Lee Callender – Pianist, Arranger, Piano, Vocal and Speech Coach

I, Lee B. Callender am a pianist, arranger, piano, vocal and speech coach from Nassau, Bahamas and was born in 1958.I had my first piano lessons at the age of six. My grandfather, the late Timothy Gibson, composer of the National Anthem of the Bahamas was the giver of these lessons. As his last and youngest grandchild I guess I was a natural candidate and his last hope for “training’ as the other six did not take to the piano at all, so I got the brunt of his passion for teaching. Progress came quickly enough, but I remember still wanting to go outside and play rather than sit at the piano.

My mother Fay Gibson married a Barbadian man called Victor Callender. I was their second child, and with my older sister Laura we all eventually moved to Barbados. 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 some 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 and also conducted the choir; very intense work for a kid I thought. The Christian Science Church also provided another playing outlet while filling my pockets with some “pocket money” which came in handy to pay for piano lessons.

I met this girl who played bongos, so we started to do piano and bongo combinations. Very cool. She had “bongo/congo” friends, so together we had a blast exploring the rhythms of our soul. Sweet youth. During this season of my life I also developed one of my favorite musical pastimes, improvising at the piano which I still enjoy thirty plus years later.

Barbados had at that time quite a number of string and wind instrumentalists who were willing to play with a young pianist hungry for music. We played pieces like Brahms sonatas for Clarinet and Piano, Beethoven sonatas for Violin and Piano, which fostered my love for chamber music. In my teen years in Barbados I did quite a few television and radio appearances playing contemporary and classical music.

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. With her as soloist I had many a “song fest” with the songs of Schubert, Duparc, Faure et al. This prepared me for the great experience my ears were about to receive when I would return home. This experience would take the form of a beautiful woman with a magnificent voice, JoAnn DeVeaux, later to be Joann DeVeaux-Callender. JoAnn and I have made beautiful music together for about thirty years. We have done tons of wonderful repertoire, from Bach to Barber with some Schubert, Schumann, Faure and especially Handel. And there is the jazz. We have travelled the world together performing in England, Germany, France, Wales and various venues in the U.S. Presently I play solo piano at a variety of occasions and I have a thriving vocal coaching studio with a few piano students thrown in.

I’ve not recorded much but I am hoping to correct that. 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 to date are Angelique Sabrina, Bahamen of the now famous “Who let the dogs out”, and popular gospel group Shabak. Besides improvising arranging is one of my favorite pastimes. I have arranged pianos solos for my own personal performances as well as choral pieces and most recently I have done a crossover jazz classical arrangement of Ave Maria by Bach-Gounod.

Well you know me a little better now, and as you visit my sites I hope I will get to know you better also. 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 commitment, the universe conspires to assist us”. – Goethe

Be well always.

© Lee B. Callender 2015

Contacts:

Studio 1-242-324-8117 Cell 1-242-436-4032

Email: leecallender@hotmail.com

Contacts: Studio 1-242-324-8117

Cell 1-242-436-4032

About Me: https://about.me/leecallender

My Faceok page: https://www.facebook.com/leecallender

My Facebook Piano Page: https://www.facebook.com/leebcallenderbahamianpianist