CAMAGÜEY. The Campbell family has an unmistakable cadence when speaking, thinking or teaching the violin in Camagüey. We recently saw Yanet, Sydney's daughter, an endearing musician and teacher, still a teacher in the Bahamas. Seven years have passed since our first dialogue and she is still a student.
We take the opportunity to get up to date on who in the eyes of the world is already recognized as among the most outstanding Cuban violinists of her generation. She is doing her doctorate at a university in Canada, the country where she did her master's degree, she has won prizes, has been in important conservatories and has played in prestigious orchestras.
─You dreamed of being a soloist, has your goal changed?
─ My goals haven't changed. I continue to believe that giving concerts as a soloist is one of the most fascinating and challenging facets of a violinist's career. The goals are adjusted and modified, depending on the stage of your artistic career and your life.
“I have had the opportunity to perform on several occasions as a soloist with chamber and symphony orchestras in Cuba and abroad. My most recent performances include the performance of W. A. Mozart's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 3 with the orchestra of the Memorial University of Newfoundland, in Canada. This opportunity was granted to me in 2021 by obtaining first place in the interpretation contest held by that university.
“In 2022, along with other artists, I was invited to record an album with the Ontario Pops Orchestra in Toronto. I did the Concerto in A Minor by J. S. Bach and the Adagio from Sonata No. 3 for Solo Violin by this composer. It was released on March 31st with a live concert.
─ What has been the route to the doctorate?
–After completing my social service at the Cuban National Symphony, I worked for two years as a music teacher in the Bahamas, and after receiving a full scholarship to continue postgraduate studies at Memorial University in Newfoundland, I traveled to Canada to continue my career.
“In 2020, I was awarded another scholarship to study at one of the most prestigious conservatories in Canada: The Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music, in Toronto.
“Last year I auditioned for my PhD at Western University in London, Ontario. I had only studied acting programs until then, but now I also combine research.
“The doctorate is an important step in my artistic career, as it will create professional job opportunities for me and help me raise my understanding of music and violin playing to a much higher level.
“I appreciate the support of my teachers in Canada: Nancy Dahn, Paul Kantor, Erika Raum and Annette-Barbara Vogel, my current violin teacher. I have received master classes with renowned violinists such as Ida Kavafian and James Ehnes”.
─Being away from home in the neighborhood of La Guernica has been a difficult decision. How do you deal with the distance?
–I recognize the value of having obtained an excellent education in Cuba and also being able to study in foreign universities. Even so, I miss my family, my neighbors and the culture of our country very much. Canada also has a very rich culture but it is completely different from ours. Here we are friendly and close while there people are more independent and a little less affectionate. When I am in Canada I do not stop listening to traditional Cuban music or cooking the representative dishes of our country.
─Are you composing?
–In general I spend most of my time performing, but from time to time I compose my own cadenzas for the concerts I play. During my studies at Memorial University, I took jazz courses that focused on improvisation and solo composition.
─Which groups have you been associated with?
─Among other groups, in 2022 I won an audition to play for a year at the London Symphonia. I also joined the Ensemble Obiora, the first Canadian musical group made up of musicians from different cultures. This emphasizes interpreting unknown works by composers who have not received their merit in the history of classical music. I have participated in chamber music concerts, among which I would like to highlight my presentation with the renowned musicians Scott St. John, Rachel Mercer and Angela Park.
“I was recently selected to participate in the summer festival organized by the National Academy Orchestra in Hamilton, Ontario. Along with dozens of young musicians from across Canada, we will be presenting weekly orchestral and chamber music concerts, from the middle of this month until August 18th. In one of these concerts I will perform, as a soloist, Winter (L’Inverno), one of the violin concertos from The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi”.
─So, are you already preparing the violin for another trip…
─I always travel with my violin. I also have the opportunity to play with prestigious instruments from the collections of the schools I have been to, but due to their value and due to weather issues, I do not travel with them. From 2019 to 2020 I played the David Peters Pilat violin, made in 1919 by Ernest Paul Pilat; it was on loan from the Memorial University of Newfoundland. Until 2022 I had an instrument by Georges Chanot II, on loan from the Glenn Gould School...
Together with her father, Sydney Campbell, in 2016. Photo: Otilio Rivero Delgado / File Adelante.
─From our first dialogue I remember the photo of you with a violin next to Mr. Campbell. Sometime later, when interviewing him, he said that the best concert for him was yours as a soloist when you performed Tchaikovsky with the Cuban National Symphony. Tell us about him?
─My dad is still my most rigorous teacher. He demands me, advises me and inspires me. He is always present in my life and I am thankful for having such a dedicated father like him.
Translated by Linet Acuña Quilez