History
Over 23 years of High Energy Music, the band has changed many members. Geneva is a French speaking town, with a big and mostly non-resident International community. As a result, we lost many of our girls as they left at the end of their contracts with CERN, the UN or other Geneva based international Organizations. Finding English speaking girls who could sing and dance has been an ongoing effort. Fifteen girls appeared on stage withe band, some just for a single concert. They were all fantastic, sublime and charming divas. In one word, they were all Cernettes!
This page is a tribute to all the Cernettes, past and present, in order of appearence in the band.
Catherine (F)
The inventor/founder of the Cernettes. Catherine was not a trained singer, but she started the band for fun, just to have a laugh amongst colleagues. The song "Collider" was her idea. She quit the band soon after the first concert, in 1990, to take over a new assignement of high responsibility, which did not leave her any time to dedicate to music.
Michele (UK)
As Silvano's girlfriend, Michele was the first one to be volunteered as chorist in the new band, which at the time did not have a name yet. She is the only founding member to be still with the band, and she missed only one performance, in 1991, as she was busy having her first baby.
Caroline (UK)
Caroline was working with Michele in CERN's Finance Dept. and she was recruited with a couple weeks notice, to sing in "a joke band" at the Hardronic Festival. She was an intern on a one year contract, and so she left after their unique performance.
Ruth (ES)
In 1990, Ruth joined CERN as an intern to help Prof. Carlo Rubbia, Nobel Prize winner and CERN´s Director at the time, compile his scientific articles into a collection. At the printshop she met Catherine who put her in touch with Michele and this is how she joined the new girls band, becoming the fourth co-founding member. Soon she returned to her law studies in Sevilla where she graduated. Today Ruth is professor of law at the European University Institute in Florence.
Colette (UK)
Following the unexpected success of the Cernettes' debut, Silvano was under high pressure by his CERN colleagues to reedit the band for the following year. He asked Max' (drummer) girlfriend Colette, who sang in a rock band called "The Quest", as well as in musical shows with the "Geneva Amateur Operatic Society" (GAOS). She loved the idea of singing dooh-whoop in costume, and joned entousiastically. Colette was in and out of the band from 1995 till 2007, when she became a steady member again.
Angela (UK)
Co-vocalist in "The Quest", Angela joined Colette in the ranks of the Cernettes in 1991. She, too, was in and out of the band for several years, trying to fit music and performances into her busy schedule with the International Red Cross. This work often took her on mission to refugee camps and disaster areas coordinating humanitarian assistance to some of the world’s most vulnerable people. She left the band in 1998 to form “The Bliss” with an Italian (who later became her husband) and returned in 2012 for the band's "Good Bye" concert.
Lynn (CDN)
The fourth member of Cernettes Second Editition (1991), Lynn was the girlfriend of a Canadian physicist. She was trained soprano, who loved singing also jazz and rock. Lynn quit the band in 1993, and returned for the "Good Bye", twenty years later. Amazingly, she had not changed at all.
Anne (USA)
Playing the total "American blonde", Anne stunned CERN with her Hollywood looks when she stepped in, to replace Lynn and Angela in '94. Since that time the Cernettes remained three until the very end. Like Colette and Michele, she was also involved with GAOS, and she loved the idea of dancing and singing sixtied fun rock. She quit the band in '97 for a few years, to try solo acts, and returned in 2003. She stayed with the Cernettes until the end.
Linda (UK)
She spent a few years with band in the mid '90s. Linda does justice to her Irishness by being a party and fun loving girl.
Sue (UK)
Another arrival from GAOS, Sue had played with Michele in a staging of "Little Shop of Horrors". She joined the Cernettes for only a few months in 1996.
Louise (UK)
Louise joined the band in '99, and played a few gigs, before leaving Geneva for Spain.
Susan (NZ)
A singer and violinist from Kiwiland, Susan joined the Cernettes at the turn of the millennium for about a year. She quit Geneva and the band, to move to Barbados.
Valerie (CH)
Valerie was one of Anne's fitness students. She also spent only a few months with the Cernettes, before moving on to start her own band as lead singer. She was the only Swiss Cernette ever.
Vicky (UK)
Vicky spent only three months with the Cernettes. She performed under a very rainy Hardronic festival, in 2007. Despite the fact that she loved the band, she had to go back to the UK to finish her theatre studies.