Reflective Entry #2
Monique La Chapelle
This blog speaks on guest speaker, Monique La Chapelle. Monique La Chapelle work
incorporates the meeting of education, art and her main target, community. She's a talented
singer, songwriter, musician, and educator in Trinidad and Tobago. We might better know her for
her skills in piano, guitar, steel pan and her most beautiful instrument, her voice. Monique’s
motive is to, “Hug peoples’ hearts with her music”, wanting her listeners to feel understood and
unwind after a long day. Her music consists of soft, romantic vibes that leave you feeling good.
In 2016, she began journey by pursuing her first-year certificate in UWI DCFA and bachelor’s
degree in Musical Arts. A few years later, in 2020, she moved on to start her own business ‘The
La Chapelle School of Music’, located in Port-of-Spain. She believed her faith was to offer music
lessons to the next generation at affordable prices.
As students in different art forms, we came together to reflect and share how Monique has
influenced each one of us and on our own arts practice.
For dance, Monique ‘s story shows the importance of passion, discipline and staying true to
yourself. All qualities that are also essential in dance. Just like in music, dancers must stay
dedicated, overcome challenges and express their true emotions through art. Her journey
reminds us that success in any creative field comes from perseverance and believing in your
own style rather than comparing yourself to others.
Being able to talk with the successful artist not only aided in helping us to know how to proceed
career wise but it also gave us a little insight of the possible future we might have. She even
briefly spoke about the business aspects in the industry which a lot of us music students tend to
take into deep consideration.
Some of us couldn’t attend the class on Monique La Chapelle but we imagined the lesson would
have shown how her artistic style and personal storytelling shaped her work. Learning about her
process could have helped us think about adding more meaning, emotion, and cultural
perspective to our visual arts. Even without being there, reflecting on her approach inspires us
to create pieces that communicate deeper ideas and connect more strongly with viewers.
We have learnt that becoming a successful technical theatre art student can be broken down
into mental, social and physical aspects. The honing of an artist’s craft stems from the dedicated
quality time given to that practice. However, as artists, obstacles or distractions can arise
every day, thus Ms. Monique explained that balance between different activities is important,
otherwise known as good time management. Furthermore, sometimes when brainstorming
becomes difficult, she explains how looking at other artists’ pieces can motivate one and spark
different ideas. As an artist we can learn new things from other producers. This can be taken
further by having mentor/s to look up to when times are difficult, needing to learn new
techniques or when new concepts are needed.
One thing we admired from Monique when she was speaking is that she was bringing back all
her conversations back to music. It was interesting how she appreciated music and what she
was doing and making out of it. She talked about her various struggles and I respected that.
She showed how she honored them because without making her mistakes and learning from
them she would not have been where she is now. I realized that adding music to theatre can
enhance one’s creativity to theatre and performance. It is not just about the sounds, but you can
learn vocal techniques from a music teacher that is very important for an actor. Monique
inspired me to think beyond performance and consider the next generation.
Monique La Chapelle's legacy inspires many artists across the nation, encouraging us to take
risks, not limit ourselves or sell ourselves short. We can take from Monique’s experiences and
work, fitting it with our different artistic forms.
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