APA alumna Karissa Solomon at Lady Hochoy School

Author: Caitlyn Kamminga

Lady Hochoy’s steel orchestra at Junior Panorama 2019

Karissa Solomon, violinist and recent graduate of UTT’s Academy for the Performing Arts, has been teaching music full time at Lady Hochoy School, Cocorite for two years.

A product of the Teaching Artist Pathway at APA, Karissa took full advantage of a community partnership forged between APA and the Consortium of Disability Organizations (CODO) in which she was mentored by Assistant Professor Caitlyn Kamminga and Board Certified Music Therapist Jean Raabe in a programme that takes student teaching artists out into the special schools of Trinidad and Tobago. In this programme, APA students mentor young people with special needs, preparing them to perform at the Music Festival for Persons with Disabilities which is hosted annually by APA. This experience allowed Karissa to explore utilizing her performance skills in a meaningful and relevant way in the community.

In her role as music teacher at Lady Hochoy School, Karissa coaches the student choir while also arranging for and conducting the school’s steel orchestra. The photo here shows the orchestra’s banner displayed on stage at Lady Hochoy’s performance at Junior Panorama 2019. APA congratulates Karissa for acting as a wonderful ambassador for the Arts!