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...

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.

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.”

To access the livestream of the concert, visit www.truecolorsfestival.com