Rosalind Gabriel is a founding member of the Trinidad & Tobago Carnival Bands Association.
Rosalind has been involved in Carnival for 44 years and has built a reputation in Trinidad & Tobago, the Caribbean and the diaspora in London, New York, Miami and from Alaska to Japan. Rosalind is viewed as the face of Carnival and is respected as the best proponent of carnival costuming. She shares this reputation with esteemed names such as Peter Minshall, Wayne Berkeley and many other great men of mas, and great women such as Elsie Lee Heung and Lil Hart, who influenced her greatly in her early years of mas.
Rosalind has an undying desire to fight for and to promote the culture of Trinidad & Tobago, especially where traditional mas is concerned. Traditional mas set us apart from carnivals that exist worldwide, and what is ours should be treasured and preserved. This is a continuous effort, which began long before the formation of the TTCBA. Her work today is testimony to that commitment.
Rosalind has great pride in the mas fraternity of Trinidad and Tobago – pride in the culture, with a strong desire to promote what is best in our culture, and to preserve the rich heritage that we have inherited.
For the above reasons, she has fought the cause through many administrations of government and the NCC. She fought many battles in court from 2014 to 2019, so that the TTCBA would be received as the recognized body for mas. This resulted in the TTCBA being recognized as the ‘body most representative of carnival bands’ in June 2018. This decision resulted in the TTCBA receiving a seat on the Board of the NCC. The seven-year struggle from 2013 to 2018 was well worth it.
Rosalind’s friends have called her the ‘Iron Lady of Mas’. She has long fought to uphold the integrity and tradition of what is true to the creation and presentation of the mas. For far too long we have accepted mediocrity at every level at what should be a vibrant creative industry. The time has now come to chart a new way forward.
During her career as a bandleader, Rosalind has captured eighteen (18) national junior large band of the year titles, which included three hat tricks. She has won many Junior Queens and Kings of Carnival titles, and others too numerous to mention.
There is hardly anyone in Trinidad & Tobago who is not familiar with the name and the person Rosalind Gabriel. There is hardly a person who does not know and is not familiar with the work that Rosalind has done to keep our culture alive. Rosalind is whom she is and her mission is and has always been to ensure that mas lives on and remains truly an undying culture.
Rosalind Elizabeth Gabriel is now serving her second term as President of the TTCBA. She was unopposed in the recent AGM/Election of Officers, which took place on 15th November 2020. She will continue the fight to preserve the culture, and to represent all members of the TTCBA and the carnival community as a whole.