WITH a record of 60 active years in the music industry,the piano icon, Laurie Evan Rupus Greenidge has made his name and stamped his fame locally and internationally as an accomplished pianist and piano tuner.

He is the proud holder of a Certificate in the repair of pianos, having been awarded a scholarship by the London College of Furniture, a polytechnic located in the East End of London which offered training in piano repairs.
Returning to Guyana two years later, fully equipped as a piano repair expert, Greenidge gained affiliation membership status with the American Piano Technician Guild and the Institute of Musical Instrument and Technology London. His studies were followed up with attendance at annual seminars and conferences, as well as the issuance of monthly journals and newsletters.

Originally from Bajan Quarters, Skeldon, Corentyne, Greenidge who now resides in the Diamond Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara, celebrated his 77th birth anniversary last Monday and spent the day engaging in sober reflection and thanking God for his life and the gifts with which he has blessed him.
Though visually impaired, Greenidge is in no way handicapped in doing what he set himself to, and so cherishes the more than 50 glorious years, both on the ‘piano keyboard’ and ‘inside’ the piano, constantly making things right for the pleasure and entertainment of others.

It is perhaps through such experiences that he has learnt to be very appreciative of the functioning of his other senses. Having lost his organ of sight, he has been leaning heavily on the senses of hearing and feeling or touch to detect when the piano is ‘off-key’ and what keys to touch to produce the desired sounds or symphony.

Even though there has been a sharp decline in the use of pianos locally, except for churches, Greenidge continues to be preoccupied with piano music and the tuning of pianos. He is currently the organist at Smith Memorial Church in Brickdam, alongside Jane De Freitas who is a keyboardist.

Greenidge observed that people tend to see persons who are blind with pity and based on that, stigmatise them – believing that others have to do everything for them (the blind persons). He, however, refuted this assumption and said that with initial guidance and the right type of training, those same blind persons can become independent and empowered to lead productive lives.

He noted many success stories concerning the empowerment of the blind and other disabled persons, notably during his tenure as Vice President of the Guyana Society for the Blind. “I was tasked with the responsibility of training the blind and finding meaningful employment for them and was heartened at the response. I was also active in the Coalition for Citizens with Disability and personally mobilised and started up another Group called Federation for the Disabled and had good results,” Greenidge recalled.

He explained that he was not born blind. He recalls sitting at the back of the class and not being able to see on the chalkboard. Having lost his mother when he was eight years old, he reported his inability to see this to his aunt with whom he was living in Berbice. Visits to the specialist revealed that he was visually impaired, because of a weak optic nerve. But because it was not properly managed, the condition developed into blindness by the time he was in his teens.

Greenidge began attending training sessions at the Institute for the Blind. “There my interest was predominantly with craft, but I had interest in music as well. I learnt to play the piano with Babsy Payne in Henry and Durban Streets where she taught music. I was also associated with the late, Winston Woolford Drakes, who played the musical organ and was a member of the popular Cid and the Slickers musical band,” he reminisced.

Other persons with musical influence on his life included: the popular saxophonist, Sony Thomas who had a band; Mr. Donald Jones, one of the very few piano tuners around, and who was instrumental in getting the scholarship for his to study in London;Ms. Lynette Dolphin, Chair of the Department of Culture in the Ministry of Education; and Michael Nedd who studied at the London Academy of Music and still resides in London.
His late wife, Paulette Craig was also a pianist and won a Piano Competition at a Music Festival at Queen’s College several years ago.

And today, ever grateful to his sponsors, affiliates and others in the support system, Laurie Evan Rupus Greenidge asserts: “My experience both locally and overseas I consider beneficial both to myself and the country at large. My work in servicing pianos took me to a number of places in the country and I would have met many persons as well, some of whom are my friends today.”

In those days, Greenidge recalled, there were a lot of pianos around. They were in churches, schools, upper-middle-class homes and concert halls, including City Hall which no longer has one. They were a source of elegant sophisticated music, but today there are only a few pianos and organs around, namely at St. George’s Cathedral; Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Brickdam; St. Andrew’s Kirk; St. Phillip’s; Smith Memorial; St. Thomas Moore and a few others, apart from the National School of Music.

While Greenidge does not believe that piano music is a dying art form in our local context, he agrees that it is gradually on its way out, making way for ‘keyboards’. To this end, he is sending out a strong admonition to churches, parents, teachers and the School of Music, to do their level best to influence young people to learn piano and support piano music.

“Let them get involved in piano music; play the organ, though not ignoring the electronic keyboard,” he said. He explained that whereas the electronic keyboard has huge components of built-in music within the system, it is not so with the piano. What the pianist or organist puts in, is what they get out and it is instant, not stored. That is where creativity comes in. “You have to be more thorough, therefore, to play the piano requires much skill and practice,” he said.

He concluded with a final appeal to pianists in the making, to avoid the temptation to play the instrument ‘by ear sound’, but to read the music sheet at all times, before striking a single chord.