by Natanga Smith HurdleEliana Marcenaro is a wedding singer. Well, a part-time wedding singer. And a pub singer; a private events singer; and a guitar plus alto sax plus flute-playing singer. Not only that, she is a teacher too. Eliana moved to Barbados for love and stayed for love – love of teaching and love of singing. But the journey to a place she has called home for the past five years has been in a roundabout way. As she explained “the interesting story”, Eliana left her home in Peru at age 18 to take up a scholarship at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, United States, where she earned her Bachelor’s in English literature. Later, while living and working in America she would do her Master’s in education at Harvard University.
Then her husband (also Peruvian) got a job offer in Barbados; so in October 2005 Eliana packed her bag and her electro-acoustic Seagull guitar she had since 1995 and followed him. “I wanted to work in the local education system but I got a job offer to teach at The Codrington School, a private institution. I am passionate about the programme there and completely love the challenge of building a school from scratch. It has been a perfect fit for my skills and interests.” Eliana has been at the school since 2006 and is now head of the secondary school and is immersed in implementing the International Baccalaureate programme and the ten attributes her school is grounded in. But she hasn’t put music aside. “My students know I sing. When I was teaching at the junior school I used to sing for them and with them when songs could relate to the topics I was teaching.”
She says no one in her family sings; but she recalls at age four or five singing nursery rhymes which her father has on tape, and standing in front of a mirror with hairbrush in hand, pretending it was a microphone. During high school and straight into college Eliana kept on singing –performing with an a cappella group, and playing guitar as a solo singer. She was taught to play the guitar back in secondary school by a friend and she practised singing constantly to an extensive music collection her father had. “I grew up listening to folk music like Peter, Paul and Mary, and John Denver, as well as classic jazz including Louis Armstrong, Nat “King” Cole and Frank Sinatra. My dad loves Brazilian bossa nova and Latin American music. “My tastes, like his, are very eclectic, and I’ve added modern genres like alternative rock and pop. I won’t discriminate against rock band Guns And Roses,” she said laughing.
She speaks glowingly of her time working as an educator in Italy, Spain and Mexico, but also engaging in musical performances. “Whenever I had my guitar case on street corners I would get tips thrown in there. I even got a button once. It was exhausting though, but much fun.” Eliana was a solo artist in Barbados, working at private functions and small gigs until she met Willie Kerr – by chance. She went into A&B Music in Sheraton to purchase a music system and got to talking with owner Norman Barrow. He introduced her to Willie. They did a couple of private functions together and realised the artistic chemistry between them was good.
And so with Andre Woodvine on sax and flute, Willie on guitar, and Eliana at the mike, came the regular trio at the club 39 Steps – for the past two and a half years where the “returning crowd is welcoming and requests keep coming . . .”. And at The Crane where the “crowd is receptive and enthusiastic”, the duo of Eliana and Willie have been playing at the 1887 bar there every other Saturday for the past five or six months. They also have a Monday gig at Brown Sugar Restaurant. Eliana, who is committed to her job as an educator, said “music is my passion, but if it gets too much it will be scaled down”. Rehearsals for performances are once a week to keep the repertoire “fresh”, and Eliana and Willie try to learn a new song each time. Along with Andre, they have plans to produce a CD and have already recorded some tracks.
Eliana, who says she can be found on the beach or in the gym in her spare time, loves salsa dancing. Fluent in Spanish and English, comfortable in Italian and surviving in French, Eliana goes home every Christmas to spend time with her family: dad, a lawyer, mum, a psychologist, and only brother (older), the banker. How did your parents feel when you left home at 18? “My parents are very supportive – open-minded and caring. Once I am happy, they are happy. And I certainly am happy in this wonderful island!”
