Pearle Christian
Pearle Christian | |
---|---|
L. M. Christian (uncle) | |
Awards | Golden Drum Award |
Pearle Christian (born 20 March 1955),
Early years and education
Pearle Christian was born in
Career
After graduating from the Jamaica School of Music, Kingston, Christian was invited to join the staff there, working as a teacher and Junior Choir director (1980–81), before returning to Dominica.
Particularly involved with choral music over the years, she was the founding member and manager of the National Chorale for two decades, and sings with the Dominica Folk Singers, as well as with her church choir, the St Alphonsus Folk Choir, since her teens. She is also a flute teacher, director of the Junior Choir at Kairi School of Music, Roseau, and the director of the acclaimed Sixth Form Sisserou Singers,[4][6][7][8] which was established in 1994 as a collaborative project between the Division of Culture and the then Sixth Form College.[9]
Christian has composed and staged several children's musicals, and has trained scores of students at the Kairi School of Music, where for 17 years she was a principal tutor.[2]
In 2000 she initiated the founding of the Dominica Association of Music Educators,[4] which is "committed to advocating for every Dominican child regardless of race, colour, creed or economic status, to have an opportunity to participate fully in the beauty of music not simply as a listener, but also as a creator and performer of the art form."[10]
In 2001 she earned a master's degree in Music Education (General Music) from the University of Texas in San Marcos, Texas.[4]
On her retirement in 2015, Christian said that her greatest achievement through the medium of music, choral and instrumental, was that she had been able to provide a "platform for the holistic development of many young people from diverse backgrounds".[2]
In 2016, she received the Golden Drum Award, Dominica's highest cultural honour, for Excellence in Music Education.[11]
Selected works
Children's musicals
- 1988: Ananse and Fire
- 1989: Song of the Sisserou (written in collaboration with Louis Bertrand)
- 1990: Ananse and the Pusher (written in collaboration with Louis Bertrand)
- 1991: Ananse and the Mirrors (written in collaboration with Louis Bertrand)
- 1992: Maruka (written in collaboration with Louis Bertrand)
- 1994: Mama Ella (written in collaboration with Louis Bertrand)
Children's mini-musicals
- 2008: Befriending Ma Ziggily
- 2010: Ma Flora, Golden Keeper of the Savannah
- 2012: Mangolia the Mango Tree
Publications
- Caribbean Adventure, co-authored with Michael Burnett (a collection of Caribbean folk songs arranged for classroom ensemble), 1982.
- Reggae Schooldays (a collection of original reggae songs for classroom ensemble), EMI Music Publishing, 1982. ISBN 978-0861752836.
- Sound Pack Vol. 4 — Four Caribbean Pop Songs arranged for Classroom Instruments, 1984.
Awards
- 1987: Certificate of Commendation (for work in music education), Music Lovers Government Band, Dominica
- 2008: Recognition for Outstanding Work in Arts and Culture, Dominica Academy of Arts and Science
- 2008: Meritorious Service Award (in field of culture), Government of Dominica, Roseau, Dominica
- 2010: LIMECreole Lifetime Achievement Award for service in the field of Cultural Development, LIME (Dominica Ltd)
- 2016: Golden Drum Award, for Excellence in Music Education and Promotion of Choral Music[12][13]
- 2017: ADNExUS Legends Award from the Association of Dominicans in the Northeast USA[14]
References
- ^ a b c "Pearle Christian", Domnitjen Magazine, Vol. 8, Issue 2.
- ^ a b c d e Ian Jackson, "A 'Pearl' in Dominica's culture: cultural stalwart Pearle Christian", The Sun (Dominica), 21 April 2015.
- ^ "Dominica Institute for the Arts Continues to Play a Major Role in Promoting the Arts in Dominica", Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica, 6 March 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Pearle Christian: A Life of Musical Inspiration".
- ^ Gabriel Christian, "The Interwar Years & the Caribbean Soldier in Social Transformation: A DOMINICAN PERSPECTIVE", p. 6, note 9.
- ^ "Sisserou Singers: Another 'amazing' production", Dominica News Online, 7 July 2012.
- ^ Leandra Lander, "Sixth Form Sisserou Singers Humanitarian Tour 2013", Our Catholic Community, Volume 3, No. 3, January 2014, p. 16.
- ^ "Sixth Form Sisserou Singers celebrate 20 years", Dominica News Online, 11 July 2014.
- ^ "Dominica: Golden Drum 2012 Awards Recognizes Cultural Promoters", Repeating Islands, 7 August 2012.
- ^ Pearle Christian, "Music Matters", 767 News, 12 November 2014.
- ^ "Five receive Golden Drum Awards". Dominica News Online. 2 August 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
- ^ "Articles - Golden Drum Awards 2016", Division of Culture, Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica.
- ^ Craig Bellot, "Dominica: 2016 Golden Drum Awards Presented", Nu Music Zone, 2 August 2016.
- ^ "Pearle Christian to receive prestigious award in US", Dominica News Online, 16 August 2017.
External links
- "Pearle Christian: A Life of Musical Inspiration". 2012.
- Ian Jackson, "A 'Pearl' in Dominica's culture: cultural stalwart Pearle Christian", The Sun (Dominica), 21 April 2015.
- "Shining the spotlight on Dominica’s Favourite Aunty, Aunty Pearle", Q95FM, 23 October 2018.
- "Pearle Christian", Cultural Division, video interview.
- Gizelle George-Joseph, "Caribbean Heroes: Pearle Christian – The Dominican Maestro", Dominica News Online, 15 February 2024.