Jaunelle Celaire

Alaska is best known for snow-capped mountains, Eskimos and, most recently, a feisty hockey mom named Sarah Palin. There is no Caribbean presence.

On December 12, Jaunelle Celaire, an associate professor of voice at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, decided to change that. She hailed her Caribbean roots by staging the university's first-ever Caribbean Christmas concert.

Speaking with The Gleaner from Alaska recently, Celaire said the show went over well.

"There were 12 songs that were sung, varying from calypso, samba, rumba, jazz and waltz," she said. "We were fortunate to have a bass player and percussion ensemble that was able to help with the Caribbean flair."

Celaire, 34, said the University of Alaska Fairbanks' choir usually performs African-American spirituals during Christmas. But this year, she was inspired to do something different.

"I recently heard of a composer by the name of Glenn McClure, who wrote the Caribbean Christmas Mass and it seemed really interesting and exciting to educate the city of Fairbanks about a different culture," she said.

Caribbean roots

Celaire was born in Toronto, Canada. Her father is originally from Aruba but grew up in Dominica, while her mother is from Trinidad and Tobago.

Apart from listening all day to Bob Marley songs during a cross-country Canadian trip with her family and dancing to Colin Leslie's Dollar Wine at a wedding, Celaire has never been big into the sounds of the Caribbean.

She graduated with a doctorate of musical arts from the University of Michigan and was offered a job at the University of Alaska Fairbanks shortly after.

Despite the chilly climate and a minute black population, she said life has been good in Palin land.

"It's not as hard as it seems. There is a large native population here which makes the diversity comparable. It is a military town and there seems to be diversity with that as well," she explained. "The cold takes some getting used to but Alaska is quite beautiful."

Celaire is also a professional singer, specialising in African-American spirituals. She spends summers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as a featured soloist with the Rio International Cello Encounter.

She has not been to the Caribbean since she was 16, but is keen to return as a performer.

"I would love to share some music with the island of Jamaica. I just need an invitation," she said.