. So we have a long lasting relation which comes from the heart. We are partners, we are friends with Trinidad. And it's very important for us that we have this background of decades of bilateral relation, even centuries of bilateral relation, I would say, because we have, France has always been part of the region for good and bad reasons.
[00:03:19] Speaker B: DJ Danny this morning. Tell us about Allianz Francaise.
[00:03:24] Speaker D: Well, Alliance Francaise was established in 1951, and we are basically the hub of all things culture and french language in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean. So if you want to learn French and you want to be certified with the Delft, or you're looking to migrate to Canada or somewhere in Europe, and you need to get your french speaking certificate, I mean, we are the official place to come and do that. We do classes year round from infants straight through to adulthood. And that's how I got involved with the alliance again. And in this capacity, I started adult french classes last, say, January 2023, after not having done French for 25 years. I did French up to a levels, but my grandfather is a proud french Creole descendant. And, you know, I learned to speak patois at one and two years old. So it's always been part of my life. And I just decided to reclaim that bit of me and restarted french classes. And now I went up for the board and, yeah, here I am. And we are celebrating one of our milestones, flagship events this Friday to celebrate World Music Day. So I'm joining the ambassador, have the privilege and honor to be at his side to promote this french event.
[00:04:32] Speaker B: Yeah. French is the language of love, isn't it?
[00:04:34] Speaker D: It's the language of the world.
[00:04:35] Speaker B: Yes, it is. It is. And when you speak of France, you speak of Paris and all of these emotions when it comes to love.
[00:04:43] Speaker D: Correct. And, I mean, we have the Olympics happening in Paris just next month. You know, we have Bastille Day coming up. So a very, very busy time for the alliance and for France globally.
[00:04:52] Speaker B: Let's get into this event that's going to take place. It's described as an annual celebration of music celebrated in over 700 cities in 120 countries. Tell us about the genesis of this event and what has happened over the years.
[00:05:09] Speaker C: This is an event, of course, to celebrate music, but to celebrate music in each country. So it's not.
It's a celebration which has been initiated in France because the first fete de la Music, World Music Day was celebrated in 1982. So more than 40 years ago, it was in Paris, and Paris was really at the heart of this initiative. But now, as you said, these 120 countries in all these countries, the World Celebration Day, the Faite de la Music, it's the celebration of the music in the country. That's the reason this year we are very proud of this collaboration with the city of Port of Spain. Very thankful also, because it's a very special moment for the municipalities. The hundred 10th anniversary of Port of Spain. So fete de la music is now completely part of this celebration. But it's music for the Trinidadians and made by the Trinidadian. And it will be on aria Pita, Adam Smith is square. It will be free, no fees. Everyone can come, go there, enjoy the music, bring your blankets. And simply it will be a huge variety of different styles of music. It will be people playing for free for the public.
Classic, classic guitar music. You will have steel pan, you will have soccer, you will have different music, a constant flow from music coming from 05:00 p.m. till the night with different people coming, enjoying music, playing. So it's also a celebration for all to pay tribute for all those who are playing music all the year long. So, yeah, exactly. It's not only. It's not for France, it's for Trinidad.
[00:07:09] Speaker B: It is this approach, this open air, picnic style approach to the concert that's very international. Absolutely it is, because you see these events on a really large scale in some parts of the world.
[00:07:21] Speaker D: Beautiful places, a lot of grass. You bring your beach chairs, your blankets. It's family, friends, so you can bring your kids, you know, and the thing about it is, as the ambassador said, it's a wide variety of these genres of music. So on Friday, you can expect folk, you can expect rock and roll. We have guitarists, we have steel pan, we have jazz, you know, we have Michael Boosman. I mean, it's a wide range of performances in a really well curated show that we want to present to all lovers of music, you know, all lovers of any genre of music. And, you know, as porter, Spain's 110 years, I mean, that's a pretty big milestone. And to be part of that celebration with music and, I mean, getting the blessings of the Portis main city corporation and the mayor to put on this event, I mean, just goes to show the. The level of importance that music and fed de la music has on the culture and bringing people together. And it's a Friday, too, so it's after work, coming out of a holiday week, I think it's just the right energy to wrap up the week and start the weekend.
[00:08:27] Speaker B: It's definitely, from what you're telling me, it's going to be an experience unlike what many people are accustomed to.
[00:08:33] Speaker D: Correct. And it's all free. There's no cover charge. You know, it's all we're doing. It solely for the love of music. The performers are not being paid. They are performing for free and for the love of music. So it's literally, you know, just to give back one to celebrate the music culture of the. Of Trinidad and Tobago. And ambassador, you want to add?
[00:08:52] Speaker C: I want just to add that the love of music recalls that music is for love and for lovers.
[00:08:58] Speaker D: Yes, it is. It totally is. Anything about it is that celebrating music and celebrating it with our friends and family, I mean, Arpita Avenue is like this world famous stretch, right? And it's an outdoor park. And music festivals you usually pay for, usually have to pay to go to concerts, you know, and sometimes it costs are prohibited. So people get to experience this now with no cover charge.
[00:09:25] Speaker B: This is basically being able to travel without leaving the shows.
[00:09:28] Speaker D: Exactly, exactly, exactly. And I mean, we're partner, and as you said, it's over 700 cities internationally, all celebrating on Friday. So, you know, we're part of this collective musical energy that's going to be taking place around the world on Friday.
[00:09:42] Speaker B: But apart from the local content coming to an event that's hosted by the french embassy, one would expect to get some kind of exposure to the elements that come. The artist, the music, the culture from France is there.
[00:09:55] Speaker D: Well, we have a folk performing group. They're going to perform in Patois, the only Caribbean or the only group around the world that has a recorded Patois album, and that's the Maraval folk group. And this is a group of elders. They're mature people. They're performing throughout the Caribbean, and they are coming to sing in authentic patois. So we may not understand what they're saying entirely, you know, but. But definitely, you can get the French, the french flavor from it.
[00:10:22] Speaker B: Music has the ability to transcend language barriers. Absolutely, because there are a lot of songs I listen to from. I don't understand what they're saying, but I love them. And we have that across the board.
[00:10:32] Speaker D: We do.
[00:10:33] Speaker B: We have some artists that are coming out of Africa and the Africa beasts and so on. You don't understand the language, but music unites people on a level that not. Not many other things can. And from what you're saying, what we're hearing from both of you about this event on Friday, it's going to be an experience unlike what many people have the opportunity to expose themselves to.
[00:10:57] Speaker D: Agreed.
[00:10:57] Speaker B: And I hope that people take advantage of it.
[00:11:00] Speaker D: I hope so, too.
[00:11:01] Speaker B: I hope so, too, because events like these, as I said, they give you the opportunity to get an insight into things and cultures and experiences that you don't necessarily come across all the time. And in this country, when you speak about events, you're talking about a flat and a big truck.
[00:11:17] Speaker D: Exactly.
[00:11:18] Speaker B: And this seems to be totally opposite to this. So as we end our interview here this morning, time got away from us already. Let's. Let's remind people of the nitty gritty who and where, why, and so.
[00:11:29] Speaker D: Okay, so it's going down. This Friday, fete de la music happening at Adam Smith Square on Arpita Avenue from five to 10:00 p.m. it is a free celebration of music, of french culture, of Trinidad music and Trinidad culture. Come on down and support. You can bring your blanket, bring your beach chairs, kids, cook your food. Cook your food. Is a family friendly event. If you've been dying to get back into french, we have an alliance Francaise booth there. You can come and sign up for classes. You know, we do corporate classes as well. If you want to have a private, smaller class, we can make all those arrangements. So come down, support the culture, enjoy the music, and just experience some really good vibes, good energy and great music.
[00:12:13] Speaker B: So much more than music at this event. You can tell. So, so, so many opportunities. We do hope that people take advantage of them and this will be traffic getting on our interview. It was my pleasure speaking to both of you and to share with our listeners what is definitely a unique experience.
[00:12:28] Speaker D: Absolutely.
[00:12:29] Speaker B: If they take the opportunity to go down, and we hope that everybody does. I want to thank both of you for being with us here this morning, and we wish you all the best for your event.
[00:12:37] Speaker A: The best insight, instant feedback, accountability. The all new talk Radio Freedom 106.5.
