“Fifty eight years of Musical Excellence: Merritone and the Sound System in the Development of Jamaican Popular Music” is the theme of the Symposium being hosted by the Mona School of Business in association with the Department of Government, The University of the West Indies, Mona on Saturday, October 4, 2008 at 10: 30 am at the Social Sciences Lecture Theatre, UWI, Mona. It will mark the fifty eight years of Merritone in Jamaica and explore its contribution to Jamaican Popular music development.

The Symposium will feature tributes from a number of speakers under the following sub-themes: the Merritone Story; Music as therapy and the sound system as the engine of Jamaican popular music and the global recognition of Jamaica as a global cultural agency.

Presentations will also be made by several speakers at the Symposium including: Professor Gordon Shirley, Professor Neville Ying, Dr. Elaine Wallace, Dr. Clinton Hutton, Mr. Bunny Goodison, Professor Freddie Hickling, Mr. Herbie Miller, Mr. Craig Ross, Prof. Trevor Munroe, Professor Evan Duggan and Mr. Walter Campbell. 

The symposium ends with a live musical tribute to Merritone from Stranjah Cole and the Yard Beat Band and Tony Greene, saxophonist among other performers. Following the symposium, Merritone will be having a dance at the University of the West Indies, Mona.

The public is invited. Admission is FREE.