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 6pm.
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 house
