Piano star Starritt is hitting the high notes
Pianist Rachel Starritt, who is blind and has Asperger’s, is to appear in a major concert celebrating diversity. She told Jenny White about her remarkable career so far...
I have always felt happy at the piano where all my anxieties disappear. I feel that I can communicate and make connections with people using music in a way that I am less able to do verbally
Rachel Starritt
NOT so long ago, Rachel Starritt became the first blind student to study for a degree at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD).
Now, having competed not only her degree but also her masters, she’s about to appear in a large-scale livestreamed concert celebrating diversity.
True Colors Festival The Concert 2022 guest stars Katy Perry and features more than 90 artists from 13 countries. Two identical concerts will take place on November 19 and 20 at Japan’s Tokyo Garden and will be livestreamed free around the world.
It’s another milestone for Rachel, 28, who first fell in love with the piano as a young child at school in Bridgend.
“I was initially drawn to the sound of the piano at school assembly,” she recalls. “During the hymn singing in school assembly, I suddenly heard a tinkling sound of hammers which I hadn’t experienced before. In reaction, I was wringing my hands in excitement. That was when I instantly drew myself to the sound of the piano – it was like a beckoning or an embrace.”
She started to learn the piano at six years old and initially joined the Forte School of Music in Cardiff. Later she joined the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama (RWCMD) as a junior student at the age of 10.
“Studying at RWCMD on a Saturday helped to nurture my interest in music,” she says. “I received piano lessons and other lessons in braille music, free improvisation and musicianship, for example.
“I was also introduced to my piano teacher, Alison Bowring, who has remained my teacher to this day. Alison and I have developed a special bond and ways of working to overcome my disability.”
Rachel learns new pieces mainly by ear, although she can read braille music. She uses strategies for learning that have been developed with her teacher, largely based on physical interactions – for example, how physical hand gestures translate into particular sounds.
“I listen to different versions of a piece before starting to learn it, to get a feel for different interpretations,” she says. “The main stages are then working out the right and left hand fingerings and memorising the score – looking at the music more in-depth including interpretation, character and dynamics, which may be supplemented with braille music – and practice.”
Her approach to learning new pieces is strongly based on learning by ear and she finds this freeing: “I have developed strategies for learning music by heart very quickly, this includes concertos,” she says. “I am able to focus more on the instrument and the sound as I am not distracted by visual things.”
As well as being blind, Rachel has Asperger’s and she feels that this is more of a challenge than her blindness.
“I have problems with personal organisation and basic daily tasks that need to be supported,” she says. “I took a year out prior to starting my degree to focus on mobility training and travelling independently from home in Bridgend to and from college via train and taxi.
“RWCMD provided resources to assist me with my planning and personal organisation and to facilitate access to the library and braille study material as and when required.”
RWCMD also made it possible for her to study in Barcelona for six months under the Erasmus Scheme. She stayed on the outskirts of Barcelona in student accommodation and was supported by a team of people on a day-to-day basis to help her travel to and from college on the Metro, take her to breakfast and dinner and leave out her clothes for the next day.
“I was already a fluent Spanish speaker, which was a big advantage,” she says. “I developed very good relationships with the support team and I was also taken out on weekends to sample the local culture, cafés or restaurants, concerts.”
On her return from Barcelona she completed her degree and subsequently stayed on at the college to do her masters, building on the skills she learnt in Barcelona by moving into student accommodation at RWCMD. The National Autistic Society (NAS) provided her with support so that she could live independently.
“I was fortunate that RWCMD gave me several excellent performance opportunities,” she adds. “I had good relationships with the staff and they made things happen for me regardless of my disability.”
She continues to receive support from the National Autistic Society to help with her organisational skills as well as developing her independence.
“I have always found the world to be a frightening and confusing place and often feel anxious,” she says. “As a blind person, it can be difficult getting around independently and Asperger’s is an extra complication.”
However, there are ways in which her Asperger’s helps her piano playing and vice versa: “Asperger’s helps me to focus at a very high level in terms of my piano practice and performance,” she says.
“I have always felt happy at the piano where all my anxieties disappear. I feel that I can communicate and make connections with people using music in a way that I am less able to do verbally.”
She is now focused on building her career and recently got a job with Live Music Now. She plans to start her work with the organisation after the True Colors Festival.
“It will require me to work on projects in schools and care homes in the local community. This will allow me to give back my love of music to help others,” she says.
She is also enjoying performing. She gave a piano recital in St David’s Cathedral on June 3 and played the Scriabin Concerto with the Lambeth Orchestra under the direction of composer and conductor Michael Cobb on February 12. She has another recital planned at Cardiff University on February 7, 2023. She is also a member of the ensemble RNS Moves, consisting of members of the Royal Northern Sinfonia who are based at the Sage in Gateshead.
“We push the boundaries of classical and chamber music by introducing improvisation, technology and contemporary sounds and techniques,” she says.
“I am also a member of the UK Paraorchestra and I have already enjoyed several exciting projects with them – for example, at Glastonbury 2019 as a synthesiser player in the (Barry White) Love Unlimited Synth Orchestra.”
Her aim now is to continue playing classical recitals, but she also hopes to develop her concerto repertoire with different orchestras. On top of that, she enjoys playing jazz, which gives her the opportunity to use her improvisation skills – she played in the Brecon Jazz Festival in 2020 and 2021.
Her appearance in the True Colors Festival stems from the 2016 Rio Paralympics advert in which she was the pianist.
“This involved several talented disabled musicians from all over the world in the ‘Yes I Can’ recording,” she says. “The True Colors Festival will reunite a number of these musicians in a big band piece in Tokyo. I am very excited to be part of something that brings everyone together – one world, one family.
“I’m also looking forward to the chance to meet up with other musicians who I haven’t played with since 2016. Hopefully, while I’m in Japan, I will have time to sample some Japanese culture.”