Southernaires musical director Joy Caesar dies at 75

IT was a sad day for San Fernando as southerners still trying to get over the death of Dennis “Sprangalang” Hall were further distressed by the passing of another one of their cultural icons, Joy Caesar.

The musical director of the Southernaires choir, described by her long-standing friend San Fernando mayor Junia Regrello as “a formidable force on the cultural landscape”, died on Saturday morning at a nursing home in her beloved city.

The holder of the Hummingbird and Chaconia gold medals for her contribution to TT in music and community service, Caesar, 75, was also a former head of public affairs at Citibank and sat on several cultural boards.

“I have lost a friend,” Regrello said pointing out that both Southernaires and Skiffle (steelband) were formed in 1976 and they nurtured a dream to celebrate their 50th anniversaries together.

“At every concert the Southernaires had, Skiffle was a part of it and every concert Skiffle had, Southernaires was a part.”

He recalled their teaming up for the visit of South African Anglican cleric Bishop Desmond Tutu at the Jean Pierre Complex and the day of prayer hosted by the late president George Maxwell Richards at the same venue on a Palm Sunday.

Regrello recalled a conversation he had with Caesar, a breast cancer survivor, two weeks ago and said he did not realise it was a farewell message from her.

He said, “She called me and said, 'Junia I am fighting the good fight. I am just letting you know you may not hear from me again because I have so many things to do.' She did not say she is going, she said she had so much to do and to prepare herself for the illness which was so much of a strain on her.”

He said he meant to call her but regret not getting around to doing it.

“Joy was transformational, she filled a void when it was most needed and left a foundation to ensure that there is continuity. San Fernando will never be the same without her. The city of San Fernando and by extension TT has lost a cultural icon.”

Former culture minister Joan Yuille-Williams, speaking to Sunday Newsday at the cultural send-off for Sprangalang, at City Hall, said she was shocked when she got the news on Saturday morning.

“She was the joy of my life. We worked together for many years and we had a very good relationship. She was very concerned about the cultural aspect of TT and she sent me a text this week hoping we would see each other and discuss things that were happening.”

Yuille-Williams said when she was in the culture ministry, Caesar was in charge of the cultural funds. “She ensured everybody was able to get a part of it to build up themselves. We have suffered a considerable loss. It is not a good day.”

Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts Randall Mitchell said Caesar was one of the southland’s most revered cultural icons who made her mark on the cultural landscape of TT.

“This week Trinidad and Tobago’s cultural fraternity and certainly the city of San Fernando has indeed been made poorer with the recent passing of its son in Dennis ‘Sprangalang’ Hall and now a distinguished daughter of the soil in Ms Joy Caesar. As a fellow southerner and Trinbagonian, I can truly say that the field of culture and the arts was made richer by the contributions of these two cultural icons.”