Music Amateurs to bring sheer joy with Mother’s Day concert

WITH a repertoire comprising several genres, the Music Amateurs choir is promising “sheer joy” at its Mother’s Day concert on May 11 at Gulf City Mall, Lowlands, Tobago.

The choir’s musical director Caryll Warner told Newsday on May 8 that the concert, And I Love You So – A Tribute To Mothers, will feature R&B songs and show tunes from various musicals, including the classic, West Side Story, among other heart-warming offerings.

Warner, an accomplished violinist, and pannist Keishaun Julien, will perform solo pieces at the event, which begins at 6 pm.

She said the Music Amateurs’ junior choir, which was established during the past five years, also will be featured at the concert.

The junior choir said patrons can expect “an evening filled with heartfelt melodies and uplifting harmonies that celebrate the love, strength and grace of mothers everywhere.”

But the Music Amateurs is much more than a choir. It is a testament to the power of family and community.

The choir started in 1963 as a quartet of male singers from different villages in Tobago.

The men – Rupert Mc Cardy, George Washington, Felton Leith and Harold Yearwood – performed religious songs at harvest festivals and other cultural events. Leith, who lives in Signal Hill, is the only surviving member of the quartet.

They initially called themselves the Good News Singers and were known for their rich vocals, good natured personalities and passion for entertaining.

The quartet then morphed into a men’s choir before transitioning into a mixed choir in 1964. That choir included the men’s wives, relatives and others.

They also changed the choir’s name to Music Amateurs.

The reason for the change was two-fold: the choir was preparing to make its debut in that year’s national music festival and the members also learnt a definition of the word “amateur” means “doing it for the love.”

Today, some 62 years later, Music Amateurs remains the oldest existing choir in Tobago and is widely regarded as an institution within the island’s cultural landscape. It hosts two signature concerts annually – Mother’s Day and Christmas.

Warner said the choir is also planning another concert for August to commemorate its 62nd anniversary but a date has not yet been set.

She said although the group functions primarily as a religious choir, it has broadened its repertoire over the years to incorporate classical and secular music.

“It has remained a religious choir over the years. And even now, most of our repertoire is religious. But we do sing classical music and musical theatre. We sang a calypso, recently, folk music and we even sang bits and pieces from operas before. So we do a wide range of music.”

A music teacher at Mason Hall Secondary School, Warner is the daughter of the choir’s former musical director Lincoln Warner, who is also an accomplished musician. She is a singer and pianist but the violin is her main instrument.

Warner joked that she literally grew up in the choir.

“I am the product of two musical parents in a very musical household. I studied music at a very young age and I have been directing choirs since I have known myself.”

She graduated with a bachelor of fine arts degree in the performing arts from the University of Trinidad and Tobago and later pursued a masters’ degree in music education at Ball State University in Indiana, US.

Warner also runs a successful studio for aspiring violinists, pianists and those wanting to improve their vocals.

Although she had been acting in the position of musical director for some time, Warner said she took up the position in earnest after the covid19 pandemic.

“Before, I would have assisted in other ways, playing piano and all of the other things. But now I actually conduct the choir.”

Three years ago, Warner also assumed the role of assistant conductor of the Marionettes Chorale in Trinidad.

While the size of the Music Amateurs choir varies from time to time, depending on availability, Warner estimates there are about 22-25 active members.

She said the group, which practises at the Scarborough Methodist Church and at the Sou Sou Lands home of one of its members, lost a few members during the pandemic, resulting in a change in its dynamics.

Warner said the youngest member in the adult choir is about 16 while the oldest is 83. Members of the junior choir range in age nine to 17.

The Music Amateurs has travelled extensively throughout parts of North and South America and the Caribbean, performing and conducting workshops. They’ve been to Canada, Venezuela, St Vincent, Barbados, Antigua, Curacao, Grenada and Jamaica.

This year, the choir has embarked on a series of youth outreach workshops in an attempt to kindle an appreciation for classical singing in secondary schools.

Warner said, “We recognise that the members of the choir are aging so we are encouraging more people to sing classical music because we know Tobago is very heavy on the folk side. So we did some outreach introducing them to classical or non-folk chorale singing.”

Last year, the Music Amateurs performed at the Signal Hill Alumni Choir’s 40th anniversary concert: 2064: A Musical Odyssey, at the Shaw Park Cultural Complex.

They also perform regularly at different churches “because we still maintain that side of our tradition.”

Some of its male vocalists also teamed up with their counterparts from the Lydian Singers and Marionettes to sing for the Prime Minister’s Christmas concert, last December.

The choir has won numerous awards and accolades over the years, including the national music festival and other competitions.

In the 1997 Biennial Music Festival, Music Amateurs became the first adult choir to win a national championships trophy.

But the choir has not been without its challenges.

Owing to its status as a fundamentally religious group, Warner said getting people to agree to singing non-spiritual songs was a problem at first.

“We had a lot of Seventh-day Adventists in the choir at one point in time and even today, we still do. And if you know the tradition of the Seventh-day Adventists, they were very conservative. They didn’t even want to sway when they are singing, just stand up in one place all the time. But over the years they have been more open. So expanding our repertoire was a bit of a challenge.”

Retaining young members, she said, also has been a problem.

“Because of the ages of many of the members of the choir we found that it’s harder to retain young people unless they really appreciate that type of music. Not many people appreciate that type of music if they don’t hear it very often. So we have had an issue with expanding the membership.

“Although we get people coming into the choir, not often do they stay sometimes because either they are going off to university or starting families. That is tricky. People are not committed to organisations as they used to be at one time.”

Despite these setbacks, Warner believes the choir’s professionalism and passion has enabled it to overcome many obstacles.

“As the oldest choir on the island, we have a space that we have maintained over the years.”

She said it continues to be a training ground for many young musicians on the island. Several of its former members, including Keron Hislop and Shurvone Braithwaite, are now professional musicians.

“One of them, Keron, grew up in the choir and his father is one of its the longest-serving members of the choir. His mother is also in the choir.”

Warner said individuals and groups also reach out to Music Amateurs for advice on preparing for music festivals and other events.

“If you are doing music festivals and you want to do the classical stuff, people often come tour choir because that is what we are known for in Tobago.

“There aren’t many other people, if any at all, who do the more classical music. So you find that they would come to us if they have that type of a voice.”

Secondary school students, she said, also have sought the choir’s assistance in preparing for the practical component of their CXC music exam.

Warner described Music Amateurs as a family.

“Many people who join the choir are friends of or family of members in the choir.”

She said the Morton family is an example of generational involvement in the choir.

“The husband, wife, daughter, grandson and granddaughter are all involved in the choir. We have several families like that, where if a parent sings with the choir, they will have a child who sings with the choir until maybe that child goes off to university.”

Warner said the choir is proud of the niche it is creating for ensuing generations of Tobagonians.

“We have created an alternative space for people who do not want to sing folk music in Tobago. That is what you would find in the village or folk choir. But you would hardly find an alternative to that, which I think Music Amateurs, in a major way has created a space for.”