- NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - Hier 06:10

Why Eddie sings for Pat

The names of Edward Cumberbatch and Pat Bishop are inextricably linked in the annals of Trinidad and Tobago’s cultural history and their work together will forever be the hallmark of excellence and human achievement. On June 29, Eddie – as our most admired tenor is fondly known – will sing from Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise at the Central Bank Auditorium. It’s an evening dedicated to the memory of Pat Bishop (1940-2011) who shaped the Lydian Singers and developed the signature sound of TT’s revered Lydian male choir. The evening will include music from a host of excellent musicians, including Enrique Ali (piano), Theron Shaw (guitar), the Lydian Male Voice Choir and the Lydian Steel Ensemble. The story of why some of Schubert’s wintry cycle of 24 songs (from poems by German poet Wilhelm Müller) should be at the heart of the Pat Bishop tribute is an enlightening one. It reveals how patience and belief can produce extraordinary outcomes. Winterreise being performed in TT could only have happened because of the relationship between Eddie and Pat. The voice in this solo work is of a young man who, heartbroken by the loss of his beloved who marries someone else, attempts to escape her memory by setting off on life’s journey, wretched, tormented by his empty dreams, alone and isolated. It is full of tabanca and deep emotion, says Eddie. It requires not only great vocal technique to express the turmoil and passion of unrequited love, but also the emotional depth to capture the resignation and maturity that eventually follows. Pat Bishop always knew that her star male singer, Eddie Cumberbatch, could sing the demanding part but she waited nearly 20 years to allow him to do so. Everything in between was a preparation for his life and that role, as it turned out. It is easy to overlook the fact that Dr Edward Cumberbatch, the singer, is also a physicist, mathematician and academic who teaches “mainly maths” at the University of Trinidad and Tobago. From early childhood he was exposed to music at home. Studying at QRC was interrupted by his parents moving abroad for study, which was fortunate, since it helped Eddie to develop both sides of his brain, left and right. [caption id="attachment_1162188" align="alignnone" width="684"] Eddie Cumberbatch -[/caption] It is well known that Albert Einstein’s brain hemispheres were so well connected that he used right-brain creativity and left-brain logic simultaneously. Interestingly, Eddie Cumberbatch, when later on at a liberal arts university in the US, majoring in physics and finding the maths course hard going, overcame the hurdle by investing time in music and performance. He joined a choir and excelled, so that he graduated in 1984 with a minor in voice. He says music kept him grounded, but it did more than that because, as he recognises, the music somehow made the maths easier. The US experience made Eddie an advocate for a broader education for our children. A wider school curriculum in which arts subjects are not extra-curricular but are seen to be as critical to human development as are the compulsory subjects would produce better people. At his junior high school in Indiana, music was compulsory, as was woodwork, cookery, physics and maths. It helps explain why he is such a well-rounded, empathetic person, admired for his humility that belies his enormous talent and achievements. An exceptional talent he was, but it was Pat Bishop who recognised it in the young man of 23. Her confidence in his ability, only partially obvious to its owner, pushed him not only to realise his vocal potential but further towards academic achievement. A master's (UWI) in physics was followed by his PhD, which he achieved after her death. “Without Pat, I would not have had the confidence to do many things in my life.” Her belief in him propelled him forward. That Pat Bishop, who walked on water, saw something in him, made him feel obliged to do his duty to himself. [caption id="attachment_1162183" align="alignnone" width="683"] -[/caption] Pat Bishop, the quintessential outer of talent, though not immediately obvious as a patient person, was deeply philosophical and had worked out how to refine raw talent. Her teaching methods have much to recommend them. Eddie Cumberbatch, the teacher, uses her example. Pat gave everything local and historical context and infused her teaching with drama, e.g making choir members blow steadily on a candle’s flame to control their breathing, and to walk around the block. Vocal range and breathing technique are not everything a good singer needs. Eddie Cumberbatch finally achieved the maturity his mentor deemed necessary to play the forlorn lover of Winterreise, and in next Sunday’s public performance we patrons will hear the result of the journey made by one of our great tenors under the tutelage of the redoubtable Pat Bishop. Tickets available: 338-6024; Central Bank Box Office (June 27-29); online at The Palm Foundation, chequing account #560801374301 (collect tickets at door)   The post Why Eddie sings for Pat appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.