Cordane Richardson, a Sixth Form student at the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School, was the fifth recitalist in the Morlens Community Recital Series 2013-2014 when he appeared at St Augustine’s Anglican Church on Sunday afternoon September 29.
Cordane, called “a multi-talented and very accomplished musician in concert”, established that reputation after having had many public appearances in Anguilla and outside the island between 2004 and 2010. An excellent student in piano exams, administered by the Associated Board of the Royal School of Music in London, and having been tutored by a number of local music teachers, Cordane has exhibited a high level of performance on a variety of instruments.
It was on these instruments – the piano, trumpet, steel-pan and the double bass – that he gave a set of splendid performances with prolonged applause from the large and appreciative audience. A standing ovation at the conclusion of the recital was but a small tribute to a young musician whose towering height equalledthat of the double bass (a string instrument of the violin family) he played during one of his stirring performances.
Cordane’s performances in the first segment of the programme comprised the following – on the trumpet: Spirit of the Living God by Daniel Iverson; Ave Maria by Back Gound; and Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring by Johann S. Bach; on the steel-pan: Great is Thy Faithfulness by T Chrisholm and Shout to the Lord ( a medley) by D. Zschech; on the trumpet: Can You Feel the Love Tonight by Elton John and A Whole NewWorld by A. Menken & T. Rice; and on the piano: Maple Leaf Rug by Scot Joplin.
Director Lennox Vanterpool on the Piano
These performances were followed by an intermission during which three students from Morlens Music School presented piano tunes.
In the second segment of the programme, Cordane played – on the trumpet: Ipanema by AntonioC. Jobim; La Cucaracha (Traditional/Anon); and Mexican Hat Dance by Jesus G. Rubio; on the double bass –It Don’t Mean A Thing by Duke Ellington; on the trumpet –Amazing Grace by J Newton & J Husband; Love Divine Our Love Excelling by W P Rowlands; Nobody Knows & Battle of Jericho (a medley) by B. Dewagtere and J Roberts; and on the piano: Georgia by Ray Charles.
During the programme, narrated by Avon Carty, Cordane was accompanied in some portions of the recital by Etiene Brooks – drummer; LorinBarbrow – bass guitarist; Elson Richardson – keyboardist; and music teachers Michael ‘Dumpa’ Martin, and Lennox Vanterpool, Director of Morlens School of Music.
Mr Vanterpool said the recital programmes had been going on since about the beginning of this year. “We have four or five more recitalists to go of equal calibre,” he told The Anguillian. “We will have Kassim Thompson and Leon Christie on trombone; Joshua and Arron Gumbs on saxophone and drums; Romeka Richards on the saxophone; and Elson Richardson (who participated in the first part of the recital series) on the piano.”
Asked what the object of the recitals was, Mr Vanterpool replied: “The brand of the Morlens School of Musicis the advancement of youth through music. It is to showcase the progress that students have made, and then to give them a feel of what using music as a performance tool is like.”
