JSO NEWS

DECEMBER 2014

Breaking News on the Classical Scene in Jamaica

Next Generation String Quartet Launched

The search for the last member of the Next Generation String Quartet has finally ended with the recent addition of Nishani Clarke to
the group on violin. She joins Ellie Hind on violin, Luke Walker on cello and Jada Walker on viola, all of whom have been practising as
a trio since summer.
Nishani Clarke held her first violin at age 4 as a student of Dr. Walker in Mandeville and is currently a member of the Hillel Prep School
Orchestra. She is now a private student of Steven Woodham and recently participated in Interlochen Summer Music Camp in Michigan. As the newest member of Next Generation String Quartet under the direction of the Violin Doctor, she is in line to become a violin
force in the region.
Ellie Hind started her violin training in Kingston with Dr. Walker at age 5 and since then has received instruction from various teachers,
including Paulette Bellamy. Now privately coached by the Violin Doctor, she has become a leader on the violin and currently serves as
co-concertmaster of the Hillel Prep School Orchestra.
Jada Walker was born in the USA and studied pre-twinkle violin before switching to the viola at age 5. Two years later, she has become a powerhouse on the viola and was accepted in a prestigious youth orchestra in Paris two years early.
Like his sister Jada, Luke Walker was born in the USA and studied pre-twinkle violin before switching to cello at age 3. Under the guidance of Dr. Lisa Walker, he has matured musically and was a member of two prominent orchestras in Chicago and Paris. He now performs grade 8 works and is on track to secure a seat in the Jamaica Symphony Orchestra (JSO) at a tender age.
Each member was handpicked by
Dr. Walker to ensure perfect blend
within the group. According to her:
Given the nature of the string quartet . . . . there has to be a genuine
bond or vibe between the members
as most communication is nonverbal.
The members were selected based
on their ages (7-10), maturity, technique and musicality in anticipation
of the rigorous training required to
transform the group into a worldclass product. Under Dr. Walkers direction, the group is expected to quickly establish a new standard for string
quartet in Jamaica and the region and
become a musical force in the world.
Based on the citizenship and residence of the members and their parents, the group is now linked to Jamaica, Britain, Canada, Sri Lanka, Papua
New Guinea, as well as the United
States where it will compete shortly.

Nishani Clarke, VIOLIN

Age: 10

Jada Walker, VIOLA

Age: 7

Ellie Hind, VIOLIN

Age: 8

Luke Walker, CELLO

Age: 9

The Hillel Orchestra, which has been creating waves, did it again when it held its first End of Term Recital at Hillel on December 4th.
A total of 33 musicians, including 14 soloists, participated. Principal Cello of the Prep School Orchestra, Luke Walker, opened the
solo segment with a grade 8 piece by JS Bach (Prelude from Cello Suite No. 1), which quickly established the standard for the evening. It took almost everyone by surprise that a little boy could make such a powerful and beautiful sound on the cello. The concert
hall, which was packed to capacity, vibrated with the sounds of the audience expressing their full appreciation.
As each soloist took their turn on stage, the audience could not get enough and went wild when young Jacob Chen started a slowmoving dance on stage in perfect harmony with his viola solo performance. To the credit of Dr. Walker, all the soloists demonstrated
mastery over their instruments, consistent with the very high standard that she maintains in her studio.
Following the solo performances and a short break, the orchestra took control of the stage and raised the standard even higher with
twelve pieces, including the national anthems of Jamaica and the United States, Pirates of the Caribbean and Star Wars. After 45
minutes of high performance, the orchestra brought the curtain down with the Hallelujah Chorus, which was well received.
According to one observer: It was a world-class recital!

Naomi Campbell Isis Payne Cameron Brown (cello)

Jamaican String Players to Compete in the USA

Danyella Richards: The judges will love her natural

musicality on the violin

JSO News has learnt that a group of ten string players from the studio of Dr.
Walker will be participating in the Florida Federation Music Competition in
2015. The preliminaries are scheduled for January 2015 in Fort Lauderdale
where contestants will be given an opportunity to prove their competence to
compete in the Finals that are scheduled for May 2015 in Jacksonville, Florida.
The Jamaican group, which was entered under the club name, Tropical
Rhythms, include: Danyella Richards, Ellie Hind, Nishani Clarke, Jada Walker,
Kennedy Brown, Zara Walker, Laila Chen, Jacob Chen, Isabel Chen, and Luke
Walker. Together they have entered 18 categories including string quartet, violin duet, cello duet, violin solo, viola solo, cello solo and sight-reading.

Ellie Hind is unstoppable and is likely to take all

the awards in the four categories that she will
compete.

Kennedy Brown is determined to bring

home an award with her viola

Nishani Clarke plans to add power to the Next

Generation String Quartet to separate it from the
other string quartets in the competition.

Luke Walker and Isabel Chen will be groomed by Dr.

Walker to dominate the cello duet performance.

The Next Generation String Quartet, which was recently launched, is expected to take the lead in the string quartet category. The power from Ellie
Hind and Nishani Clarke on violin combined with Luke Walker and Jada Walker on cello and viola respectively just cannot be matched. Also, the violin duet
with Ellie Hind and Danyella Richards, as well as the cello duet with Isabel
Chen and Luke Walker are expected to dominate their categories.
From a studio where only the best efforts of the students are accepted, the
Jamaican team is naturally expected to do well. Also, as a former judge and
chairman of the panel of judges for the competition, Dr. Walker knows the
requirements to take home the awards and will prepare the team accordingly.

Jada Walker is expected to raise the bar for

the other viola players in the competition

Zara Walker and Laila Chen are excited

to compete in violin solo category

Jacob Chen is not worried about

his viola solo performance at the
competition.

Tropical Rhythms: A String Project in Jamaica (Extract)

The following is an extract from Tropical Rhythms: A String Project in Jamaica that was prepared and submitted by Dr. Lisa Walker to
Claremont Graduate University in 2004 as partial fulfilment of the requirements for her Doctorate in Violin Performance and Pedagogy.
It provides insight into Dr. Walkers challenges and how she had to step outside of her American musical paradigm and develop her own
musical techniques to be successful in the Jamaican culture. This has caused her to become a more effective and exciting teacher.

Lisas Violin Studio End of Term Recital held in December 2001 just before she left Jamaica to pursue her doctorate in California

Realizing Tropical Rhythms: A String Project in Jamaica, has been as life changing for me as for the participants. From the very first
lesson I gave in Jamaica, I realized that I would have to step outside of my American musical paradigm to be successful in this Jamaican venture. . . .
When I arrived in Jamaica, the local music teachers informed me that I would find very few students interested in taking violin lessons.
Their reasons were both economic and cultural. Jamaicas music culture is largely based on Reggae music, with emphasis on voice,
keyboards, bass guitar, trombone and percussion instruments. Further, the absence of orchestras and other ensembles that feature
stringed instruments contribute to the insouciant attitude toward string music instruction. . . Through informal discussion, I learned that
the music-education curriculum in Jamaica is not formalized and differed according to the training and pedagogical concepts of the music teacher. . . .
Shortly after opening the Lisa Holness Violin Studio in 1998, a parent of a beginning student asked her child to play something after the
first lesson. I patiently explained that I was teaching the child the basics of the instrument before teaching her to play. The parent replied that she was not sure she could afford to pay me to teach her child the basics. For this parent, there was a direct co rrelation between the payment of fees for each lesson and the progress of the child. I soon discovered this particular mindset to be widespread in
the Jamaican culture. High value is placed on a visible performance product with very little value placed on the actual process. This
peculiar cultural disposition compels a pedagogical approach heavily based on performance.
Continued in the next issue of JSO News