Music has the uncanny ability to make us feel emotions that we sometimes don’t even know we have. It can make us smile, cry or even shake to its
rhythmic beats. Essentially, without music, the world might as well be a bland atmosphere in which we merely exist.
An individual who understands the depth of music, more than what the average listener hears, is a young man by the name of Akeem Anthony Adams.
Although he is barely 21-years-old, he has been able to learn the divine art of making music with a violin and could easily fool anyone into believing that it is a simple process. But what many may not believe is that Akeem was able to master this art, although he says he still has a long way to go, within the space of three years.
For the record, making music on any instrument, the kind that touches the heart, soul and probably every fibre of your being, is no walk in the park. Making music is hard work, especially if you were not born with the natural talent to do so.
Akeem insists that he is no musical prodigy. In fact,
during a recent interview, he recalled how he even dreaded taking mandatory music classes as a student at the New Silver City Secondary School in Linden. Born to Victor Adams and Lisa French [deceased], Akeem is the eldest of his three siblings.
He first got caught up in music classes merely because he was convinced that he had a fairly good singing voice.
“Growing up, I never had an interest in music, but I could sing. So, I was kind of excited about music class because I thought, ‘Oh, it’s just singing’. But then the reality hit me when I saw there was a board, and there was like an actual theory; there was even music history,” Akeem shared. Essentially, Akeem failed all of his music exams.
He, however, disclosed that it wasn’t until he changed schools that he saw music from an entirely different perspective.
Because of family circumstances, Akeem had to move to the East Coast of Demerara where he started to attend the Golden Grove Secondary School. There, he would meet a music teacher – Ms. Bridgette Nelson – who helped to
forever change the way Akeem felt about music.
But, of course, Akeem didn’t see this coming. Again, he was merely vying for a place in the school’s choir when he asked Ms. Nelson to assist him with the theoretical aspect of his music class. It was astounding how Ms. Nelson’s simplified explanation helped to open Akeem’s eyes to music. “The way she put it over, I just had like an epiphany and understood it. It became like second nature to me,” recounted a smiling Akeem.
While the theory became clear, Akeem still had a problem comprehending how it could be transformed into glorious sounds of music by way of an instrument. His first attempt to make the unthinkable happen was via a recorder, which Akeem described as “a dreaded instrument” since “people don’t really like it. It’s like an annoying flute thing.”
But, with Ms. Nelson’s help, Akeem had a desire to learn and, indeed, not only his understanding, but his ability to make music improved considerably. In fact, Ms. Nelson became even more, a mother to Akeem than just a music teacher.
With a desire to learn even more, Akeem decided to seek entrance at the National School of Music. Although he did get admission to the school, Akeem recalled that it was not easy.
At first, he had his mind set on learning to play the piano or the guitar, but he was persuaded by his adopted sister, Ernesta Nelson, to embrace the idea of learning to play the violin.
“She wanted to do violin too, so she told me, “Come on, join the violin class because I’m gonna be lonely.” So I decided to go with her, even though I didn’t want to do it because I never fancied the violin,” Akeem related.
The first day of violin class would be the very day Akeem’s view of the instrument changed. Soon after he entered the classroom, he was captivated by the sounds coming from a violin played by the then volunteer class teacher, Ms. Julian Oak.
“When I heard her play, I don’t know what happened, but I became excited to join the class,” Akeem confessed. “When I went into the room, the place was quiet and she started playing… The amount of emotions that little wooden box created, it had me in awe.”
Learning to play the violin came with unbridled dedication and commitment that Akeem was willing to give. In the process of learning, he had to move past many sessions, which saw him producing sounds which were more likened to the screeches of a dying cat.
“The first six months were difficult… Looking back now, when I thought I was awesome, I realised I really wasn’t. I have made a lot of progress coming along so far,” Akeem shared.
With each passing day of devoted work, Akeem has improved to the point that he was able to write the Grade Two Associated Board of the Royal School of Music [ABRSM] exam through the National School of Music and gain a distinction, even after his teacher had left.
“She had equipped me enough, so I decided to challenge myself,” said Akeem, who has also written Grade Four of the ABRSM exam, which is taken by music students
across the world, and was again able to secure a distinction. Although he shies away from making himself a ‘big deal’, many people have been able to experience Akeem’s outstanding talent. In fact, with the departure of his violin teacher, Akeem was capable enough to become a volunteer violin teacher at the National School of Music. It was, in fact, while undertaking this task that he was first noticed by his now manager, Kristia Ramlagan, who had brought her
daughter, Gabrielle, to be taught to play the violin.
Kristia shared how she was impressed by the way Akeem helped her daughter to learn the violin. “By the end of three classes, I was amazed by what she was able to accomplish… Akeem is my daughter’s inspiration,” related Kristia.
Recognising the marketability of his talent, Kristia, earlier this year, offered to manage Akeem on a pro bono basis until he is able to officially launch his career and has since been able to land him quite a few gigs. “Since I started to manage him, he has been doing corporate events and mostly weddings. He has quite a few weddings booked for this year,” Kristia shared.
One of his most requested selections is John Legend’s ‘All of me’, which Akeem has played so many times that it has become almost effortless to deliver to an audience. He, however, never shies away from playing a new song. “When I know the song, I can play it by ear, but if it is new, I have to study the song and figure out the keys,” he shared.
A day doesn’t pass without this young musician wearing his headphones to listen to music he intends to make his own. “Since I started doing music three years ago, it has become my life,” said Akeem, who is known to give even more focus to his music when prepping for an event.
In much the way he inspired Kristia’s daughter, Akeem’s life has been inspiring to others. His advice to young people is to “dig within yourself and find that dream; find what you like and put every effort into making it a reality.”
Akeem intends to live by his own advice too. In the future, he sees himself becoming a solo violinist who is able to produce albums that are not only good enough for locals but even the international scene. He revealed, “I would love to tour and represent my country doing something that is not quite the norm here.”
But even as his reality continues to unfold, Akeem continues to be his biggest critic. He intends to one day master the piano, guitar, recorder, flute and the cello, even as he improves his singing. “People say I sound good, but I always think I can do better,” said Akeem.
Working to be an all-rounder comes even as he prepares to launch himself as an artiste. “We are working towards Akeem launching his career locally and he is working really, really hard to improve,” said Kristia, as she also spoke glowingly of Akeem’s passion to consistently improve his performance.
In his quest to improve, Akeem is hoping to one day land a scholarship overseas to further his music education.
In the meantime, though, he is optimistic that swift moves will be made to put in place a copyright legislation since, according to him, “musicians need to make money too; all art forms should be respected and protected.”
