Rhoden adds piano competition to classical festival

Marcia Rowe, Gleaner Writer

According to Gregory Lopez, a Calabar High School old boy, Orrett Rhoden was considered, in some way, a prodigy. Rhoden was the only one to get the full attention of his schoolmates when he played one of his pieces for devotion in the school's chapel. It is a feat that Rhoden continued to maintain. He has performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, performed at Carnegie Hall, and in Hollywood.

Once again, it is full attention for Rhoden. In this case he calls attention to The Orrett Rhoden Classical Music Festival and the Orrett Rhoden International Piano Competition. The announcement was made last Saturday at his Havendale residence during a party.

"The party is to launch the first Orrett Rhoden Music Festival. We had our first concert last Sunday at the Royal Plantation Hotel in Ocho Rios. The next concert will be on Monday at the University Chapel, and the last concert will be at the Montage Theatre Gallery in Westmoreland. And that's the main idea of this party," he told The Gleaner.

"Plus," he continued "I want to have ... people's idea on hosting the most incredible international piano competition on the planet, here in Jamaica in 2013."

Major international competition

He promised to deliver a piano competition on the level of any international competition that has ever existed. Competitors will be wooed from Russia, the United States and England, "the three main countries that are pivotal to classical music in the world". The three countries are also targeted because they are known to hold the three biggest international piano competitions in the world.

Rhoden was explicit in the qualities of the winner. "I am looking for somebody who is not of the new age of piano playing which is very dull and very boring and is very technical, fast and loud like an express train to Hong Kong. Now I am looking for somebody with poetry, with a sense of spontaneity. In other words, another Orrett Rhoden."

There is no age barrier and it will be open to the world. The winner will get US$50,000. And he believed that the prize money will make the competition the biggest to be held in the world. The three-round competition will have participants sending in their tapes or CDs for the first round and conclude with a play-off in the final round.

For any event that involves, the public, to be successful, publicity is very crucial. One plan is to create a film.

Lopez explained that while they are making a film about Rhoden's quest to organise an international piano competition, he also needs to get some high-quality pianos into the country.

"We want to make a film about his quest to get these pianos in and his quest to organise the concert and make it into a feature and documentary. I am collecting footage between now and the rest of the year to produce this film," said Lopez.

The plan for the classical music festival is to make it an annual affair around the same time each year. "We intend to bring in a new sort of tourist to Jamaica. Obviously, we are known for our reggae and dancehall, but this is a new venture that comes with a new sort of audience. It is going to be an annual festival in Jamaica," said Rhoden.

The pianist also revealed that the idea for the festival came about after a very dull period of seeing very little happening musically.

"We have been fed the dancehall and reggae for so many years, not that it isn't good music; I do have an appreciation for all genres of music, and certainly my own reggae, but I would like to see a rebirth of new ideas. And I thought why not bring a classical music festival to Jamaica to keep classical music alive in Jamaica?" he continued.

The French Embassy is the sponsor of the music festival. Ambassador of France to Jamaica, Marc-Olivier Gendry said he likes classical music and he admires the talent of Rhoden. The ambassador was also attracted to the fact that there were French musicians, Illo Humphrey and Claudine Pascal-Grissi, on the programme.

"After looking at the state of the finances of the embassy, I see I could make a little contribution. I would have liked to do much more but times are hard," explained Gendry.

Musician Marjorie Whylie likes the idea of both the competition and the festival. She does not foresee any challenges.

"We are a very musical country and I think there are audiences for every kind of music in Jamaica. We have a fairly wide appreciation for classical music. We are into choral music but instrumental music also has its place and there is a following," she said.