In August 1999, Katrine Stewart arrived in Trinidad with her husband, David, the new Charge D'Affaires at the American Embassy in Port of Spain.
One of the first things she did was to enquire of the Embassy's Cultural Section "what choir would you recommend I join because no matter where we lived I have always sung in the choir." The choice was either the Marionettes or Lydians. Katrine's first call was to Joanne Mendes of the Marionettes. She was invited to audition and found herself in rehearsals for the 1999 Christmas concert. Fate, however, decided that Katrine should attend her daughter's graduation in the United States at the time of the concert rather than apper on stage.
Last week-end, not only was Katrine very present for the Marionettes most enjoyable 2000 presentation of "A Jubilant Christmas" at the Convention Centre in Chaguaramas, but she had introduced two other American ex-patriates, Megan Rios and Richard Sherman, to Gretta Taylor's chorale.
The choreography was a very new experience for the three expats, having to sing and move at the same time. To have to memorize the music was also new to them: "But we took advantage of singing without music by paying attention to the director. When she wanted you to be quiet you could be, if you are buried in the music you cannot know what is going on. Luckily this time everything was traditional Christmas music, except the last two items on the programme, Make A Friend for Christmas and Christmas is Yours, with Relator."
Sharing their initial, individual experiences, Katrine, a soprano, found it "very difficult, at first, to see it on paper and to know what it would sound like, and sometimes it was hard to read handwritten words. As to the movement, I was so locked into my section that it kind of helped to move with them." For Megan, a mezzo soprano who sang with the sopranos "the rhythms were difficult at first when we started to dance so I followed the people in front of me. But then my background is really musical theatre and I love the movement on stage." While Richard remembers the first rehearsal "after a while I said I guess we will pick this up eventually. It is not what we grew up with. We are used to emphasizing the first beat in classical and rock n roll, but my jazz background helped as in reggae and calypso you pass off the first beat and it takes a while to get used to it."
The Marionettes, it would seem, has a history of involving expats as another Embassy staffer, Lian von Wantoch, who sang with the chorale, has only recently left for St Petersburg, Russia "She came to me when I told her I had just joined Marionettes" says Katrine "and it really gave her a social world which she did not have then. She ended up beating pan with Invaders."
Sherman, who took up his posting as Consul General on August 15 2000 and is enjoying his first time in the Caribbean, and his wife Andrea are both singers. "It was through my wife that I became involved in singing but we have determined that we cannot both sing at the same time here. Marionettes are a very professional choir with rehearsals twice a week, plus I have other societal engagements on evenings, and spending quality time with our two young children is important, so we will take turns. I sang this time, Andrea will sing in the next concert."
The tenor has sung with two choirs in Sri Lanka, the expats' Cakes and Ale, which he chuckled "refers to the items we would consume at the end of each rehearsal", and the Sri Lankan group of Cantata singers which performed from classical to show tunes. He has also sung in a choir in Sydney, Australia.
Megan and her husband Karl, a Vice Consul at the Embassy, only arrived here on September 22 with their baby Karla. This is their second overseas assignment, the first was to Mexico. She has sung for most of her life and remembers "my first professional show was when I was nine with the Nutmeg Players of the University of Connecticut."
Katrine, a mother of five ages 22 to 15, has sung with the Kreuzkirchen Choir in Bonn, Germany: "A semi professional group. They would have just finished their Bach Christmas Oratario which they perform every December and it was sad not to be there. I lived there for four years and sang it four times with them." She has also sung with an opera chorus in El Paso, Texas, and with the Washington Choir and laughingly admits to having sung pretty much all her life "for fun and therapy. "
Having been the only one of the three to have witnessed a Trinidad Carnival, Katrine found it "especially remarkable that Megan and Richard were able to pick it up on stage. At least I knew what was expected. I didn't play 'mas but living next to the Oval could not help but know every beat and tune. I played j'ouvert and was the happy host for those who needed a shower, drink or nap on Monday and Tuesday."
The three were full of praise for their choir director. "One great strength this choir has is Gretta, who is able to get a tremendous amount of time from her amateur singers. People who give two evenings a week, something no American or Western European director would expect" says Katrine, who was amazed that "from the very first rehearsal the soloists, Nigel Floyd, Deborah Karam-Nahous and Jacqueline Smith, all with extremely wonderful gifted voices, were there in every rehearsal just like every other member. Imagine Mayor Murchinson Brown a founder member, sworn in a few days before but there as usual."
Another one of the things which Katrine felt makes Marionettes successful "is BP Amoco's sponsorship so that it does not cost anything to belong to the choir. In the United States you would pay a little stipend for copying music, costumes and even maybe a membership fee. "
While Richard thought "to have full attendance at rehearsals every day of the last week before the concert except for one rest day just before the performances, says a lot for Gretta, whose leadership is great. When she is up there she is going to bring it out as she wants it. I noticed at the last rehearsal things were not going as smoothly as they should, but she was there leading us through, calm and collected and from the first performance it all came together."
Megan found the director "professional and hardworking but at the same time with a wonderful sense of humour which is reflected in the whole choir, she brings that out in other people."
But added Katrine, in her very quiet tones "there is also not a single unlikeable person in the choir. They are all giving of their time and talent with commitment and a sense of family."
"True, people always seem to be watching out for me" said Megan and with a nod of agreement, Richard chimed in "people asked if I was comfortable, if I enjoyed it, if I would continue singing with them." The Marionettes will continue to have the Shermans for about three more years; Megan, who is taking voice lessons with June Nathaniel, for another two years; and Katrine for about 18 more month, before they move on to other postings.