Gretta Taylor

Artistic & Musical Director / Conductor

Gretta Taylor (MA, DipEd., HBM Gold) joined the Chorale in 1965, soon after its formation, and was appointed conductor in 1974. With a strong commitment to public and community service, she has served the choir in an entirely volunteer capacity for over four decades. She has brought great choral music to audiences across the country, and has carried the Trinidad and Tobago flag on award-winning international tours with the Marionettes to North and Central America, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.

Born in Trinidad, she is an accomplished pianist and a highly successful piano and vocal teacher. She has a Master of Arts degree from the University of Toronto, and a Diploma in Education from the University of the West Indies. In her personal capacity as a pianist, Gretta has won the Norah Grant Trophy and the Trinidad Guardian Cup on several occasions at the local biennial Music Festival. She has also completed musical and conducting courses at the Hereford Summer School of Music in London (1986) and the Talbot Lampson School for Choral Conductors & Accompanists in London (1986 & 1987), where she won the Richard Wood Award.

She taught languages (French and Spanish) from forms one to six at St. Joseph’s Convent in Port of Spain for 28 years prior to her retirement in 1994. There she also directed the school’s senior, intermediate and junior choirs for some 13 years, during which period the senior choir and its members consistently won top prizes in the biennial Music Festival for solo, ensemble and choral singing, including the prestigious Prime Minister Trophy for being the Most Outstanding Junior Choir of the festival. In 2004, she was inducted into the school’s Hall of Excellence. She also has been a coach and adviser to other young choirs such as Maria Regina Grade School and Sacred Heart Girls’ primary, and a judge for contests ranging from Calypso Monarch to Express Individual of the Year.

Joanne Mendes

Production Manager & Board Secretary

An enthusiastic and talented musician, Mendes trained for many years as a singer under the late Daphne Clifford. She competed successfully in many Music Festivals, both as a chorister and a soloist. Among her favourite singers are Grammy-award winning soprano Leontyne Price and mezzo-soprano Janet Baker. Her talents are not only musical, however, and Mendes has also shown a flair for the Carnival arts, helping out for several years in legendary masman Wayne Berkley’s mas camp. Joanne worked at AS Bryden and Geddes Grant/Huggins before co-founding Media & Editorial Projects (MEP). Like the rest of the choir’s production and artistic teams, she serves the group in an entirely volunteer capacity.Joanne Mendes is one of the few remaining singers from the original group of Marionettes which debuted in 1964. She has been the Marionettes’ secretary since 1974, when she, Gretta and Susan assumed leadership of the choir. In addition to singing, she ensures that the various rehearsal and performance venues are booked and ready to go; keeps up-to-date membership and attendance lists; manages the choir’s finances and fundraising; liaises with long-time sponsors, bpTT; and does it all by meticulous advanced planning. As showtime nears, she also co-ordinates ticket distribution (delivering some personally), and oversees the show’s production elements.

Caroline Taylor

Assistant Artistic Director

Winner of both a National Scholarship and a Commonwealth Scholarship, she has a BA in Performance Studies from Williams College and an MA in Theatre & Performance from the University of London (Goldsmiths), and also studied at the Lee Strasberg Film & Theatre Institute and Trinity/La MaMa Experimental Theatre Company in New York. Stage credits with Williamstheatre (MA, USA) include the title role in Euripides’ Medea, as well as Euripides’ The Bacchae, Chekhov’s The Seagull, and Stacy Cochran’s Prostitutes. Stage credits in Trinidad and the UK include Tony Hall/David Rudder’s Brand New Lucky Diamond Horseshoe Club; 3canal’s SHINE; Geraldine Connor’s Carnival Messiah; as well as Richard Ragoobarsingh’s Scandal and Lotto Madness, The Prime Minister’s Speech, Girls on the Side, Why Did I Get Married?, Party Done, and Theresa Awai’s Coming Home. Her solo show Pack Light also played at the New York International Fringe Festival. Screen work includes A Story About Wendy 2 and The Apartment. As a producer and writer, she has worked on the CNMG/TTT series Iere Vibe, helmed by Danielle Dieffenthaller, and on the Women in Pan web series from Maria Nunes and Mark Loquan. 

Caroline has grown up in the Marionettes, having sung with them for the first time in 1992 as part of a concert with the St. Monica’s Preparatory School choir, before becoming a founder member of the Marionettes Youth Chorale in 1995, joining the adult choir in 1998, the management committee in 2006, and the executive committee in 2011. She now works on various aspects of the Marionettes’ artistic and production work. She was a driving force behind the Marionettes’ mounting undertaking Les Misérables (where she served as stage director), and Bizet’s Carmen (where she served as co-director).

Outside of the performing arts, Caroline works in book and magazine publishing. She serves as editor for Caribbean Beat and Discover Trinidad & Tobago magazines, and has freelanced with a range of publications, from National Geographic to the The Guardian (UK). Time permitting, she also enjoys volunteering and freelancing with other nonprofits, startups and SMBs, including multiple Carnival Band of the Year, K2K Alliance & Partners. For more: www.carolinentaylor.com

Jacqueline Smith

Production Manager

Jacqueline began singing seriously as a member of the St. Francois  champion choir under Laura Franklin, and has been a member of the Marionettes for nearly 30 years — as a chorister, member of the committee, assistant production manager (2011–2018) and production manager (2018–present). At the T&T Music Festival, she has won the Mayor’s Cup for Best Adult Solo (1999 & 2002); the Gatcliffe Cup for Best Oratorio (2002 & 2004); the ffrench Trophy for Most Outstanding Performer (1999); and the Jean Abdool Memorial Trophy for Most Outstanding Vocalist (2002). In addition to music, Jacqueline was a dancer with the Astor Johnson’s Repertory Dance Theatre (1983–1987), where she was exposed to folk, contemporary and jazz styles; and performed in Limin’ by Godfrey Sealey, and The Mall Story.

Susan Dore

Board of Directors

Susan David Dore was born into a family rich in musical tradition, and has been involved with the Marionettes almost since its formation. By age 15, Susan had completed all the Royal School of Music Examinations to Grade VIII, most of them with Distinction. A product of St Theresa’s Intermediate School in Woodbrook, she began and ended her working life with Republic Bank, from which she retired in 2002 as General Manager, Human Resources after 38 years of unbroken service. She grew up musically in the T&T Music Festival from its earliest days at the Roxy Cinema and the Victoria Institute (part of the Museum complex), and finally at the Queen’s Hall where in her final years of competition she partnered her long-time friend and colleague Gretta Taylor, winning piano duet and duo classes as well as the respective championships. She was invited to assist the Marionettes as accompanist in 1965, then auditioned as a singer and stayed on, becoming a fixture in the alto section. When Jocelyn became ill and eventually departed in the 1970s and Gretta took over the musical leadership of the Marionettes, Susan became the Assistant Musical Director, a role she maintained for over 35 years before retiring in 2011. She now continues to volunteer her time to the group on the executive committee and the board of directors.

Dr. Roger J. Henry

Assistant Musical Director • Musicians Collective Co-ordinator • Composer • Arranger

Dr. Henry is a conductor, educator, and composer, currently serving as Associate Professor of Music and Programme Leader for the Academy for the Performing Arts at the University of Trinidad & Tobago. In addition to his University work he continues to maintain a national profile in the music community as the Artistic Director and Conductor of the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Trinidad & Tobago. Having sung with the Marionettes in the 1990s, he rejoined as Assistant Musical Director in 2012 on his return from the United States.

Roger holds a Doctor of Music degree in Choral Conducting from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University, Bloomington, where he graduated with minors in Voice and Music History & Literature. In a career spanning more than 25 years, he has served in faculty roles at both the secondary and tertiary levels, and has developed a reputation as a gifted and skillful educator. He has pursued musical excellence across a spectrum of contexts: in academia as well as in church, community, and professional music organisations. For the biennial Music Festival of the Trinidad and Tobago Music Festival Association in 2012, he and Richard Tang Yuk made history as the first local adjudicators to be invited to judge beyond the preliminary rounds.

In 2013 Dr. Henry made his debut as a composer of choral music with the premiere of his composition, There Was a Man Sent From God, sung by the Marionettes. Dr Henry is an advocate for music — for its power to encode, embody, and interpret human experience in the form of sound. He is committed to the enrichment of the musical life of Trinidad & Tobago, the education and artistic fulfillment of the country’s musicians, and the exploration of new avenues for musical creation.

Caryll Warner

Assistant Conductor • Member, Musicians Collective

Caryll Warner is a music educator and performer from Tobago who has directed and performed with both vocal and instrumental ensembles. She is a violinist who enjoys playing classical, contemporary and folk music. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in the Performing Arts with a specialisation in Music from the University of Trinidad and Tobago, and a Master of Arts in Music Education from Ball State University. She is a former member of the Trinidad and Tobago National Philharmonic Orchestra, the East Central Indiana Chamber Orchestra, the Ball State Symphony Orchestra and Chamber Choir and she’s a longstanding member of Music Amateurs Choir. She is thrilled to be working with the Marionettes for their 60th anniversary celebrations.

Joshua Joseph

Assistant Conductor • Member, Musicians Collective

Joshua is thrilled to be working with the Marionettes Chorale again. No stranger to the stage, he has been performing since the tender age of three. An accomplished pannist, he has performed alongside notable local acts such as Etienne Charles and the late Clive “Zanda” Alexander. Joshua earned his Bachelor of Music from Berklee College of Music, Boston, Massachusetts, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Arts and Cultural Enterprise Management from The University of The West Indies, St. Augustine. He is currently the music teacher and co-choir director at Maria Regina Grade School.

Khadija Huggins

Arranger • Member, Musicians Collective

Khadija likes to refer to herself as a scientific musician as her two passions in life are music and science. She holds a master’s degree in Molecular Medical Microbiology from the University of Nottingham in the UK and works as a Laboratory Quality Manager but fills most of her free time with musical activities. Khadija has been singing with the Marionettes since 2017, before which she was a member of her university’s female choir. She has also performed locally in three operas (Dido and Aeneas, Cosi Fan Tutte and Tales of Hoffmann), and virtually with the Stay At Home Choir, based in the UK. Khadija is also a multi-instrumentalist who was formally trained in piano, guitar and violin and is self-taught in recorder, flute and cello. She sometimes uses her instruments to her advantage to escape dancing on stage with the choir by offering to play with the band. She recently discovered her ability to arrange choral music and has started writing arrangements for the Marionettes. Her first arrangement was performed in December 2022.

Enrique Ali

Senior Accompanist, Repetiteur, Consulting Musical Director

Enrique Ali earned his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance at New York University, where he studied with pianist Edgar Roberts and composer Justin Dello Joio. He later pursued graduate studies with pianist Warren Jones (Vocal Coaching and Accompanying) and violinist Charles Stegeman (Chamber Music) at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Enrique has participated in master classes with pianist Dalton Baldwin at the Academie d’Été in Nice, France, specializing in French Art Song Interpretation and Accompanying. He has appeared in concert on numerous occasions both locally and internationally, as soloist, as accompanist in vocal and instrumental recitals, and as collaborative pianist in chamber music performances.

He is the founder and director of the chamber vocal ensemble Pro Musica, as well as co-founder (with soprano Fritz Nothnagel-Gurley) of the Classics at Twilight series of open-air concerts held for many years in Blue Range. He directs the all-male choir The Diamond Chorale. He was first appointed Assistant Musical Director of the Marionettes in 2011, having worked with the group as an accompanist and repetiteur since the late 1980s.

In 1998 he was the recipient of the President’s Award for Creativity and Excellence in the Performing Arts in Trinidad and Tobago, one of only two classical musicians so honoured that year. He has been an official accompanist of the Trinidad and Tobago National Music Festival for many years. In March 2016 the Music Festival Committee presented him with a commemorative plaque in recognition of his ‘dedicated and devoted contribution to the Music Festival over the years’.

Enrique can be heard at https://soundcloud.com/enrique-ali/tracks performing cello/ piano chamber music repertoire by Brahms and Piazzolla with British cellist Faye Clinton.

Desmond Waithe

Arranger-in-Residence (Caribbean & African Folk & Indigenous Music) • Conductor

Desmond Waithe was a profoundly accomplished musician and educator, with an unprecedented body of local and regional choral, folk, and steelband arrangements. An alum of Tunapuna Boys, Fatima College, and Mausica Teachers’ Training College, he is currently the Musical Director of the BP Renegades, having also served in that capacity with Exodus’ Exocubs. He enjoyed several successes with both orchestras at various music festivals in Trinidad and Tobago, France, Austria and more recently, Germany. He also taught in the Music Department of the University of Trinidad & Tobago (UTT) for over 10 years. The University conferred him with a posthumous honorary doctorate in 2022. Over the course of his life, Desmond worked with a wide range of adult and youth choirs—from Sacred Heart Girls to La Petite Musicale and his very own Stentor Chorale—for whom he did numerous choral arrangements. He began working with the Marionettes in 1980, when they commissioned him to adapt his celebrated steelband arrangement of Sparrow’s The Slave for the choir. He joined the choir the following year, and made several international tours with them as arranger, chorister, and cuatrista. He also frequently conducted arrangements for the Marionettes’ orchestra. In 1993, Desmond was awarded the Humming Bird Medal (silver) for Outstanding Contribution to Music in Trinidad & Tobago. Sadly, Desmond passed away in April, 2022. His work lives on in and with us always.