In the words of deceased Bahamas National Youth Choir (BNYC) founder and director, Cleophas Adderley, the show must go on. Knowing that he had to put a plan in place to ensure the continuance of the BNYC at the standard that had been set, Adderley began mentoring former chorister Dexter Fernander. In 2013, he named Fernander the choir's assistant director. With the passing of Adderley in July, Fernander has stepped up into the role of interim director, until such time as the new director is appointed, with the knowledge that Adderley would want the show to go on.
"He always said the performance must go on. I always go back to when his mother (Helen Bailey Adderley) passed, and we were in concert season; and it took a lot of strength for him to, every night, get up on that stage and perform. And when people called me to ask whether we were still going to Cuba [after he passed], I just kept remembering that he would always say we must perform. We must present. We must be professionals at all times. So in his honor, we did the trip to Cuba, which was tough. But we took along two of his sisters, Sue "Auntie Sue" Adderley and Carmen Bostwick, to have that support of him there, but not really being there, every time we opened our mouths."
Fernander is grateful for the four-year mentoring period he had to understudy Adderley, now that he has assumed the interim leadership role until such time as a new director is named.
Adderley was appointed BNYC director by the country's first prime minister, Sir Lynden Pindling.
"One thing I appreciated, I can say, is the support system Mr. Adderley had. Moving into being an assistant showed how much time is needed in producing the final product. A lot of people don't understand the sacrifices Mr. Adderley had to give up -- of his time, his talent, his home -- because he not only had to be a choir director, he had to be an administrator."
During the past four years, Fernander said he had to learn to be a tailor, just as Adderley had; he had to learn to figure out what would look best with certain lighting. He said Adderley also served as choir choreographer.
"He was a coordinator for events, so I had to get into that type of brain of understanding how things would look on stage, getting used to late night calls as an idea came to mind, writing music, how to secure music, even the administration of the choir and finding ways to photocopy music for 45 people. Finding out whether people ate that day... you've got to get into their social lives. And then you have to plan programs, and find mentors to speak into their lives, prepare them for the next level, and make sure they're putting steps in place to attain their goals. So it was me stepping away from being a chorister and understanding the intricacies of what made the choir happen. Mr. Adderley made the trips seem easy, but he had a way of going out there and getting people to sponsor the choir. The members only pay a deposit, which secures them on the trip, but all of the trip is funded by our sponsors and those who come out to watch our events."
Fernander, a baritone and pianist, joined the BNYC in the fall of 1994, where he sang for five years before leaving to pursue tertiary education. He studied management, economics and finance. Upon returning home in 1999 he rejoined the choir -- seeing as he was still youthful -- but soon left again to follow personal goals.

Adderley seeks him out
It was in 2013 that he received a telephone call from Adderley who told him he needed to return home. He did. Adderley began mentoring Fernander, who learned the ins and outs and the mechanics of the institution. He said he stayed to help the next generation.
"I was there to help, assist and to strengthen the sections," he said.
Whether he will be named the choir's next director, he says, is a "gray area".
"I do not want to appoint myself as the director, so we are just getting clarification on that moving forward. I am the interim director."
In moving forward he is ensuring that the choir does not fall by the wayside, and is presently shortlisting the choir's potential travel for next year.
"This time is our administrative time, so we are ordering our theory books, and preparing for our Christmas concert, which will be in [Adderley's] honor," he said.
The choir's first instance of ensuring Adderley's legacy remains intact was its trip to Cuba after his death. Fernander said it was a trip and performance that Adderley had planned, and which they had hoped he would have been able to make with them. He said the choir executed, even though Adderley had succumbed to his illness.
Fernander was also grateful to Bishop Laish Boyd and the Anglican Diocese, who reached out to give grief counseling to the choir's members after Adderley's death.
"Grief counseling was needed because we were there through the transition, so we were grateful to the rectors who came and assisted with the youth."
Approximately seven weeks after Adderley's death, Fernander said the choir is now getting back into action mode and preparing for auditions the second week in September at St. John's College auditorium. The BNYC is also preparing for its concert season, which is always the first week before Palm Sunday.
Its members are also brainstorming how best they can celebrate Adderley's life. One such way they will do so is including a song Adderley wrote called "Parting", for his graduation class of 1972 from The Government High School in their repertoire. "Parting" speaks to sweet sorrow.
"It was the last number that we did for his funeral, and we are going to make that a song for the choir. So every year, it will be our Glee Club number, so that every member would understand the institution, who was our founder, how we will preserve Bahamian folk songs; and wherever we are in the world, we will connect with this song. And so we are preparing with that, and want to do a remix of the 'Celebrate' CD and are working on that."

Moving forward
As he serves as interim director, moving forward, Fernander said he wants to be creative.
"I want to think outside of the box... how can we merge the generations? A lot of people like the folklore music, and then there are individuals who come to our show and we give them a little Beres Hammond or some new current music. They want to see that mesh of the different generations. We want to see how we can bridge the gap and keep the culture alive.
"We want an environment where people can come into a clean environment and hear Bahamian music. I always wanted to sing the song 'Profiling in the Party' -- but that's a challenge, going out and looking for clean music that's targeted for youth, but that does not have sexual connotations underneath it. 'Mr. Bus Driver I ain't getting off', 'back up generator', what are we talking about? 'I saw a roachie, centipede, she jump'... so it's looking for good songs that don't have a major sexual connotation, but stick to our roots. And also we want to introduce the Junkanoo fusion so that we also have the diaspora, moving into music from [other Caribbean countries]."
Fernander is also hoping to get Bahamian designers involved with the choir via a competition, by having them submit designs for costumes, allowing them to infuse Bahamian designers into the national choir.
He's also hoping to host workshops with Family Island choirs to ensure higher standards by choirs at the arts festival.
From chorister to assistant director and now interim director, Fernander thanked the choir's patrons for their support, and said he looks forward to more patrons assisting with the choir.
In a self-help attempt, the BNYC has established a gofundme account to raise $35,000 to assist with the choir's general overhead costs that include costumes, learning materials, performance expenses and international travel. The account was established on August 7. As of yesterday $400 had been raised.
The BNYC is described as a national cultural institution.
The BNYC has won a number of awards -- two gold medals at the seventh World Choir Games in 2012 (champion category -- scenic folklore; champion category -- show choir); they were silver medalists in the classical category. They took two silver medals at the fifth World Choir Games in 2008 in the open category -- mixed chamber choir, and the open category -- folklore. In 2008 there were first place winners at the 37th International Youth and Music Festival.

Choir's role
More important than the awards won, it was Adderley's hope that choir members would take away the importance of national service, sacrifice and discipline; the importance of love for the divine; the importance of learning to work together with other people and the importance of trying to be the best people they could be in life, no matter what field or where in life they found themselves.
To that end, the 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, he or she has to call in advance or face being fined -- a $5 fine that has not changed since 1990.
Adderley said discipline was important, because the choir members were training to be ambassadors. He said when the choir travels to foreign countries, people don't just see individuals, they see The Bahamas. He said if the members don't give their best and show the country in the best light possible, every Bahamian would be judged by the experience the public had with the choir members.
Fernander has also established an interim administrative board with an independent accountant for the 2017--2018 period to look at any contracts for their tour, and to ensure they adhere to any binding clauses.
Adderley 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 and 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. They gave their only performance at the old Poinciana Arena on Bernard Road. After that performance, the choir disbanded.
In 1990, seven years after the initial choir, Adderley restarted the BNYC to prepare for the quincentennial anniversary of Columbus' arrival, in 1992. The choir comprised of 40 people.
The rest is history when it came to the national choir for youth between the ages of 15 and 27.
Since 1990, people who 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 music include the likes of recording artist Sonovia "Novie" Pierre, a former Miss Talented Teen; and Ericka "Lady E" Symonette, another recording artist.

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