TT’s Cheryl brings Caribbean rhythms to Ottawa

As Antoine puts it, the driving force behind her work is for “the ultimate realisation that our music and our culture is being received and appreciated not only by our Caribbean community, but by the wider community at large.”

“That appreciation expressed with zest and gusto by these listeners makes early rise each morning worth being on the airwaves,” she added.

Since receiving an offer three years ago to serve as the Caribbean producer/host of Chin radio 97.9 FM, Antoine has continued to execute her mission of showcasing the musical talents of the tropical region, which she started 27 years ago. After realising that there was a deficiency in the Caribbean flavour within the community of Ottawa, Antoine presented the idea to CKCU 93.1FM to introduce a Caribbean radio programme to the station’s lineup. From that initiative, her decision to follow a career in radio was born.

“My blind passion for our culture and desires for it to be experienced at large was the main inspiration,” Antoine commented. “Once the idea germinated in me that we in the nation’s capital should be exposed to the rhythms of the Caribbean, I proposed to CKCU 93.1FM that I wished to produce and host a Caribbean radio programme hence ‘Caribbean Rhythms’ began airing in 1983 to the present time.

For that reason Antoine said her entry into the Canada media market transpired without many hurdles. Of her years in radio, Antoine consider some of the outstanding moments of her career to be her conversations with icons like Sparrow, Connector, Explainer, Shurwayne Winchester, Denise Belfon, Dennis Desouza and Iwer George, and the coverage of the Hurricane Ivan disaster, when she had the opportunity to speak to Prime Minister Keith Mitchell as he brought the listeners up to date about the events of the adversity.

But despite these encounters, Antoine says that she still finds it difficult to promote the Caribbean genre because of the scarcity of musical sources.

“For as many years as I have been doing Caribbean radio programming, the music is the hardest to come by,” Antoine explained. “The only two Caribbean music stores in the capital here have closed down, thereby leaving me somewhat bereft of a ready source of my music supply.

“The artistes themselves seem somewhat reluctant to part with copies of music that helps promote them and their work. It has been an ongoing surprise to me at their seeming lack of motivation to input their product to a vehicle that is definitely beneficial to them as an advertising tool.”

Antoine also holds the position as executive director of Caribe-Expo, Ottawa’s Caribbean Carnival as she continues to advance her support to the Cerebral Palsy Foundation as well as her interest in the sickle cell disease in the hope that the two will be paired for advocacy reach.

With years of radio experience under her belt, Antoine said that joggling her career and family life has been made easier for her to balance the demands of work and home.

“Truthfully, those balls have been so long up in the air that I hardly know how not to,” Antoine commented.

Whenever she clears her hectic schedule, Antoine enjoys travelling to exhilarating destinations and entertaining friends.

Antoine’s shows “Caribbean Exposure” and “Caribbean Rhythms” air on Chin Radio 97.9FM in Ottawa, Canada on weekday mornings from 5-7 am and Thursdays on CKCU 93.1FM from 7-8.30 pm respectively.