Symphony’s only Black musician wants to be a role model
MONTREAL — When Brandyn Lewis tells people he plays double bass, he often gets the same response.
“They’re like, ‘Oh, you play jazz, right?’
“And I’m like, ‘No, classical.’”
Lewis is used to surprising people. Midway through the second of two consecutive one-year contracts with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal as an interim, or substitute, he is the only Black musician currently playing with the orchestra.
During his time studying classical music at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music, and the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal before that, he was often one of the only Black students in his classes.
Lewis may have even surprised his parents.
“I grew up in a religious Jamaican family,” said the born-and-raised Montrealer, who turns 28 next week. “No one does classical music in my family.”
But they do music. Lewis’s dad plays guitar — mostly gospel and reggae, but “he can kind of do everything.” His mom sings, as do many relatives.
“There’s a lot of gospel music in the family.”
So it was no surprise that Lewis ended up attending FACE (Fine Arts Core Education) school. The surprise was where he went from there.
He tried different instruments — trumpet, violin, clarinet — starting in Grade 4, before being assigned the cello. The following year, “out of nowhere,” his teacher, Theodora Stathopoulos, asked him to play bass.
“I didn’t really know what bass was,” Lewis said. “I looked at it and said, ‘You want me to play that? That thing is huge.’ To an 11-yearold kid, it was quite daunting. But after a while, I learned to love it.”
Lewis practised hard to get into FACE’s symphony orchestra, in Grade 7. A year or two later, on a class field trip, he saw the OSM for the first time.
“I was sitting there, in awe of all the sounds,” he recalled. “It was my first time attending a professional symphony concert. I said, ‘One day, I’ll be in the OSM.’”
He began taking the bass more seriously. In Grade 10, he told his mother, “I think I have a real talent.”
His mom encouraged him, and was a beacon of support going forward. Lewis auditioned for the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, where he began taking classes and private lessons. After high school, he enrolled at the college full time.
He had a lot of catching up to do, compared with fellow students whose parents were classical musicians, or who grew up listening to classical music at home.
“I realized I was so far behind everyone else, in terms of my knowledge of Mozart and Beethoven symphonies,” Lewis said. “I was so out of my element.”
He persevered, moving on to McGill, where he studied under Ali Yazdanfar, the OSM’s principal bassist.
“He’s the one that every bass player wants to study with at McGill,” Lewis said. “I felt so fortunate. I learned so much from him. He brought my playing to such a high level.”
The two now play together in the OSM.
“Brandyn is a unique, oneof-a-kind individual,” Yazdanfar said. “I feel lucky to have been part of his life. He’s a very inspiring individual to those around him.”
From the outset, Yazdanfar was impressed by Lewis’s talent. He focused on preparing his young charge to be ready to audition for jobs with professional orchestras.
“He was a fantastic player when I met him. He always had great drive. He’s very careful about what he does, and trying to express something. In classical music, you can get lost trying to be technically perfect. He’s always trying to bring warmth and personality to it.”
Lewis felt himself growing as a musician during his time at McGill, and becoming part of the classical community.
“Just being surrounded by other musicians and friends who were super open (was comforting),” he said. “It was such a caring environment. Everyone had each other’s back. The whole reason I got into classical music was this togetherness and sense of belonging.”