Mention the name Cleophas Adderley Jr. and most people think Bahamas National Youth Choir (BNYC) -- and while Adderley himself says it's difficult to separate one from the other -- he's so much more. He's a person who loves life, loves God, and loves people. And he lets you know that he loves academic and intellectual challenges as well as music.
And this is the man who will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 5th Aliv Bahamian Icon Awards that will be held at the Melia Nassau Beach resort, and broadcasted live on Our TV on Saturday.
For Adderley, early 60s, music is the blossoming of a person's soul. He says it is life ... joy ... and development.
"Music means a tremendous amount to me, and is also a way of reaching out to other people and creating harmony," said Adderley, who studied orchestration and tutored as a private student of Nancy Patterson-Strelau at the University of Miami in Florida, and studied orchestral conducting as a private student of Harold Glickman of New York.
An accomplished composer, Adderley is the composer of "Our Boys", the first Bahamian grand opera, which was also the first opera to have been written and performed in the English-speaking Caribbean; and the composer of the first Bahamian Concert Mass, "Missa Caribe".
To his credit, he composed the music and rhythms for the play "You Can Lead a Horse to Water" by Winston Saunders; and has written and arranged music for piano, pipe organ, choir and solo voice.
Adderley is the last son and eighth of nine children born to the late Cleophas E. Adderley, former member of Parliament; and Helen Bailey Adderley, a seamstress, pianist and organist, and daughter of the late R.M. Bailey for whom a government high school is named. He is also a husband to Francoise Brooks Adderley, a father, an uncle, granduncle and a friend to many. He wears many more hats than that of BNYC general manager/director.
No matter how hard you try to separate Cleophas Adderley from the BNYC, it's nearly impossible.
He started the choir in 1983 as a part of the celebrations marking the 10th anniversary of Bahamian independence. That first choir was 77 members strong, which he recalled being "quite a challenge from the numbers point of view".
That first BNYC choir, which included people like Melanie Roach, who went on to become the country's first female director of public works, and Philip Gray, who went on to become chairman of the Bahamas Pharmacy Council, gave their only performance at the old Poinciana Arena on Bernard Road. Their folk accompanist was E. Clement Bethel, who Adderley described as a "distinguished musicologist" and who was also the country's first director of culture.
After that performance the choir disbanded. Adderley, a barrister who had studied at the University of the West Indies and the Norman Manley Law School in Jamaica, focused on practicing law. He has practiced law for 14 years, and has been a member of The Bahamas Bar for more than 30 years.
In 1990, seven years after the initial choir, Adderley restarted the BNYC to prepare for the country's quincentennial year celebration in 1992. The choir he put together was a "much more manageable group of about 40 people".
As Adderley puts it, "the rest is history" when it comes to the national choir for youth between the ages of 15 and 25.
Since 1990, people that have taken a turn on stage under Adderley's directorship have included Charles Sealy, Doctors Hospital CEO; and former senators Cheryl Bazard and Heather Hunt.
Former choir members who stayed with the music include the likes of recording artist Sonovia "Novie" Pierre, a former Miss Talented Teen; and Ericka "Lady E" Symonette, another recording artist and lead vocalist of Ira Storr and the Spank Band.
"A lot of them [former BNYC members] are now choir directors in their own right of church choirs, school choirs, and community choirs, such as Eldrigde McPhee, who is director of Bel Canto Singers."
From his management and direction it is Adderley's hope that choir members take away the importance of national service, sacrifice and discipline; the importance of love for the Divine and the importance of learning to work together with other people; and to always try to be the best people they can be in life, no matter what field or where in life they find themselves.
To that end, Adderley's BNYC is a choir with strict rules. If a member misses a specified number of rehearsals, he or she is tossed. If a member has to be late for any reason, they have to telephone in advance or face being fined -- a $5 fine that has not changed since 1990, but which Adderley said was a lot of money 25 years ago. He jokingly (or maybe seriously) said the fine might need to be upgraded. (He found the suggestion of VAT being tacked on hilarious).
"Discipline is very important, because we're training these people to be ambassadors," said Adderley. "When they go away, people don't just see them -- they see a whole country. And if we don't give of our best, and show our country in the best light possible, they judge every Bahamian by their experience with us."
And Adderley and members of the BNYC have traveled the world. While choir members can only be members for 10 years before they have to move on, Adderley himself has traveled with the choir to 25 different countries and given performances in as many different languages. He can also boast of having performed in some of the world's most distinguished venues -- The Concert Hall of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C.; at the Weill at Carnegie Hall in New York City; the Grand Hall at the Moscow Conservatory in Russia; the Poly Theater at Beijing Symphony in China; and sung mass at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. And he can go on and on.
To become a member of this elite and distinguished group is not easy. People who think they can carry a tune have to audition -- and auditions are held once annually in September.
And Adderley's ears are fine-tuned to determine who will be given the nod each year for a choir that today is between 28 and 30 strong annually, and is even more manageable financially considering the travel that they do and the expense involved.
"It's a God-given gift," he said of being able to determine who has a voice and who doesn't. Added to that is the fact that he comes from a family of musicians, and he and his siblings were all trained to play musical instruments. Adderley plays piano and organ; and he studied voice. He is a tenor.
Under Adderley's directorship, the BNYC has won a number of awards -- two gold medals at the 7th World Choir Games in 2012 (Champion Category -- Scenic Folklore and Champion Category -- Show Choir); they were silver medalists in the Classical Category. They took two silver medals at the 5th World Choir Gems in 2008 in the Open Category -- Mixed Chamber Choir and the Open Category -- Folklore. In 2008 they were the first place winners at the 37th International Youth and Music Festival.

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