Friday, April 15, 2011
Monday, April 11, 2011
The Interview!
Hello my name is Sasha Nagrom! I’m just delighted that I’m finally getting the chance to me you Mr. Emidy! Well I know some call you Emedee how would you like for me to spell it?
Joseph Emidy: Well thank you for inviting me! I’m very happy to be here! And I would much rather you spell it E.m.i.d.y.
S.N: Okay however you like it Mr. Emidy! Are you ready to get this started?
J.E: Yes, I’m ready whenever you are!
S.N: What in your child hood or past got you involved in the violin and composing music?
J.E: Well me, just being a little slave boy, I didn’t know where I acquired the love and passion for music. I wasn’t constantly around music so I guess music just came to me.
When I was brought to Lisbon with my master I just knew that I would love music so I constantly asked him if I could somehow be involved with music, somehow. My master bought me a violin and got me a teacher. I had no musical background and I knew no one else who played the violin. But somehow I learned how to play the violin. I guess it just came to me naturally. Well I always had a strong interest in music. I truly don’t know what got me so involved. I guess I just thought about it so much that my desire to play just increased and increased. (Buckingham , 2009)
S.N: Were there any people that significantly impacted your life and/or directed you to where you are now?
J.E: To be completely honest I don’t even know what inspired me to become a musician. I mean I always enjoyed music but… Music was not always a huge part of my life saying that I was a slave as a child and when I finally set foot on land in Falmouth after five long years on sea it consumed most of my time.
Well I never really had any family or anything of that sort. So i guess the person who I could say got me into music and kind of put me where I am was my master and my teacher. If I would have asked my master for the violin and he said no I would never be where I am now. I could only imagine were I would be if I had a horrible teacher who didn’t teach me correctly. So even though they aren’t my favorite two people in the world I’m still thankful that they started off my career for me.
S.N: When you entered the music business what was it like?
J.E: Well when I entered from Falmouth my friends contemplated introducing me to London’s Musical society, but not only did my friends think that I wasn’t going to make it as an African man but others probably thought so too. I think that when I was at the peak of my career that people looked at the color of my skin and judged me before they got to chance to even hear my music.
Soon after I entered the music business, I got a lot of recognition from many different people. I made a name for myself in the business very early. I think this was just because I did so much for myself and I held a lot of parties and balls. Just to make sure that people understood where I was at and what I did. I got some of the money that I had because of my former owner. Soon enough I had my own money to do what I wanted to do.
S.N: What were some of the major cultural situations of your time? Did these affect you? If so how?
J.E: Some major cultural issues of my time are that I was a colored man. And my friends didn’t want to get me any further known than I already was, because they were afraid that there was a huge possibility that I would fail just because of my race and my background. This affected me because it limited the amount of things I could do in my career.
Also because of my color I couldn’t get into certain musical groups that could change my career for the better. A lot of people felt that because of my race it would stop people from coming to see the shows all together. Also slavery was still an issue where I was living. So there was still a little conflict and tension. (Western Morning News)
S.N: How was the economy around you and did it have any impact on what you were doing?
J.E: Well I guess you could say that the economy was fine. The economy was just mainly based off of our agriculture and the by the amount of tourist we had. So, no I don’t think it really affected me. (Economy of Cornwall”)
S.N: Did the political circumstances in your period of time, have any impact on your work?
J.E: Well there were not a lot of rules regulations or laws holding me back from what I was trying to do so again. No, not really. The thought of people and their perception of me is what affected me the most.(“Economy of Cornwall”)
S.N: What do you think in your life have you done that is a huge success for you?
J.E: Actually I never thought I would make it as far as I am now. I’ve accomplished so much! I started out just a little slave boy! I went through so much and I am still so successful! I’m proud of how far I made it, because most don’t make it nearly as far. So although I never did expect to make it as far as I did I still worked hard to get what I wanted so I think I deserved it all.
I think that after all that I have been through just people knowing my name is a great success. I think that the success I have is in knowing how to play all of the instruments I know how to play. I know how to play the violin, viola, clarinet, flute, and many other instruments. I think overall my greatest success was that I went to parties and balls and people actually knew who I was and that they actually knew my name. Also that around… 1795 I had not long before that entered the Lisbon Opera House Theaters and I was already a leading and top violinist. Another big thing for me was when people started to say that I was one of the most influential artist of my time and that I could possibly be the best.(“www.sensagent.com, www.blackpresence.com)
S.N: What did you have to do to be able to reach your success?
J.E: For my success I had to just keep working hard and just making sure that I was staying focused. A lot of people put me down and told me that I wouldn’t be able to do a lot of things but I just had to keep my head up a keep pushing.
S.N: Was there ever an event in your life that you knew was going to make a turning point in your career or that was the greatest opportunity that you would ever have.
J.E: Well I just knew when I got accepted into the Lisbon Opera House and Theater that it was going to be something big for me. I quickly made my way to the top of the violin section. What made this even better for my career was that I was a teen… well during this time I was like in my late teens early twenty’s. Either way it went I still was very young to be in the business.(www.emidy.com)
I didn’t always have good changes in my career. Some of the changes in my career took me away from my whole plan for long periods of time. Sometimes things happened in my career that took me completely of my track. One example is me having to take a five year break.
S.N: Was there any particular sacrifices that you had to make on your own to become as successful as you did?
J.E: Well I came from being a slave. Even though I didn’t always work out on a plantation, my life wasn’t the greatest. There are sacrifices in every career, some more than others. I don’t think that I had that many. I think that being where I am now is a lot better than being a slave and someone owning me. So being here is great for me. The only thing I think I had to sacrifice was time to practice and I would have rather been practicing than doing other work.(Buckingham 2009)
I believe I sacrificed a lot when I had to go and work for Captain Edward Pellew. I mean there are a lot of people who couldn’t stay on a ship for a few months. I HAD TO STAY ON FOR 5 YEARS! Without being on land the whole time. I mean I didn’t really have an option, but that put my career back at lot. It put me 5 years behind.( Buckingham, www.emidy.com, www.blackpresence.co.uk)
S.N: What kind of set-backs have you ever had in your career to become who you are?
J.E: Well the most commonly known setback with people of my race is that other people judge us before they even get to know us. I was also kidnapped and obligated to go into service as a musician for five years without once setting foot on land. This put me back a lot because if I was land for five years I could have made more progress with my career and maybe been able to put myself out there more and gotten much more know.
The biggest setback I had in my career is that I had to take 5 years off. Captain Edward Pellew saw me at one of my many concerts and I caught his attention. After the show was over he sent some of his men to the back door telling me that I was obligated to join his crew as a violinist. I had no option so I went along for whatever he said. My duties for the ship didn’t end till 5 years later. In between those 5 years I did not once set foot on land. This put me far behind because I could have better on land getting more people to know about me and making advances in my career. (Buckingham, www.dearsurprise.com)
S.N: Was there ever a time were you felt restricted as an artist? What about as a person?
J.E: Well sometimes I felt restricted as an artist because my race and the color of my skin hindered me from being in all of the groups I could have been in and joining other great orchestras. Another time I felt restricted as an artist was when I had to go and play on the ship for five years. Although I was still able to play my music and people still listened and heard my music it still held me back that I couldn’t fully show people. Some people what great talent I had and that I could do so much more than what people thought of me.
I sometimes felt restricted as a person because even though I eventually got friends and they helped me along the way in my career, they still sometimes told me that there would things that they didn’t feel like I would be able to do. They felt that it was a large possibility that I would fail. So some times this held me back and made me feel that I wasn’t as good as I really was.
S.N: Are there any stories you would like to tell us that best describes how you developed into the successful artist you are now?
J.E: Well I don’t know if you want to call this a story or not but, I came from a completely different place as a slave with absolutely no family. I had to basically fend for myself once I got my violin and got my lessons. I did well and I made a name for myself so all I want to say is that if I did it and I made it then you and anyone else can too.
And trust me my life was a lot more than just having to be a slave as a child. I had to endure, right after the fact that I had just had the freedom to express myself through music the set-back of having to take five years off and work on a ship and all five of those years not being able to step foot on land NOT ONCE! So all I’m saying is never give up because I went through lot of hardships and I still made it so just always work hard and you can get whatever you want in life!
And also well I was taken as a slave by Portuguese traders and that changed my life completely, and not in a good way. But in turn I made it all the way to Cornwall and now I have my music and that makes me happy. Even though being taken wasn’t something that I wished for it gave me a great life and in a strange way I’m grateful for what happened. So that’s all I have to say for me having a story! (www.emidy.com)
S.N: Well Mr. Emidy thanks for those great words of encouragement!
J.E: Oh! Anytime… anytime!
S.N: Well I hate to say it but I think our time together is up! It was a pleasure meeting you; hopefully we could do this again?
J.E: Okay great! I would love to! And it was a pleasure being here!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Reference!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#1Buckingham, James. Autobiography of James Silk Buckingham. London: Kessinger Publishing Company, 2009. Print.
#2descendant, . "Where was Joseph Emidy from? and what language did he speak?." 11 feb 2010. Online Posting to answers.yahoo.com. Web. 25 Feb 2011.
#3"Economy of Cornwall." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation Inc., 2011. Web. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Cornwall>.
#5"Impossible Task of Naming All Our Heros." Western Morning News 19 Aug 2009, Print.
#6"Joseph Emidy." Black Networking Group. Black Networking Group, 15 mar 2010. Web. 25 Feb 2011. <http://www.blacknetworkinggroup.org/2009/03/15/62/>.
#7"Joseph Emidy the Lost Composer." www.andysheppard.co.uk. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb 2011.
#8"Joseph Emidy: Slave, Musician, Landsman." The Dear Surprise. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb 2011. <http://www.thedearsurprise.com/?p=2358>.
#9Joseph Emidy-- Musician . N.p., 26 sep 2010. Web. 25 Feb 2011. <http://www.blackpresence.co.uk/2010/09/joseph-emidy-musician/>.
#10"Joseph Antonio Emidy." www.emidy.com. Diabate Arts, 2006. Web. 23 Feb 2011. <http://www.emidy.com/hisstory>.
#11"Joseph Antonio Emidy." www.sensagent.com. N.p., 2011. Web. 13 Feb 2011. <http://dictionary.sensagent.com/joseph+antonio+emidy/en-en/>.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Guinea Africa, where i was born and taken away from as a small child.
This where I was born and spent very little time. I was taken to Brazil. Even though I'm not happy that I had to leave my home, leaving got me the oppritunity to play by music and to become who I am now!Contact Us. Web. 25 March 2011. <http://www.alpharhythmroots.com/Contactus.html>.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Guinea Africa, where i was born and taken away from as a small child.
THE VIOLIN
This is what i play, for those who might not have known what a violin looks like.
"Violin." Violin Pictures. Web. 25 Mar 2011. <http://www.musicwithease.com/violin-and-bow-10.gif>.
I was on a ship for FIVE LONG YEARS!!
I was on a ship for FIVE STRAIGHT YEARS! This took so much out of my career... I just dont think anyoone could imagine FIVE WHOLE YEARS ON SHIP!! Well i did it... and it was rough!
His Story (page 3). Web. 25 Mar 2011. http://www.emidy.com/hisstory3
Truro, Where I would like to spend the rest of my life!
At one point of time in my life I was a slave. I had to do through the difficulties that alot of others had to go through. I was just lucky enough to escape some of the tragedy and pain.
Slave-Branding from Leeds Anti-Slavery Series 1853. Web. 25 Mar 2011. http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/(after)-Mason,-W.H./Slave-Branding-From-Leeds-Anti-Slavery-Series-1853.html.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
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