Nina Kennedy grew from a child prodigy born to two musician parents into a successful concert pianist. But Kennedy has not only excelled in the music world. She has also written two memoirs and made a documentary film about her father, Matthew Kennedy, who led the world-renowned Fisk Jubilee Singers for nearly 30 years, called Matthew Kennedy: One Man’s Journey. Kennedy will be here in town for a reading from her memoir, Practicing for Love, at the Provincetown Bookshop, 229 Commercial St. on Tuesday, October 13, 4 p.m. (provincetownbookshop.com) and next week she will perform two concerts at the Mary Heaton Vorse House, 466 Commercial St., Provincetown, on Friday, October 16, at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. (provincetownartssociety.org). She took a few minutes to answer some questions about her career, creative development, and what she will bring to Provincetown this October.
Provincetown Magazine: Tell us your Provincetown story. When did you first come and what is your relationship to this town?
Nina Kennedy: I’ve been coming to Provincetown every summer since the 1980s. My wife and I bought a timeshare during our first visit, and I’ve been coming ever since. Unfortunately, she died from breast cancer in 1990. So in a way she forced me to plan this annual vacation in this magical place. She knew I probably wouldn’t have given myself this luxury on my own.
Since we had some rainy days this year, I walked into town and investigated the piano situation. The caretaker for the Unitarian Universalist Meeting House even let me have 30 minutes on that beautiful Steinway.
PM: Both your parents were serious classical musicians. At what point did you know that you wanted to follow in their footsteps and be a professional musician?
NK: To be honest, I really didn’t have a choice. Both of my parents felt that they had been discriminated against as African Americans, which made them focus all of their hopes and dreams onto me. They were determined that I would have opportunities that were denied to them. I was a child prodigy giving full concerts from age nine. When I appeared as piano soloist with the Nashville Symphony at age thirteen, I was written up in the newspapers and interviewed on TV. The concert was even covered nationally in Jet magazine. From then on it seemed my path was decided. I was booked to play concerts and appear as piano soloist with orchestras for the rest of my high school years and beyond. Ultimately I saw the concerts as preparation for my Juilliard audition. I have a master’s degree from Juilliard, and majored in both piano and conducting.
PM: In the documentary you made about your father, Matthew Kennedy: One Man’s Journey, he talks about going to see Rachmaninoff perform in Macon, Georgia, and you can see what a profound effect it had on him as a child. Is there a performance you’ve witnessed that did something like that for you?
NK: Yes. Several! When Nina Simone performed at Fisk University (where my parents were on the faculty) in the 1960s, I was in the front row! I saw a young Michael Jackson with his brothers when the Jackson 5 performed in Nashville. I think I was eleven at the time, and I saw these young Black boys as being rich and successful. In my young mind, I thought that classical musicians enjoyed the same kind of success. It took years for me to learn that the classical music world and the pop music industry were two completely different animals. My father would take me to symphony concerts where I would hear famous soloists from all over the world. The two Americans who stood out in my early memories were André Watts and Van Cliburn. After I came to New York I was able to hear Horowitz in concert at Carnegie Hall. He was pretty elderly by then, but his fans were adoring. The concert sold out in minutes.
I was one of the first in line.
And I have to add that just the other night I saw Gustavo Dudamel in his new role as music director of the New York Philharmonic. I was at the opening night concert for the season, and they gave an amazing performance of the Mahler 5th Symphony. The best live performance of that work I’ve ever heard! We are so happy to have Gustavo here. They also premiered a new work by Black Cuban-American composer Tania Leon. This new string section of the New York Phil. is predominantly female.
PM: Like many in the music world, you have spoken about facing sexism and racism in both the workplace and your schooling. What advice would you give to a young person in the music field today facing these prejudices?
NK: Now that all of the scandals are being exposed involving Epstein, Interlochen, Placido Domingo, James Levine, et al, I would tell young people to keep a record of every interaction, every audition, every dinner, etc. And to write down everything that took place, including the dates and times. People aren’t always ready to admit right away when they’ve been assaulted, but keeping a record means the information will be there when you are ready. We know that trauma affects memory, so be as detailed as you can in the moment. Eventually, more memories may return. When I first read the book Mozart in the Jungle, I was shocked to see just how many women musicians (especially) would sleep with male conductors just to get jobs/contracts. That book was also an inspiration for my own memoir.
And I would advise them to watch the new documentary film on violinist Lara St John called Dear Lara.
PM: You will be reading from your first memoir, but you have written more than one, I think. How do you decide what to include in a memoir, and what to keep out?
NK: I’ve been told that I had left out several personal details around my emotional life in my youth. Part of the reason for that is I was very isolated as a child. I was an only child, and my parents were both 40 when I was born. So the kids of their friends were much older than I was. I didn’t really have many youthful conversations with friends. In fact, the one person with whom I had weekly conversations, who genuinely seemed to care about my wellbeing was my piano teacher, Enid Katahn. Such a sweet lady.
And my parents insisted that I practice piano after school. I think they intentionally kept me isolated because they didn’t want friendships interfering with my work. They also didn’t want me to spend money. Having friends would mean going to the movies or going shopping, etc., and they didn’t give me enough of an allowance to afford to go out. Little did they know that they were helping me to stay in the closet since I always had to practice. My emotional life developed after I left their house. In fact, I wasn’t able to process my mother’s alcoholism until after I left.
PM: What do you have planned for your concert here this week at the Mary Heaton Vorse House?
NK: I’ve been working on a one-woman show for the past couple years with two Broadway producers, Linda Chapman and Lola Pashalinski, who produced and starred in the Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas play Gertrude and Alice: A Likeness to Loving. Since I used to do erotic spoken-word performances in the women’s clubs here in New York, this is a way of combining my two passions. In between the musical performances I tell stories about the Fisk Jubilee Singers and racism in the South, and maneuvering around segregation via my piano playing. I also talk about women pianists and why it’s so difficult for Americans to gain any traction in this country. I lived in Europe on and off for 12 years, and the contrast is glaring!
You’ll hear performances of works by Chopin, Bach, Rachmaninoff, John W. Work (whom you might remember from Beyonce’s film Cadillac Records), and Gershwin. You’ll see me in some pretty nice outfits, too.
–Rebecca M. Alvin
