From Venezuela's El Sistema to London's Guildhall: Oboist's Mission to Elevate Trinidad's Classical Music

Throughout the time spent in his native Venezuela and then his adopted home of Trinidad and Tobago, musician Geremias Mai Marcano has seen so much change - but his love for the oboe never wavered. For those who are unfamiliar with the oboe, it is a classical instrument played in symphonic or philharmonic orchestras. Its clear, rasping, powerful and full sound is produced in a range from thick low notes to thin high notes. And for Geremias, there’s nothing sweeter than its soothing scales.  Music has been his calling since he was a young boy.  

“In Venezuela, we have the El Sistema, which is a music programme, and I was there since I was eight or nine years old. If you want to learn music, you start to learn the cuatro - which is our national instrument. As soon as you learn the cuatro, you can choose which instrument you would like to play and be part of the orchestra. So, I was in love with the oboe - first because my uncle played it before and then it’s like the main voice you can find in the symphonic orchestra. So I said that has to be me.”

While he loved playing in the symphony orchestra and teaching in Cariaco, Venezuela - being around children and sharing his passion for music - things became increasingly difficult. Children stopped coming to class regularly, rehearsals were cancelled every week, and the symphony orchestra was losing members. The situation forced him into a difficult decision, but he knew what he needed to do to pursue his dream.

He decided to join his uncle in Trinidad and Tobago in 2018 - a place he first visited in 2013. It would not take long for him to find his footing. He was accepted into the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Trinidad and Tobago and later, he received an academic scholarship at a local university.

“I had the biggest opportunity of my life to enroll in the Bachelor of Fine Arts in the Performing Arts programme at the University of Trinidad and Tobago. Thank God, I completed it. It was a 4-year programme and I completed it as a magna cum laude, which for me was a great, great honour,” Geremias said.

During his last year at UTT while receiving online oboe lessons from a professional oboe player in the UK, Geremias was urged to further his education by pursuing a master's degree at the renowned Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, England. His audition came during the height of the COVID-19 lockdowns in Trinidad and Tobago. Despite the challenges, he passed all of his online examinations. Now, he is preparing to travel to London to begin his studies.

He said he’s forever grateful to Trinidad and Tobago for the opportunities the country provided to him, adding that T&T’s culture helped him to develop musically as well.

 “If I get to complete my master’s, I want to come back and teach, and I want to be able to contribute and promote classical music in Trinidad through a formal academy/institution for music. So I know the culture is soca and calypso, which is perfect - I love it, to be honest - but also that type of music from the Renaissance and the classical periods cannot be lost at all, so I want to be part of that in Trinidad. I want to say in the future that I contributed to continuing to develop the classical repertoire in Trinidad,” the oboist said.

While Geremias continues to work toward his attaining his master’s degree, he is a source of inspiration for many Venezuelan migrants and locals alike. He recently collaborated with the Amethyst School of Martial Arts and Security Training to conduct motivational sessions for migrant and local women and their children through the ‘StrongHer, SafeHer, TogetHer’ Personal and Community Safety project. The course was supported by the International Organization for Migration through funding by the U.S. Department of State Bureau for Population, Refugees, and Migration.