Lee Callender

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I, Lee B. Callender am a pianist, arranger, piano and vocal coach from Nassau, Bahamas. My first piano lessons were when I was six years old, (1964) with my grandfather, the late Timothy Gibson, composer of the National Anthem of the Bahamas. Progress came quickly enough, but I remember still wanting to go outside and play rather than sit at the piano.My father, Barbadian born Victor Callender, moved to the Bahamas, met and married my mother, Fay Gibson and voila, two children were born. We all eventually and inevitably moved to Barbados in 1966 including my only sibling, sister Laura-Marie. We lived there for twelve years where I continued my piano studies with Diane Provencal of Canada and Janice Millington - (deceased) a Barbadian pianist and violinist trained at the Royal Academy of Music in London.After I returned home to the Bahamas in 1977, I had some coaching from the late E. Clement Bethel, in preparation for my first piano recital. Mr. Bethel also Royal Academy trained, was a Bahamian composer, pianist and the then Director of Culture in the Bahamas. Later on I studied briefly with Dr. Ernest Ragogini of Baltimore Maryland. In 1984, I obtained the Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music in piano performance. (this is equivalent to a Bachelors Degree). Many years later in 2002 I began piano technique studies with Giselle Brodsky of Fort Lauderdale learning the basics of The Taubman Techniques created by Dorothy Taubman, designed to produce virtuosity with ease, to solve tension issues while playing, and to prevent injury. I am presently studying with Edna Golandsky of New York, the chief exponent of the Taubman Techniques.Living in Barbados was an amazing experience for me in many ways. An island, 21 by 14 miles, filled with talented, brilliant people, and lots of cultural activities to inspire a young musician.The literacy rate was 98% in 1966, so there was great intelligence all around. I just wish I had absorbed more of it.Over the years I collaborated with many wonderful and interesting artists, and played a wide variety of music. Growing up Anglican/Episcopalian, I began playing the organ in church when I was fifteen. I also conducted the choir; very intense work for a kid I thought. The Christian Science Church also provided another playing outlet while filling my eager young hands with "pocket money", which came in handy to pay for piano lessons. Later on I met a girl who played bongos, so we started to do piano and bongo combinations. Very cool. She had "bongo/conga" friends, so together we had a blast exploring the rhythms of our soul. During this season of my life, I also developed one of my favorite musical pastimes, improvising at the piano. This art form came in wonderfully handy at my "hotel" gig, not to mention affording me a freedom of artistic expression at a very high and satisfying level.There were quite a number of chamber musicians on the island, and I got to play pieces like Brahms sonatas for Clarinet and Piano, Beethoven sonatas for Violin and Piano, which fostered my love for chamber music. A really fun part of my teen years in Barbados was playing contemporary and classical music on television and radio. Great for the "teen" ego, and social life.My first piano teacher in Barbados, Diane Provencal of Canada, had a daughter Doris, a soprano who introduced me to the wonders of lieder and chanson. We sang loads of Schubert, Duparc, Faure et al. This prepared me for the great experience my ears were about to receive when I would return home to The Bahamas. This experience would take the form of a beautiful woman with a magnificent voice, JoAnn DeVeaux, later to be Joann DeVeaux-Callender now my wife of twenty-five years.JoAnn can be heard at myspace.com/joanncallender JoAnn and I have made beautiful music together for about thirty years, performing tons of wonderful repertoire, from Bach to Barber with some Schubert, Schumann, Faure and especially Handel. And there is the jazz. Did I say check her out at myspace.com/joanncallender? :)We have travelled the world together performing in England, Germany, France, Wales and various venues in the U.S.Presently I am performing a few nights weekly at the Atlantis Hotel, Paradise Island, Bahamas. I am also quite busy at my thriving studio, coaching mostly vocal students, with a few piano students thrown in. I've not recorded much, hoping to correct that, but I am featured on the special fifth anniversary release of the Bahamas National Youth Choir, playing 3 Preludes, and Variations on a Theme by E. Clement Bethel, both original compositions by Cleophas Adderley - Bahamian composer, conductor, arranger, singer and pianist. I truly love the human voice, spoken and sung, and to that end, I am writing a manual for singers designed to give a more efficient, simple approach to the use of the voice. Among the many local Bahamian "stars" I have coached, the most notable todate is BahaMen of the now famous "Who let the dogs out".Well, you know me a little better now., and as you visit my site, and I visit yours we will get to know each other better. I am passionate about life, music and people. Here are my two favorite quotes. You can borrow them if you like. “You’ll never have significant success with anything until it becomes an obsession with you”. – Mike Murdock"At the moment of committment, the universe conspires to assist us". - GoetheBe well always,Lee