After 20 years as the Bermuda representative of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM), Mrs. Antoinette Davis is going to call it a day.

"I have loved every minute of it, but it's time to pursue other things,'' the Bermudian flutist and private music teacher explains of her decision.

Mrs. Davis' resignation will not become effective until next month, however, which has given her plenty of time to train her appointed successors: Mrs.

Andrea Hodson and her assistant, Mrs. Liz Hanson.

Along with her husband Tony, Mrs. Davis plans to spend about six months of 2002 travelling the French waterways on the couple's boat, Bermuda III , spending the other six in Bermuda.

During the three years the couple previously lived on their vessel in France, music was never far from the flute teacher's life. She not only taught a young French girl theory and piano in St. Jean de Losne, and prepared her for ABRSM examinations, but also she found someone who played the piano so the duo used to give little concerts.

In the summers, she travelled to England to attend master classes by celebrated flutist William Bennett.

"My real claim to fame was when he came here for the Bermuda Festival and I was invited to play Faure m's Pavane for Two Flutes with Mr. Bennett because I had had so many classes with him,'' Mrs. Davis smiles.

Looking back over the past two decades, the local representative says she has seen positive changes in both the Associated Board's image and the way it conducts its business.

Far from the days when examiners were generally taciturn men with no discernible trace of warmth or humanity, today's breed, while businesslike, are younger and more friendly, and indeed the ABRSM's approach is altogther more modern.

Of these improvements and the ABRSM's role as an international standard-setter, Mrs. Davis is an enthusiastic supporter.

"I thoroughly believe in the Associated Board,'' she states. "It is a wonderful system which works, and it is invaluable to a tiny island like Bermuda. Our children don't have the opportunity to perform very often so their only real performance is the examinations.

"In fact, my biggest beef is that children in Bermuda can't turn on the television or radio and hear other performers of any standard, so they are really in a vacuum.'' Her own involvement with the London-based organisation came by default.

"The previous representative was ill and suddenly had to step down,'' she recalls. "At a teachers' meeting the question was asked, `Who will take over?' I had just retired from teaching at the Bermuda High School, and all fingers pointed at me. I said, `No way,' but I ended up doing it anyway.'' Today, she has no regrets about her decision.

"The examiners all know each other. They are wonderful people to work with, and some have become personal friends. In addition, I have met so many interesting students, parents and examiners,'' she says. "I will miss it -- except for setting up the timetable for examinations.'' Mrs. Davis' duties have included organising and setting up two theory and two practical ABRSM examinations each year for hundreds of local candidates. She has also arranged master classes and workshops with visiting examiners, as well as internationally renowned flutists James Galway and William Bennett during their Bermuda Festival appearances.

Bermuda Board rep calls it a day The local representative -- who holds a Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music (LRSM) Diploma in flute teaching, is a former trustee of the Menuhin Foundation and life member of the Bermuda Philharmonic Society -- is not planning to step away from music altogether. She will continue to teach flute privately and enter her students for ABRSM examinations, and she is also considering carrying on with her own musical training to gain an advanced diploma in teaching.

As her successor-elect, Mrs. Hodson is looking forward to her new role. She admits, however, that "after 20 years, Toni's shoes are going to be very hard to fill'' even though she has been working alongside her since May.

An accomplished pianist who studied at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the State University of New York, as well as with the late Professor Geoffrey Tankard in Bermuda, Mrs. Hodson holds LRSMs in both piano teaching and piano performance.

During the 36 years she has lived here, US-born Mrs. Hodson has performed extensively as a soloist with chamber and orchestral groups, and also been an accompanist for instrumentalists and choral groups alike. For a number of years she was a member of a trio which performed in local hotels, and has also taught privately.

While her assistant, Mrs. Liz Hanson, is perhaps best known as a registered nurse working for P.A.L.S., she has been a piano student from age ten, and is currently working towards her ABRSM diploma level under the tutelage of Dr.

Karol Sue Reddington of the Bermuda Conservatory of Music. In addition, Mrs.

Hanson studies organ with Mr. William Duncan. A past member of the Geoffrey Tankard choir and the Bermuda Philharmonic Society, she is currently singing in St. Mark's choir and W.O.R.D.

Antoinette Davis Incoming: Andrea Hodson is taking over as Bermuda's Board representative.