Music is special to David Dewar, the popular singer and music teacher.
Now retired from his job as a water engineer at the country’s utility company, David and his wife of 36 years Marilyn form a local music dynasty. They conduct a music school at their Charlotte Street home where they prepare students to take the London-based Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music Examination. More than 100 students are enrolled at the school.
While he emphasises that his wife is the “true musician”, since she is the skilled one, anyone who can sing so well and play the piano, guitar and violin has to be skilled himself. He has also passed on his skills to several students over the years.
At 61, David has been involved in music for over 40 years. Singing is his forte, but he also plays the piano, guitar and violin competently enough to have been certified by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music. His rich bass voice, which has also been certified by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, could be heard regularly on the airways whenever the radio station chooses to play national songs, most of which were recorded by the Woodside Choir some years ago.
Yet, David is the first to admit that he wasn’t always enthused by music. Speaking about his childhood, David described himself as being “naughty”.
Although his mother, Lucille, and his aunt Lillian were music teachers, David did not have much of an interest in music until the age of 20, when he came under the influence of Billy Pilgrim. It was at this point he joined the Woodside Choir, which has formed an integral part of his life until now.
As part of the Woodside Choir he had served in several administrative posts and has been integral in several productions that the choir has produced. This includes Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat a theatrical production put on in December 2007 and January of last year, which proved to be a hit.
He currently is the Vice Chairman of the Woodside Choir while his wife is the pianist of the choir, which is made up of representatives from various church choirs across the country. This choir unofficially bears the title of the country’s “National Choir”.
Family life
Despite being committed to music and, while employed, to his job, David was always also strongly committed to his family. He and his wife Marilyn have three children – David, Davlyn and Vaughn. They have also ‘adopted’ another son -Trevoll Pereira.
David says that his children always praise him for being a good father but he says he has not done anything remarkable. According to him, the only thing he has done is to always be there for his children. He stresses that he is against “absentee fatherism” which has become commonplace in the Caribbean.
He also praises his wife who he says is the best wife he could hope for. He says that Caribbean men need to learn how to treat women and that they must not believe that “they own the woman”.
Both he and his wife are devout Christians. He is the warden at Christ Church Anglican Church, while his wife, as expected, is the organist. She is the “true musician” in the home, he said, while stressing how skilled a pianist she is.
Local music
Sharing his thoughts on local music, David said “we have a lot of good talent” but that there is much that needs to be done.
Judging from the last Mashramani competition, he feels that “the arrangements of songs could be at a higher standard.” Singling out the Calypsonians in particular, David believes that they need to learn about “the intricacies of the art of singing.” And according to him, this is one of the important functions of a national Music Festival. David is currently the Chairman of the Guyana Music Festival and he was instrumental in resuscitating the festival earlier which took place in May. A national music festival is important for a country since it “permeates society” lifting the standard of music and while increasing the appreciation of music among the masses, he says.
Explaining why he accepted Chairmanship of the committee, he says that he “responded to a need”. He noted that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Guyana was instrumental in securing funding the festival and that the event was a collaboration with Woodside Choir and the Guyana Music Teachers Association.
He is pleased at the success of the last festival saying that one critic told him that “this year’s festival was nearly as good as the previous music festivals”. David was actually one of the winners at this year’s festival, when he teamed up with Russell Lancaster to participate in the men’s duet competition where they performed “River Idyll” by Valerie Rodway. He says he did not want to do it but was convinced to do so in order to keep the category alive.
Spurred on by the success of this year’s music festival, David and the rest of the committee have already started planning for the next festival which is slated for April, 2011. He is passionate about making this one of the best ever. His wife Marilyn is right by his side serving as the Musical Director on the Festival Planning Committee. (markman10@hotmail.com)
