Merle celebrates a life of music

When I entered the home of Merle Albino de Coteau I was instantly catapulted some 20-odd years back to my days spent in music classes, both at primary and secondary school. The first thing I saw was an upright piano (with a music book neatly opened on its rest) and a metronome. Next to that was a bookshelf crammed with sheet music, books and pamphlets in a semblance of “organised chaos.” A group of steelpans stood in front of the bookshelf, notes waiting to be struck. Benches were stacked on the opposite end of the room. Her prize possession, a huge keyboard, sat on one of these. “I had played it at my mom’s funeral,” she admitted, somewhat sadly. “It’s been a year almost since she passed on, but I still miss her. She was all about family.”

On another wall was a collection of framed photos and diplomas; her teacher’s diploma from the Trinity College of Music in London (1975) stood proudly with her BA Arts degree from Mc Gill University (1986). Here and there were pictures of the many pan groups and bands that she taught including her own, Music Makers, where she is Principal and also teaches music theory, pan, piano and recorder. Merle Albino de Coteau is soon to be honoured at a ceremony by NWAC on February 2, for her contributions to culture in this country. When asked about that, she was surprisingly humble. “I feel very good about it,” she spoke softly and slowly, closing her eyes and nodding in the affirmative. “My relationship with them is a long one. Whenever they have their shows they would always ask me to judge, and I would gladly do it.” But hers is a career that spans many decades, with a resume that reads like a who’s who of Trinidad and Tobago’s best. She was a former Director of Culture in the Ministry of Community Development, Culture and Women’s Affairs back in 1994. She was also a school teacher; in fact she began teaching at the tender age of 17. “That was just after I did my Cambridge School Certificate,” de Coteau explained. 

“I taught at Progressive Secondary School, but music wasn’t on the syllabus then. At the time I taught English and Maths first, but that was a short stint. I also taught at Belmont Girls’ RC back in 1956. I stayed there for two years, then I was transferred to Calvary RC (it’s no longer in existence). In those days you could be transferred at will. Once a principal saw me playing at a concert and he just went and asked the priest for me to teach at his school because he had a piano, can you imagine? So it was from Calvary to old St Joseph Boys’ RC for two years. Then it was off to Catholic Training Teachers College in 1962.” When she finished college she went back to Success RC School, Laventille, in 1964 to be in charge of the music programme, screening children for the Music Festival and the Arts festivals, as children routinely took part in drama, dance and poetry. From Success she went on to Mount Hope Junior Secondary and started a band.

“It seemed the natural thing to do, being involved with arranging,” said de Coteau. “Matter of fact, we had pans in the classroom since 1973, long before the Pan in Schools project. I had to beg for the pans, so you’d find that it was a real makeshift band, consisting of different tenors from different bands, so it made things a little difficult when it came to playing, regarding tonal quality.” She is also an arranger, adjudicator, a Humming Bird medal recipient (1993) and a Sunshine Award recipient (1989) from the Brooklyn Academy of Music (NY) for her contributions to culture. She’s also an examiner for the Solo Pan examination at the Creative Arts Centre, UWI, where she also teaches part time. Her work has taken her to many parts of the globe; conducting several workshops on adjudication throughout the Caribbean and adjudicating for pan competitions in New York, London, Montreal, St Vincent, Grenada and Antigua. “My visa (passport) hardly has any room on it for more stamps,” de Coteau said with a laugh.

“I remember once I was coming through the Immigration department at the Canadian border some years ago. The officer took one glance at my passport and said, ‘I see you just had a birthday yesterday’... which was June 29. He also saw the ‘Mrs’ in front of my name and then said, ‘How does your husband feel with you gallivanting all over the place?’ I didn’t reply in any negative way, but what amazed me was the speed in which he processed all of that information... still, I don’t know if he was trying to make conversation...” (But don’t ask her age, she’ll coyly decline.) She will tell you that she was born in Laventille (but won’t say when) and comes from a musical family. Her mother was the lead singer in her church (she played the piano), and her father came from Venezuela, bringing with him the parang culture. He and her uncles were deeply into music, playing the cuatro and guitars, so they would come over and sing together. “I consider myself fortunate that I grew up in such a musical environment,” said de Coteau.

“But my involvement in arranging began (strangely enough) with my brothers, who were into music, and they were fascinated by the pan. But in those days parents didn’t want their children involved. As boys, they would sneak away to Robbie Greenidge’s uncle’s panyard, which wasn’t far from us at the time (much to my mother’s displeasure). Now I never thought about pan, but because they were involved and I could read music more than they, sometimes they would ask me to play something, which they were working on, to go to the panyard.” She would get her chance to do some arranging of her own (and make history) when her brothers migrated. The Chase Manhattan Savoy Steelband based in Laventille (the Chase Manhattan bank was located where KFC is on Independence Square) asked her to take over the arrangement from her brothers, making her the first woman to ever arrange a Panorama tune in 1974.

“They played in Panorama that year,” said de Coteau. “They learned several tunes, including ‘Drunk and Disorderly’, which they played on the road for Cito Velasquez’s band. Look how things have changed now; people only learn one tune for Carnival.” Right now she teaches privately at her home and has 20 students. She also conducts courses for nurses and trainees attached to NIHERST, taking over from Mervyn “Teach” Saunders. Showing  no signs of slowing down, de Coteau is thankful for all that she has been able to give. “I don’t think I know the word relax… (laughs) from sun up to sun down I’m just going, but I do sleep… now! (More laughter.) I want to thank God that I’ve been able to touch many lives. Having taught at so many schools and having worked at so many institutions, I managed to meet a number of people who were critically involved with culture and as such I was able in some small measure to help people who were trying to make something of it. I had many challenges throughout life, including teaching. Almost anyone can learn music, in fact children learn to sing almost as they learn to speak.

Depending on the culture or environment in which they were brought up in, you will find that some will sing all the time. I can remember at Mount Hope, there were 12-year-olds who had never even seen a piano. Imagine what that is like, asking them for the first time to listen to something and sing it. Things like song games and rhymes and so, children used to know long ago, so you find that everybody almost, used to sing. In Africa, for example, people there have rich harmonies and they are not formally trained, but because of their environment… they sing all the time. They sing when they plant, they sing when they work… it’s a cultural thing.” She will no doubt continue (“With God’s grace,” she quipped,) to serve TT, continuing to adjudicate, arrange, teach and enlighten all in the world of music.