For John Kofi Dapaah, music is more than just a career. It’s a way of connecting with his faith and family.
Dapaah is a well-known pianist and music teacher in Ottawa who will perform at Chamberfest on July 30 alongside his teacher and friend Nicole Presentey.
Dapaah comes from a musical family and his first experience with music was in Japan with his family’s church, where his mom sang.
“The first time we went to the church in Japan, the pastor’s wife was a pianist at the church and I heard her playing, and I was just enraptured by the instrument and what it was doing.”
Dapaah started piano lessons then and there from age six until 11, when his family moved to Ottawa.
In Ottawa, the family began attending the Church of Pentecost Ottawa. They were in need of a keyboardist and word spread about Dapaah’s talent. When the church asked him to be their keyboardist, he initially said no. After putting some more thought into it, Dapaah decided to give it a try.
At the time, Dapaah wasn’t taking formal lessons. He said this experience taught him some of the most important skills he’s learned.
“It taught me a lot of things, because that’s actually where I started to learn how to improvise because in that church we didn’t use music, we just played by ear,” he said.
This wasn’t the only way in which Dapaah carved his own path in life. At the age of 13, he taught himself how to play drums from YouTube videos.
When it came time to decide on a university major, Dapaah was considering mathematics and architecture. Ultimately, he chose to study music at Carleton, which set the stage for the rest of his career.
“I feel like God has a purpose in everything that we do, so I believe that also happened for a reason.”
Classical pieces are seen as being straight and uninteresting sometimes, I think every piece has a groove to it, as long as you can feel it.
John Kofi Dapaah
His studies at Carleton led him to a year abroad in Austria, where he studied at Kunstuniversität Graz. He never lost his connection to his faith, however, continuing to play piano at a church there too.
After graduating from Carleton in 2012, Dapaah went on to obtain his master’s at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University.
One of the highlights of Dapaah’s career was his first full recital at Carleton, which gave him a taste of what it would be like to be a concert pianist and changed the course of his career.
Dapaah said one of the greatest challenges for a performer is the period following graduation from music school. There’s less performance opportunities for those new to the industry, and newcomers have to be musicians and businesspeople.
He advises aspiring musicians to remain disciplined, but also to give themselves some grace and the room to grow.
“Keep going, be diligent, and don’t give up. Things will get hard, but if you’re diligent and if you’re consistent in improving your craft and trying to get better, things have a way of working out.”
It was also during his time at Carleton where Dapaah met Nicole Presentey in 2010, another talented pianist and teacher at the university.
Presentey and Dapaah developed a close musical bond during his time at Carleton, leading them to play duets at Chamberfest together.
He described the sensitivity that the pair have developed since working together.
“I think there’s a lot of trust that’s needed anytime you’re playing chamber music, specifically a duet, because number one, you’re on the same instrument and you have to be able to navigate it in a way where you both feel comfortable, both technically and also being able to feel and hear each other’s movements in the music. Over the years I’ve been able to build that with Nicole.”
“It’s an honour to be able to work with her.”
Dapaah first performed in the City Series of Chamberfest in the mid 2010s. Since then, he has continued to play jazz and classical piano at the festival.
For Dapaah, music is all about connections, with the people with whom he’s playing or with the crowd.
“Seeing the audience’s faces as they interact with the music is the most fun because as performers, I believe that one of the most important jobs we have is to interpret the music in a way where it touches the audience.”
Dapaah also composes and arranges music. He was hooked when he won a composition competition in his third year at Carleton. The piece, written for string quartet, was performed at the National Arts Centre.
Most of his work involves new arrangements for existing musical compositions.
“I’ll take a tune and change it up, whether it’s a chord progression or the feel of the piece.”
Dapaah wants people to know that classical music isn’t as boring as it may appear.
“Classical pieces are seen as being straight and uninteresting sometimes, I think every piece has a groove to it, as long as you can feel it.”
Dapaah finds inspiration from the intersection between jazz and classical.
“I try to find ways to make those two worlds collide,” he said. “I try to put things together that shouldn’t be together. And then I try to find creative ways to make it sound interesting and captivating.”
An example of this can be found in his Christmas jazz album “Have Yourself A Jazzy Little Christmas” with his trio and Ottawa-based vocalists Roxanne Goodman and Michael Curtis Hanna.
Dapaah also takes inspiration from two stars of the keyboard, Hélène Grimaud and Marc-André Hamelin.
His Christmas album isn’t his only recording. In fact, his first solo studio album “Reflections” was released in 2018.
Now, Dapaah is working on Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue. He’s also looking forward to his debut in Mexico City this September, as well as his work with the Obiora Ensemble and his usual Christmas series.
Alongside his role as a performance instructor for jazz and classical piano at Carleton University, Dapaah also has a studio called Piano Place.
I try to impart that in my students being able to have a good technical basis but also being able to be free to know how to improvise and play other styles of music.
John Kofi Dapaah
He believes that giving students the freedom to express themselves is an integral part of musical training.
“I try to impart that in my students being able to have a good technical basis but also being able to be free to know how to improvise and play other styles of music.”
A balance of discipline and creativity is essential to the craft.
Dapaah is also passing on his passion for music to his two children, ages three and six. He said they recently played a piano recital of their own in June.
Although Dapaah is busy parenting, he still finds time to practice the piano, usually in the late hours of the night.
He begins his practice routine with a few minutes of improvisation, followed by technical training. Then he practices specific pieces that he’s working on.
One of Dapaah’s favorite songs is a hymn called “It Is Well With My Soul,” which he plays often at church, and as an encore in concerts.
“It brings me back to the fact that God is good, and things are going to be okay, everything is going to work out if I just continue to have faith in what I’m doing.”
To this day, Dapaah continues to serve as music director for his church.
“I believe that God gave me a gift in music.”
Music continues to connect Dapaah with the people around him.
“It’s not an easy role, but with the support of your family, but also I believe in God that everything happens for a reason. We have to believe that it’s not all about you, that it’s about the bigger picture.”
