LIVING M usic
Gift of Music PHOTOS AND WORDS BY TED SIMPSON
40 ottawaathome.ca HOLIDAY 2020
J
ohn Kofi Dapaah has spent the past 25 years sitting by the keys of a piano, riding a musical journey that has taken him to concert halls and studios around the world. He has learned from classical masters to become a teacher, a composer and a recording artist who has performed for dignitaries and Governors General. These days, life has become simpler for John. You’ll probably find him at home in Russell, in a small room that has just enough space to fit an upright piano. His walls are decorated with the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, and a small bust of Ludwig van Beethoven—with his wild mane and intense gaze—sits atop the piano, staring down on John as he plays. Yet, even with everything going on outside his walls, when John plays his piano the air
comes alive with bright, beautiful energy and everything feels right in the world. “I think the best way to look at it is from a positive outlook, the other way will just make you go crazy,” John says with a laugh as he talks about the changes in his life since the global pandemic threw us all for a loop back in March. He had built a life around performing on the piano and teaching at his school, the Piano Place. When the world changed this year, musicians were among the hardest hit and it left him with a lot of unknowns. But John is adapting, much like he has done throughout his life’s journey. John was born in Ghana, but his family moved to Japan when he was still very young as his talented engineer father had a scholarship to complete his graduate studies at a Japanese university. It was
