First Black female dancer at Berlin’s Staatsballett ...

 ... had to ‘white up’ for Swan Lake

Chloé Lopes Gomes claims racial harassment at Berlin's Staatsballett. Picture: Marek Wójciak/Instagram/Chloé Lopes Gomes

By Maddy Shaw Roberts, ClassicFM London

French ballerina Chloé Lopes Gomes has accused Germany’s most prestigious ballet company of failing to protect her against multiple acts of discrimination and racism.

Berlin’s principal ballet company has said it aspires to a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination and racism after its first Black female dancer, Chloé Lopes Gomes, claimed multiple counts of racial harassment.

Lopes Gomes, who joined the Staatsballett as a corps de ballet member in 2018, spoke out about her experience in November this year, to German magazine Der Spiegel. She said she faced racial harassment at the Berlin company, saying she was repeatedly told her skin colour meant she did not fit in.

She specifically claimed racial abuse from her ballet mistress, who she said forced her to wear white makeup in a production of Swan Lake, to “blend in”. She claims the same teacher refused to give her a white veil for a performance of La Bayadère and said: “I can’t give you one: The veil is white and you’re Black.”

Lopes Gomes says the teacher told her on several occasions her skin colour was not aesthetically acceptable and used her to recreate a painting of a black dancer surrounded by white dancers, saying she would show her friends that the company “also has one of those”.

Read more: MP criticised for suggesting northerners don’t like ballet >

Chloé Lopes Gomes joined the Staatsballett as a corps de ballet member. Picture: Marek Wójciak

Lopes Gomes has accused the company of institutional racism, saying she told managers about the acts of harassment, but they failed to act.

In an interview with Pointe magazine, she claims she spoke several times to Johannes Öhman, co-artistic director at the time. “[He] said it was unacceptable but explained to me that she had a lifetime contract, which means you’re untouchable in Germany.”

The French ballerina, 29, has spoken out about a climate of fear at the company, which “meant that whilst my fellow dancers often felt uncomfortable at my treatment, they were mostly too scared to speak up.”

Several anonymous dancers have since backed up her account.

Lopes Gomes, who trained in Marseille and at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy and previously danced for the Ballet de l’Opéra de Nice, said she felt pride on joining in 2018. “It was the fulfilment of a childhood dream,” she told The Guardian.

She said her position, as the company’s first Black female dancer, made her “happy that I had the chance to show other young black girls that they could do the same.”

(C) 2020 by ClassicFM London

Intubated COVID-19 patient plays violin for medical staff to say a musical ‘thank you’

COVID-19 patient serenades hospital staff in Utah with violin. Picture: Intermountain Healthcare

By Sian Moore, ClassicFM London

The 70-year-old musician played church hymns and the ‘Tennessee Waltz’ as hospital staff watched on teary-eyed.

A retired orchestra teacher, who was in hospital with coronavirus, showed his appreciation for his caregivers the only way he knew how – by serenading them on his violin.

Grover Wilhelmsen was intubated and unable to speak, so requested in writing to perform on the ICU ward in Utah to thank the workers. “It’s the very least I could do,” he wrote.

Grover’s wife of 47 years, Diana, brought her husband’s violin and viola into the hospital.

To ensure a safe environment for the concert, medical staff closed the doors to Grover’s room and enjoyed the music from behind the glass.

“About a dozen caregivers gathered to watch and listen in the ICU,” said Grover’s nurse, Ciara Sase. “It brought tears to my eyes. For all the staff to see a patient doing this while intubated was unbelievable.”

Read more: 81-year-old Italian man serenades sick wife outside her hospital window >

ICU COVID-19 Patient Plays Violin

“Even though he was so sick, he was still able to push through,” Sase continued.

Read more: Hospital staff surprise ballet-loving cancer patient with ‘Swan Lake’ >

“You could see how much it meant to him. Playing kind of helped to soothe his nerves and brought him back to the moment.”

The 70-year-old musician played multiple times over a couple of days, before his symptoms worsened and he had to be sedated.

Sase had learned from her colleagues that the violinist had been teaching and playing music “all of his life”.

Hospital staff perform ballet routine for young cancer patient

Read more: Doctor picks up violin to give emotional serenade after patient’s COVID-19 recovery >

“It was honestly shocking to be there when he picked up the violin,” nurse Matt Harper added. “It felt like I was in a dream.”

He continued: “I’m used to patients being miserable or sedated while being intubated, but Grover made an unfortunate situation into something positive.

“This was by far one of my favourite memories in the ICU that I’ve had. It was a small light in the darkness of COVID.”

Grover was recently discharged from the ward after staying for over a month, and is currently residing at an acute care facility where he is expected to recover.

“He truly is special and made a mark on all of us,” Sase said.

“When I started to cry in the room after he was done playing, he wrote to me, ‘Quit crying. Just smile,’ and he smiled at me.”

Composer John Williams awarded RPS Gold Medal...

 ... for introducing millions to orchestral music

John Williams receives RPS Gold Medal award. Picture: Royal Philharmonic Society

By Maddy Shaw Roberts, ClassicFM London

‘He has dedicated his life to ensuring orchestral music continues to speak to and captivate millions of people worldwide.’

Internationally treasured composer John Williams, 88, is the recipient of this year’s RPS Gold Medal.

The legendary film maestro, who composed the enduring music for Star Wars, Harry Potter, Schindler’s List and many more, won the coveted award at the 2020 Royal Philharmonic Society Awards, for introducing millions to orchestral music.

His win, one of the highest honours in music recognising outstanding musicianship since 1870, was announced during a digital broadcast on 18 November featuring performances filmed at London’s Wigmore Hall.

Accepting the medal via video, Williams said: “To receive this award is beyond any expectation I could possibly have. For any composer to be able devote his or her life entirely to the composition of music is very fortunate indeed.”

Director Steven Spielberg presented a special congratulatory message to his long-time collaborator via video message, saying: “John, you have brought the classical idiom to young people all over the world through your scores, and through your classical training and your classical sensibilities. You are in the DNA of the musical culture of today.”

In his wonderful introduction to Williams’ win, which was determined by the RPS Board and Council and voted for by RPS members, RPS chairman John Gilhooly said:

“Some of us are born into classical music, never recalling a time without it. Others are drawn to its magic by the spell that orchestras cast in bringing soul, drama and humanity to motion pictures.

“The recipient of this year’s RPS Gold Medal has dedicated his life to ensuring orchestral music continues to speak to and captivate people worldwide in this way. Aged 88 and still at work, he is an international treasure, writing score after score of sophistication and impact, many transcendent of the films for which they were written.”

Elsewhere, cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason was presented with the Young Artists Award for “captivating listeners worldwide”.

Welsh soprano Natalya Romaniw received the Singer Award, while the Scottish Ensemble received the Ensemble Award for their innovation in their 50th birthday year.

(C) 2020 by ClassicFM London

Inspiring moment 92-year-old with dementia remembers Beethoven’s ‘Moonlight’ Sonata on piano

92-year-old with dementia remembers how to play piano. Picture: Randi Lebar

By Maddy Shaw Roberts, ClassicFM

Learning to play Beethoven on the piano is a joy that will never leave you, no matter what life throws at you…

This moving video of a 92-year-old pianist playing Beethoven speaks to the incredible power of music to unlock memories – even for people living with severe dementia.

Elaine Lebar, a former composer and music teacher, started playing the piano aged three and went on to study at a school for the performing arts in New York City. After getting her BA from Brooklyn College, majoring in Music, Elaine took her studies to the University of Missouri for an MA in music education.

She went on to compose traditional piano and vocal music and, after becoming intrigued by the skill it required, composed several piano solos for one hand.

Ten years ago, she started showing signs of dementia. And in 2017, she was moved to a care home, Buzzards Bay memory care facility in Sagamore, Massachusetts.

Elaine’s short-term memory is now nearly non-existent. She can’t always remember the names of staff and often struggles to remember whether her daughter has visited that day. But one memory that always comes back to her is music.

Read more: Spine-tingling moment ballerina with Alzheimer’s remembers routine to Swan Lake

“We’re moving onto a third movement,” her daughter, Randi Lebar, says in the video (watch above).

“Okay,” Elaine nods.

“Of the ‘Moonlight’ Sonata,” her daughter adds. “Okay, go ahead.”

“I don’t know it,” Elaine claims, before rattling off the movement’s electrifying opening broken chords with astounding accuracy.

Randi regularly posts videos of her mother playing piano on Facebook. But she recently decided to also share her talents on TikTok under the username @orifbone, with the message, ‘Sharing my mom with the world to raise awareness of dementia’. The above video now has nearly 7m views on the platform.

Speaking about her mother’s story to Metro, Randi says: “Although she can dress and feed herself, she has almost no short-term memory. Five minutes after playing piano, she will not remember that she played.

“Thankfully, she does recognise me most of the time. Her mind is sharp despite the dementia, as you can see in the videos with the conversation.

“Although music has always been important in her life, now it’s really the only thing that makes sense.”

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Randi’s visits to her mum’s care home have sadly been limited since March. But when she does manage to see her, she makes sure to grab a video of her mother doing her favourite activity.

“The first time I was allowed to visit with her in person at the piano was 18 Sept 2020,” Randi says. “As she struggled through ‘Clair de lune’ – my favourite – I realised how much she (and I) had lost in the preceding six months.”

The Debussy piece (watch above) was Elaine’s first foray on TikTok, and the video now has more than 60,000 views, with nearly seven million on the ‘Moonlight’ Sonata clip.

Telling of her mother’s amusing reaction to her own viral success, Randi said: “After explaining the site as clearly as I could, her response to the fact that hundreds of thousands of people were watching her videos was, ‘They must have too much time on their hands. They need something better to do.’

“Sadly, I was not recording at that time!”

Ballerina with Alzheimer’s listens to Swan Lake, and it all comes back

A number of videos have been doing the rounds in recent months with proof of the memories unlocked by the power of melody. Paul Harvey, a 92-year-old former composer with dementia, went viral this year for his remarkable off-the-cuff piano improvisations on live TV.

And just last week, the Internet collectively wiped away a tear at the moment Marta González, a former prima ballerina with Alzheimer’s, listened to Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake and remembered all the choreography.

Studies actually show that music may actually alleviate symptoms for people living with dementia and make them feel much happier.

Speaking to Classic FM, Grace Meadows, programme director of Music for Dementia, said: “Music can be a lifeline for people with dementia. It facilitates shared, quality musical moments with friends, family and carers. Music for people living with dementia isn’t a nicety, it’s a necessity.”

(C) 2020 by ClassicFM London