Building the Orange Future

May 20, 2026 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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(Kaieteur News) – About fifteen years ago, the idea was floated that Guyana should establish a National School of Music. It was not a fanciful suggestion then, and it is even less so now. In fact, in today’s Guyana—poised between oil wealth and a rapidly expanding cultural footprint, it is an idea whose time has not only come, but arguably overdue.

If we are serious about building what is now commonly referred to as the Orange Economy which is really the creative and cultural industries as engines of growth then a National School of Music must be treated as a necessity.

We often speak about diversification. Yet diversification is not achieved by rhetoric alone; it is built through structured investment in sectors that transform talent into value. Music is one such sector. It sits at the intersection of culture, identity, technology, tourism, and export potential. And in Guyana, where raw musical talent is abundant but systematically underdeveloped, the absence of a formal national training institution is a gap that actively limits national potential.

The talent is there. But it is often raw, undertrained, and lacking the technical grounding required for sustainability in a global industry. A powerful voice or a natural ear for rhythm is only the beginning. Without grounding in theory, composition, arrangement, production, and performance discipline, talent remains local, even when it is extraordinary.

This is precisely where a National School of Music becomes transformative. Such an institution would not merely teach singing or instrumental performance. It would institutionalise excellence. It would provide training in music theory, orchestration, sound engineering, digital production, and stagecraft. It would bridge the gap between raw ability and professional artistry. In doing so, it would convert latent potential into exportable cultural capital.

There is a persistent and outdated argument that artistic talent is innate. It said that you either “have it or you don’t.” This romantic notion has long been disproven by the global success of structured arts education systems. Talent is not a finished product; it is a starting point. Those who “have it” today are almost always those who were trained, disciplined, and exposed to systems that refined what nature gave them. To cling to the idea that training is unnecessary is to misunderstand how modern creative industries actually function.

Consider Jamaica, its global cultural influence was not accidental. It was built through an ecosystem that, while imperfect, consistently nurtured talent from disadvantaged backgrounds and placed it onto international stages. Reggae, dancehall, and related genres were developed, refined, and exported. If Jamaica had restricted opportunity to those already polished, it would not have produced the global cultural force it is today.

Guyana cannot afford to be less intentional. The economic case is equally compelling. Music, film, design, digital content creation, and cultural tourism are among the fastest-growing sectors globally. Countries that invest strategically in these industries often see returns that exceed traditional sectors in both resilience and foreign exchange generation. Guyana has long spoken about the entertainment industry as a potential “money spinner,” yet policy attention has remained fragmented and inconsistent.

A National School of Music would act as a catalytic institution. It would professionalise the sector, raise production standards, and increase the quality and quantity of locally produced music. It would also create spillover industries: recording, event management, music technology, content distribution, and cultural tourism.

But if we are to take the Orange Economy seriously, we must think beyond a single institution. What Guyana needs is a National Orange Development Strategy (NODS). This strategy would integrate education, enterprise, infrastructure, and intellectual property development within the creative industries. It would ensure that music is not treated in isolation, but as part of a broader ecosystem that includes film, digital media, fashion, and design.

Of course, challenges exist. Music education is resource-intensive. Instruments are expensive. Skilled instructors must be recruited internationally and locally. Standards must align with global benchmarks. And critically, access must be national, not confined to urban centres. Young people in riverain and hinterland communities must not be spectators in this cultural economy; they must be participants.

There is also the delicate question of dependency. A music school must empower, not create permanent reliance. Support may be necessary in the early stages particularly in providing instruments and training. But the long-term goal must be independence, entrepreneurship, and self-sustaining creative careers.

Ultimately, the question is not whether Guyana can afford a National School of Music. The real question is whether Guyana can afford not to develop one at this moment in its history. When the State is investing heavily in physical infrastructure, energy expansion, and administrative capacity, it must also invest in the infrastructure of imagination.

Before hopes are raised too high, however, someone will inevitably ask whether music is considered a “core” activity in national planning. It is precisely this mindset that must now be reconsidered. In the modern economy, culture is not peripheral—it is core. It is identity, export, diplomacy, and industry all at once.

Guyana stands at a rare juncture. It can choose to see music as entertainment alone, or it can recognise it as economic architecture. A National School of Music, within a broader National Orange Development Strategy, would signal a shift from viewing creativity as leisure to recognising it as leverage.

And in that shift lies not just harmony but prosperity.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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• National School of Music, orange economy, Orange Future, Peeping Tom

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