–meet violinist Akeem Anthony Adams

WHEN 27-year-old Akeem Anthony Adams considered registering for a class at the National School of Music nine years ago, he hadn’t the slightest interest in learning to play the violin; it was just to accompany his sister to her class because she wanted company.

But Akeem can still remember that afternoon when he first walked into the building and heard the violins being played. It sounded too superb for him not to immediately reconsider his interest in pursuing a class.

“The sound of violins resonates well in halls that echo, and the school’s hallway was just that. So the sound surrounded me and engulfed me and I just knew that I had to go into that class. There, I got my first violin lesson and I did not look back since,” Akeem reflected in an interview with Buzz this week.

It was never his intention to learn to play the instrument, but he wanted to join the school to pursue the piano and guitar, owing to his background in music during his primary school days in the choir.

“My sister wanted to do the violin and wanted me to join the class because it didn’t have a lot of people and she wanted some company. So I thought I would spend a day or two and then do what I wanted. But when I went the afternoon, the first thing I heard when I entered the hallway…just hearing the instrument (the violin) for the first time drew me to it.”

It was the sound of teacher Jillian Oak, a volunteer from the United States embassy who would become Akeem’s teacher. Sadly, for him, Ms. Oak moved to Mexico and learning the instrument became increasingly challenging, even frustrating, but he didn’t quit.

“With the use of YouTube and books and constantly recording myself and listening back so that they could correct my mistakes, I slowly realised that I was making progress and I was getting good feedback from others, so I continued on my journey and now I can say that I really love the instrument because it affords me the opportunity to not have to go to a 9 to 5 job and the opportunity to do something that I love.”

Akeem gets called now for weddings, shows, cocktails, and various other events, and is a regular feature at popular malls and entertainment spots.

Last year, he also became a teacher with the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, teaching music to hinterland scholarship students – theory, guitar voice and violin.

“I also find having my students from the hinterland who speak different indigenous dialects sing in their native languages encourages them not to be ashamed of their culture,” he related.

Akeem finds it ironic that, growing up, he did music theory in secondary school, but would always fail.

“Music theory involves some amount of Mathematics, and I was very slow in that department. However, when I started learning to read music again, around the age of 17, one day I was cleaning and a hammer fell and hit me in the head; it made me dizzy and I went to the doctor and had an x-ray and everything was fine, but I found like a week after that incident, music started to make sense. I could understand how to read the notes; I understood time signatures, my fingers were moving faster on the violin; I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or so but that is wild,” Akeem shared.

He used to love reading because he felt that it helped him see images in his head with the story. But with that ability taken away from him due to the ‘hammer’ incident, Akeem could no longer read.

“However, playing the violin has filled in the gap of that sort of escape that reading filled in for me. If I want to feel like I want to go to Ireland, I play some Celtic fiddle music; if I’m feeling mysterious, I dabble in some Arabian scales.”