In this our initial installment, we place the spotlight on Assistant Professor of Music at The Academy for the Performing Arts, Adam Walters, composer of The Old Yard: Portraits of Carnival
Long before his personal awareness and self-acknowledgement of a future lifelong commitment to the arts, a musical journey began. Adam Walters was born in London, having lived there, all his life with the exception, of three years in Cambridge, during his period of study at university. He began the piano at an early age, in the classical discipline and went on to perform on the French Horn, with many prominent orchestras such as The Royal Opera, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, English National Ballet, Glyndebourne on Tour, BBC Concert Orchestra, and London Mozart Players. These impressive and without doubt, unforgettable experiences, eventually lead him to The University of Trinidad and Tobago to Lecture on Musical Composition, French horn, Ethnomusicology and Music Theory.
Coming to Trinidad was a journey he instinctively welcomed with open arms, even before he realized the degree to which the position would allow him the opportunity to explore one of his major passions, that of, composition and experimentation in the musical aspects of a different culture. Having just completed a successful workshop and performance with the UTT Musicians Ensembles and cellist Claudio Jaffe, we asked Adam to share some insight into his journey thus far.
WT:What was it like having the opportunity to perform “The Old Yard” here in Trinidad?
AW:“It felt like a really special event as it was a very atmospheric performance with the lights turned down, almost in total darkness, for featuring the photos of the characters on the wall, taken by Maria Nunes. The turnout was very good and it was very well received, comments such as “Adam really captured the essence of Trinidad” made me feel like I achieved my goal and that was nice to have someone say that. Also Kwame Ryan conducted the piece so it was really special for us [the ensemble] to be conducted by him.”
WT:What are the reasons, for the characters chosen, to be represented in the piece of music?
AW:“They are the ones I was drawn to mostly, having been to various Carnival celebrations. I liked the story that presented itself with the Dame Lorraine and the Moko Jumbie, There is the idea of the spirit as well as some fun and Carnival, the two sides of that character. I was really drawn to the ones I had experienced and could find out more about through the internet and asking persons here.”
WT: Who was your coach and mentor when you started playing?
AW:“Early on I had a number of teachers but with the French Horn the main person who was a big inspiration was the Principal Horn player at the Royal Opera House Mr. Simon Rayner, a fantastic Horn player. Knowing someone like that, you want to learn to play as well as they can, or as close as you can get to it.
WT:When you are performing, especially your own composition, what it’s like to go on-stage when its show-time?
AW:“Well, strangely I get much less stressed when I’m performing here in Trinidad than in the UK as we have so many things to do in our job. For a performance it’s not just writing the music and performing, it’s organizing everything down to putting chairs and stands in the right place for the show! So having to think about all this in addition to all the teaching, it’s such a relief to be able to sit down and play the music.”
WT:When did you realize that being a musician was what you wanted to do?