Then came Have Yourself A Jazzy Little Christmas, Yuletide favourites with the special Dapaah twist. First was Reflections, an offering of classical music, including Schubert, Schumann, Chopin and Bach. He has considerable experience on keyboard, having played it every Sunday from age 12 to 25 as part of an ensemble at The Church of Pentecost Ottawa.ĭapaah has produced two albums so far. Lapensée on bass, along with singers Roxanne Goodman and Michael Curtis Hanna. In some of Dapaah’s live performances, he plays keyboard as part of a trio, which includes Jamie Holmes on drums and J.P. Friday, December 10, is at the same location: 15 Alymer Avenue. It’s always fun to see their reaction.” Here John Kofi Dapaah is playing the Steinway at Southminster United Church. “One of my favourite things when playing live is people’s reaction after something like that. Popular Christmas songs such as Jingle Bells or a Frank Sinatra favourite such as Fly Me to the Moon can also morph into jazz territory. At a classical performance, Dapaah may begin with a familiar Beethoven composition and then slide into jazz.

While at the piano, Dapaah loves to improvise. The family home is in Russell, just east of Ottawa. The church is “an integral part” of the lives of Dapaah, his wife Kristina and their two young daughters. As well, he is music director for his church, Kingdom Culture. Joy and laughter mark his speech now.ĭapaah also teaches piano at his studio, Piano Place, for four dozen students “aged three to 65 plus,” and works at Carleton University grading piano students’ performances. The boy who had difficulties communicating because of a stutter found a different way to connect with the world. His résumé includes appearances at Ottawa’s annual summer Chamberfest, live concerts abroad from Austria to Japan, and online performances, solo or with a trio. These days, Dapaah is an Ottawa institution, performing both classical and jazz numbers. That drew me as a young child and it does today.” I think that makes it quite different from the other instruments available in the mainstream. It’s almost like having a symphony in your hand. “It’s like you have a paintbrush in front of your eyes. My parents got me into lessons a couple of months after that.”Įven as a child, Dapaah could envisage “the endless possibilities” of the piano. “At the first service we went to, I just couldn’t look away from the piano. “We started attending a church in Japan, and the pastor’s wife was a pianist and a piano teacher,” Dapaah recalls many years later. His versatility, musicality and generosity as a community builder are remarkable. John Kofi Dapaah is an institution in Ottawa’s music world and beyond, performing both classical and jazz numbers. But hearing live piano music in Muroran was like a summons to a whole new life. Music was already in young John’s genes, his father being a guitar player and his mother a singer. Dapaah moved from his native Ghana at age six to Muroran, where his father was doing graduate studies in chemistry. But for John Kofi Dapaah, Muroran is the city of such a piano. Tourist brochures do not even mention a life-altering piano. Muroran, on Japan’s Hokkaido Island, is an industrial city famous for its spectacular cliffs and ocean views. Celebrated concert pianist, recording artist and educator John Kofi Dapaah bridges the gap between the classical and jazz worlds.

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