Guyanese and Caribbean musician and music educator, Derry Etkins, died Saturday at the Georgetown Public Hospital where he was recovering from a minor surgery, close associates said.

At the time of his death, he was a Music Lecturer at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPC) and he also served as a consultant at the Allied Arts Unit of the Ministry of Education.

Guyanese musicians, Charmaine Blackman and Bonny Alves, who worked closely with Etkins, said they received the sad news from fellow musician, Birchmore Simon. She said that Etkins passing was a great loss to the music industry and education sector. “This a huge blow, I would think, to Guyana’s music and those educators of music. We have very few,” an emotional Blackman told News-Talk Radio Guyana 103.1 FM/ Demerara Waves Online News.