Left: Steven Woodham on violin giving an engaging performance.   Right: Christine MacDonald in performance at the 2006 Classical Concert. - photos by Nathaniel Stewart

Introduced by the Embassy's Cultural Affairs Specialist Angella Harvey as a singer who would "transport you into into another world," Christine MacDonald (contralto) delivered on the promise, figuratively if not literally speaking. She was the sole vocalist at the 2006 Classical concert put on by the Embassy of the United States in association with the Jamaica America Friendship Association (JAFA)

With her trademark half-closed eyes and soft smile, she offered a lively rendition fromSchumann, then a slower, lyrical one by Schubert and capped her initial appearance with a brief, dramatic item by Brahms.

Mr. Steven Woodham was even more dramatic, with his embellishments, pauses contrasting high and low notes on his violin, and his expressive face, as he partnered Dr. William H. Chapman Nyaho in the Gershwin selections: Summertime, A Woman is a Sometime Thing, My Man's Gone Now, and It Ain't Necessarily So.

When to applaud

That suite of songs preceded a 25-minute intermission during which guests who had arrived too late for the earlier cocktail session could fill up on hors d'oeuvres, juices and pastry. In ushering in the second half of the programme, Mr. Guimond cautioned the audience about being too quick to applaud. Sometimes, he said, it's difficult to differentiate between a slight pause within a movement of music and the pause between movements. "The performer will let you know," he advised.

Miss MacDonald's second appearance was even more enthusiastically received than her first. This was partly because Tale of the Oyster and Someone's Sending me Flowers, the final two of the four songs she performed, were highly amusing. but it was also because her voice, warmer, perhaps, than earlier, soared beautifully in the Gluck and J.P. Martini pieces she sang.

Accompanied by Ms. Allison Wallace, Mr. Woodham was also more energetic and engaging in the second half. Three of the items, Spanish Dance, Hoe-Down and Jamaican Rhumba, had members of the audience smiling, tapping their feet and fingers and even dancing in their seats. In contrast, the Theme from Schindler's List was solemn and haunting.