The Sounds of Royalty perform at Arawak Cay.

The sounds of drums, horns and cymbals filled Arawak Cay recently and entertained visitors and residents, but they also brought two community bands together for a memorable cultural tourism experience.

The Atlanta, Georgia-based Sounds of Royalty band joined the Urban Renewal Band for more than two hours of musical display that excited the patrons of the tourism hotspot. It was one of several stops for Sounds of Royalty on their weekend trip to Nassau.

The band, through the Ministry of Tourism’s Religious Tourism Department, also performed at Golden Gates Assembly as a People to People event and at Aquinas College and T. A. Thompson Junior High.

At each stop, the band of about 40 students representing Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) Collegiate, learned more of the culture of The Bahamas and enjoyed getting an appreciation of a different country, band leaders said.

Band Director at KIPP Marco Washington said it took the school two years of fundraising to make the trip to The Bahamas.

“We felt that it was important to take our kids abroad to see other cultures,” he said. “So far, everyone has been very welcoming and we can see that it is very different from the American culture. I love it and I know our kids love it too.

“One of our parents reached out to people in The Bahamas and they reached out back and it just went on from there. To be honest, it became much bigger than we expected. We are grateful for the opportunity because it is wonderful exposure.”

Dwight Howland, principal at KIPP, said for some students it is their first time out of the US.

“It’s really exciting to see them this excited about seeing a new culture. This is my third time here and we do have plans to come back,” he said.  “I don’t know if the students understand that we have the Ministry of Tourism taking us around and it is not like any other trip that we have ever taken.”    

Director of Religious Tourism Dwight Armbrister said the band was brought into The Bahamas to help the Ministry of Tourism celebrate its golden jubilee.

April is being celebrated as Religious Tourism month.

“All through the month you are going to see different activities from the religious community not just here in The Bahamas but from around the world,” Mr. Armbrister said. “We have the Sounds of Royalty, which is a community band for students who were troubled and who have worked their way up,” he said.

“Throughout the rest of this month, we will be doing religious activities throughout Nassau, Grand Bahama and the Family Islands and we will climax those events with Gospel Fest with Hezekiah Walker in Clifford Park and so there will be a whole lot more activities going on in the month of April.”

KIPP is a tuition-free high school that boasts 300 students in Atlanta. The program boasts 150 schools throughout the US.