Kavelle Anglin-Christie, Staff Reporter
Marilyn Brice-MacDonald (left), mezzo-soprano and her daughter Christine MacDonald, contralto in concert at the University Chapel, UWI, Mona, on Sunday, November 21, 2004. - File
IT IS overstated almost to the point of being meaningless when people say they were born to do something. In the case of classical singer Christine MacDonald, however, it's safe to say she was born almost doing her passion.
"My mother, who was a part of the Jamaica Folk Singers, told me that they always had practice on Saturdays and I was born on a Saturday. That day they came and they were teaching her the music with me there, so she says it was inevitable that music would be a part of my life. Later on, I started going to rehearsals with her," she said.
Since then music has always been a part of MacDonald's life, and she wouldn't have it any other way. "I started singing when I was five years old with Dr. Olive Lewin, who used to operate the Grace Children's Club. It was a part of the culture department or something at Grace Kennedy," she said.
MacDonald, a contralto, continued to sing while attending Vaz Preparatory, Campion College and the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona campus. While at UWI, she joined the University Singers and remained with them for 13 years.
Still, MacDonald was not finished. She is the musical director of the same group which sang to her decades ago the Jamaica Folk Singers. Apart from that she is sitting exams at the Edna Manley School of Music.
"I have been doing music exams and voice and theory for six or seven years. So I'm always going to classes and training, plus I am the musical director of the Jamaica Folk Singers. So it really keeps me on the ball," she said.
So, is it as tiring as it looks? According to MacDonald, who works in advertising, "Music is more than a hobby though. It is a way to unwind. I really don't think that I could function without music. There is nothing as powerful as music ... as long as commitment is in the picture, it does not matter. If you are committed to something, then you find ways to make it work. As long as you say those are the things that you want to do, then you just need to commit to it."
RELAXATION
Still, she must have some relaxation time. "I mostly spend time with my fiancé and friends. We go to this place called The Deck and play pool and listen to music. We really love listening to music," she said.
These days MacDonald can be seen performing alongside her mother, and says she enjoys it. The two started singing together two years ago to raise money for the St. Simon Basic School, a special project spearheaded by her mother.
"The whole mother/daughter combination is fun, because we have a lot of the same ideas and we enjoy the same kind of music," she said.
"We mostly sing together at church or weddings and things like that. A lot of the things we enjoy are similar in terms of harmony. Whether it's reggae, classical or opera," McDonald said.
" ... We haven't done that (reggae) yet though. But who knows?" she laughed.
As for furthering her singing career, she says she is not thinking along those lines. "I really just do weddings and other engagements, but in terms of professional I would have to say no. Although I appreciate a wide cross-section of music, I find myself doing either show music or classical, and the thing with that is that the market for that here is not as wide as it is for pop or gospel," she said.
