Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer
Orrett Rhoden greets the audience at the beginning of his recital at the University of the West Indies, Mona Chapel on Sunday, April 22, last year.
Mark Dawes, Staff Reporter
On Sunday, May 18, Jamaica's world-famous concert pianist, Orrett Rhoden, will give a joint recital with violinist Preston Hawes in the Mona Chapel, at the University of the West Indies. The concert begins at 5:00 p.m.
Last week, Rhoden, 47, shared with The Sunday Gleaner perspectives on the growth and development of classical music in Jamaica and elsewhere.
The Sunday Gleaner: What can be done to popularise classical music to young people in Jamaica?
Rhoden: A great deal can be done through the schools. If we have music being taught in the schools from an early age, that will bring a new generation into experiencing classical music.
Also, I think the absence of Radio Mona has been a great loss. They played classical music from dusk till dawn. They had lunch hour concerts as well, which I thought was so wonderful. I thought we were really getting somewhere, you know, for a Caribbean country to have a radio station which played both classical and jazz music. They used to have a wonderful jazz programmes in the afternoon. Jazz to me a just as important as classical music. It bridges the gap between the pop music and classical music.
I am a bit disappointed in what I see on television in terms of music which has vulgarity lewdness. This I think is a development in the wrong direction. I have nothing against pop music. But I think that we should have more programmes on television, not necessarily classical. We could have for example, more semi-classicals and Latin American music.
Have you ever delved into the non-classical genre?
I did a concert once in the south of France where I extemporised with a group of reggae musicians. I was able to improvise on the spur of the moment, while they were playing jazz rhythms. It was a classical thing, with a reggae foundation.
What is required to be a classical pianist?
It is the most difficult profession >ever. It really is. In America, Europe and the far East, there is so much talent competing for so few opportunities. I think there are about 2,000 concert pianists out there on the market at the moment and they are all very good. You have to be clear about how much potential and talent you have. You have to be realistic. You don't want to got out there with just half of the requirements trying to compete with the others who are really way ahead. You really want to have talent, and personality, and the ability to compete with everybody else.
And you must have something to say musically. In my case, my angle has always been 'a concert pianist from the Caribbean/Jamaica'. As a child, I had influences from the popular music of the day, and at that time it was Bob Marley's music. I have a different approach to classical music. Although it is treating the music with respect and authentically using the music scores and not doing anything that is not on the printed page, I have my own interpretation towards the music and often critics have described me as "the Caribbean Bombshell" and "Jamaica's ebullient answer to Vladimir Horowitz".
That is where I have made my niche.You have to have something new to offer, something new to say.
What do you mean by personality?
You don't want to be considered as lacking character. You must have some amount of flair. To be a carrier of the music to the public you have to have some idea of what you think the music is saying and then try to convert that into your own language.
How well are concert pianists paid?
It depends on your agent and who invites you to play and many other factors. I have my set fees when I am asked to play anywhere. Luckily, I have been able to eat.
What's right and wrong about how classical music is taught in Jamaica?
I think that a lot of the teachers that teach classical music apparently usually go into a exam for the students for the Associated Board exams of the Royal Schools of Music. I think that is good because it gives them some sort of standard to work with.
To say what is wrong, I think emphasis should be more on the classics and not on popular music. Classical music training is foundational for every other kind of music. I would like to see students performing more the works of the great masters.
Do you give master classes?
I give master classes. I have given a few here. I prefer to perform. I think I have a particular gift in that area in terms of communicating the audiences that I play to. That is how I inspire people, but not necessarily through teaching. It will inspire musicians to see that they too can get somewhere if they persevere and continue.
Who is Preston Hawes?
He is a genius. He is 25 and he is doing his doctorate in violin at Yale University. A lot of musicians can be very academic and dull and boring. He is not one of those. He has technique and he is a romantic performer and electrifying. I have known him for four years. He is the associate director of the New England Symphonic Ensemble. The concert is a warm-up for our appearance together at Carnegie Hall in September.
You have lived overseas for many years, where do you make your home now?
Right here in Jamaica. I live here. Whenever I have concerts I go and come back. I have been living here for 10 years, but I keep a very low profile. It is only recently that I have been going out to a lot of parties and things like that.
Which classical pianist do you really admire?
I have two people that I say have inspired me, Vladimir Horowitz and Maria Callas. My hero was Horowitz and I have no apologies to make. A lot people say he was a showman, it was his personality, he had something to say. In terms of the younger ones I also like pianists Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Daniel Barenboim.
Why do you include Maria Callas, she was a singer?
Well you have to sing at the piano to create a line. You have to mould the phrase in such a way. It is a synthesised version of what she was doing with the voice that I have sought to do with the piano. All good pianists have to sing at the piano. And it is very difficult to do. Maria Callas I think she was the greatest dramatic soprano of her time.
How has the classical music business changed since the time you entered it?
There are so many good people around now that it is difficult for a critic to go every concert and to rave about everything he hears because everyone is doing it.
What have you not yet done that you want to have done in your career?
I have been invited to South Africa and I hope to go there next year. I have already been to Carnegie Hall five times.
I do have a passion for film. I would be thrilled to do a documentary on my life, beginning with my start in music at the tender age of three and simply telling my story.
To many viewers it would seem quite unorthodox as Jamaica is most famous for its popular music. A serious Jamaican classical pianist would, however, have some interesting stories to tell and it is my goal to put Jamaica on the map by telling this unique story. I would use the documentary as the first part of the DVD and in the second part would see me performing in a live concert to a Jamaican audience.
I have always seen myself as an ambassador for my country and this film would be just another way of continuing the journey. It is my goal to market this DVD all around the world as I think the response would be immense. This could also tap into a new sort of tourism for our country bringing to our island a new and different set of people not yet tapped by tourism officials.
It is my idea to give Jamaica a sort of a facelift as we have been seen for a long time as a country riddled by violence and often show the crude side of our warm and generally friendly people.
We all want the best for our island and I think that classical music should be taught to our school children from the word go. Not only does it bring about a softer society, but it helps to build better brains.
How do you feel about the pianos in Jamaica?
Good question. Nobody in Jamaica who has heard me play in Jamaica has ever heard me play properly because of the lack of instrument. There isn't one decent Steinway in Jamaica. We need a proper instrument. Last year when I played in Carnegie Hall, the piano there was like a Rolls Royce - I could do anything I wanted. It would be nice to have one of those come down to Jamaica. But nobody has ever heard me play at that level as I play when I am overseas. We need a decent new Steinway.
You have a bias towards Steinway?
Well, I am a Steinway artiste.
You are signed with Steinway?
Steinway has a list of artistes that they have adopted as professional musicians and I am on that list.
Does that mean you wont play on any other brand of piano?
If I can avoid it, yes, I would not play on any other piano, but Steinway.
You have a 'moral contract' with Steinway?
Yes, I have a moral contract to play on Steinway. I think they make the best pianos.
When was the last time you did a concert in Jamaica?
Last year at the UWI Mona Chapel.
The ladies would want to know, is there a significant other?
I have a dear friend that I am very close to at the moment.
Send feedback to mark.dawes@gleanerjm.com
