Roderick Demmings Jr.

THE MULTI-TALENTED PIANIST AND ORGANIST WHO FORMED #BLACKMUSICMATTERS IS OUR MARCH 2020 SUPERSTAR INFLUENCER

From performances at New York’s Carnegie Hall to the Vatican as well as performing for Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, this pianist, entertainer, social justice advocate, aviation aficionado and founder of #BlackMusicMatters has graced world-famous stages around the globe and his creative journey doesn’t stop there.

The wide-ranging accomplishments of this multi-talented and awe-inspiring performer/entertainer at this young age (26) are mind-blowing and so is his emotional intelligence. Having a conversation with Rod, as his below interview answers will show, is like talking to an “old soul.” He speaks eloquently when describing his career and life experiences so far and is clear, concise and determined about what he has set out to achieve in the future, for himself and, as a human rights advocate, for others.

Let me set the stage for you to be stunned by the brilliant Roderick C. Demmings Jr. aka Rod.

The award-winning pianist and organist began his performance career at New York’s Carnegie Hall in a debut, solo performance at the age of 12. In addition to piano, he began taking pipe organ lessons and merited a full scholarship to attend Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University where he graduated with an undergraduate degree in organ performance. Today, Rod is the proud organist of the First Baptist Church of Baltimore.

Since his concert at Carnegie Hall, Rod has performed around the globe. In the summer of 2011, at age 17, he toured South Africa and Lesotho, performing for both Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela followed by a tour in Italy in July 2013, where he performed at the Vatican. At home in the U.S., Rod has performed as a soloist in concert halls at Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center, Philadelphia’s Verizon Center, Los Angeles’s Walt Disney Concert Hall, and many more. Most recently, he served as Music Director for George Washington University’s Theatre Program during the 2019-2020 season and as Music Director for Portland Stage’s first production of the musical “Ain’t Misbehavin.”

Having a heart for social justice, Rod formed #BlackMusicMatters, an arts ensemble for singers and instrumentalists aimed at empowering and healing the “Beloved Community” through Black Music. #BlackMusicMatters performed at the 50th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King in Memphis, TN on April 4, 2018.

As an entertainer, Rod’s transcription of George Clinton’s “We Want the Funk” for Pipe Organ garnered more than 81k views online. Here is a clip for you to see.

Rod is a passionate advocate for social justice and human rights, often traveling to areas of the world where these values are under attack spreading a message of love for all through the universal language of the arts. In addition to music, Rod is an avid aviation aficionado in pursuit of his pilot’s license, he competes in Spartan races and plays chess competitively.

I met Rod in April 2019, at the reception given for the performers of the play “The Me I Want To Sing”- created by playwright Tom Minter- by the Director of Stanford University in Washington D.C. Rod was the pianist in the play, which is the story of opera greats Marian Anderson and Leontyne Price. His energy already told me then that he is a special person. I just had no idea then how special.

Pictured Above (click to enlarge), Roderick Demmings Jr. with soprano Christine Lyons (left) and during his performance (middle photos) with Laree Simon and Christine Lyons. With Karynne Summars (right) after his performance as a pianist in “The Me I Want To Sing” at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Images by Karynne Summars

Following is an interview with this amazing influencer. I am certain, after reading his answers you will agree that we need more people like Roderick Demmings in our world.

Please tell us what brought you to this specific career path and who or what influenced you in that decision.

My very first memory involves music. I remember, as a toddler, singing in the choir with my grandmother, an excellent singer. Honestly, music runs in my family. My mother is a classical pianist. My grandmother is a singer. My great-grandmother was a church pianist. Did I have much of a choice? My mother nurtured my natural ability; she was my very first piano teacher. Taking to music for me was as natural as a duck taking to water, and my mother was the source of my daily knowledge. As I grew, I began working in churches and playing for social events. I cannot understate what a profound impact starting early had on my career. Not only was I able to assist my family financially when necessary, but I also learned a plethora of skills related to entrepreneurship, budgeting, and branding. These skills in combination with my own intuition have been an advantageous edge for the 19 years that I have worked professionally.

How has your professional experience contributed to your personal growth?

At 17, I had the tremendous opportunity to tour South Africa. Viewing, first-hand, the daily challenges the citizens of that country faced engendered a raft of empathy, gratitude, and leadership. Likewise, having logged thousands of hours working in a church, some of my best lessons have occurred unintentionally. These insights I’ve monikered “inverse lessons.” Once, I worked at a church where the morality avowed was in profession only; behind the scenes, an entirely different story was unfolding every week. As such, I got to witness, with shocking clarity, the seismic repercussions poor leadership can catalyze. The muscle memory garnered from these experiences aids me in so many diverse encounters, worldwide, on how to influence, how to challenge, and how to effect positive change.

What are the next projects/gigs you are working on now/will be coming up in the near future?

In the coming months, I’ll be releasing a blog entitled “The Gospel According to Rod.” The media for this blog will take the form of podcasting, video logging “vlogging”, Blog via Wordpress.com. VLOG: Youtube, Podcast: Anchor (an app), and other outlets on social media. In my spare time, I’m an avid aviation aficionado and would jump at the opportunity to acquire my commercial pilot’s license (my dad is a pilot).

Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with and what was that like?

More than several years ago, I began playing a few times a week in nursing homes. After a few months, I was giving dozens of concerts a week in five different states from Florida to Illinois (sometimes multiple states on the same day…Did I mention that I am an entrepreneur?). Many of my audiences were Alzheimer’s patients and the effects of that degenerative disease did not spare my concerts. From yelling to cursing, to violence, I saw it all. What I will never forget from these experiences was the profound impact music can have on the listener. Sometimes, mid-performance, these patients would extemporaneously sing the song I would be performing, word for word. Sometimes they would cry; sometimes, they would become inexplicably lucid so much so as to have the staff and volunteers overcome with emotion. These personal interactions with my elderly audiences excavated a well of humanity that I, otherwise, would not have. And when my own grandfather fought and eventually succumbed to Alzheimer’s, I knew that my expertise in care and interactions were an invaluable resource to his caretaker — my grandmother.

Is there a particular person who helped you get to where you are today who you are grateful to? Who and why? 

Though I’m sure it sounds cliché, my mother really is my biggest fan. She is the one that started it all. Her guidance in my career is as necessary today as it was when she first began teaching me how to play the piano as a toddler. Noticing, earlier on, the unique nature of my talent, she began homeschooling me so that I could build upon this natural ability. Her academic teaching skills alone garnered me a full scholarship to attend the best prep school in Dallas (my home), and, thereafter, Johns Hopkins University, from where I graduated. To this very moment, she is my most trusted advisor. Her influence on my career stems from the fact that she enables me to see value in myself that, beforehand, I could not see. Moreover, she has a biting honesty that I, sometimes, would rather take in doses. However, her honesty, by far, is what spurs the most improvement in me. A by-product of this honesty is a quality for which I’m unendingly grateful; humility. I can say, without equivocation, that Mom keeps me from career-ending pitfalls by ensuring that hubris (excessive pride or overconfidence) never shares the same address with me. As I’ve grown older and wiser in the industry, my gratitude for her counsel is boundless.

What has been one of your favorite moments in life?

When I was a freshman in college, I took my grandmother to Paris for her birthday. A commercial airliner buff, we rode the Airbus 380-800 to France. There, I gave a dedicatory concert in her presence and honor at the Cathedral de Saint Sulpice, Paris’s second most famous cathedral behind Notre Dame. While en route to the concert, we stopped at a well-renown patisserie that boasted having the “best” croissants in the world. Having spent almost a week craving American cuisine, she walked right up to the attendant and asked if they had any bacon and eggs. I doubt, with all sincerity, that I will ever forget that moment.

What is your favorite motivational or inspirational quote and how has that been relevant to you in your life?

E.A. Guest’s “It Couldn’t Be Done” is a poem I unintentionally committed to memory as a child from my grandmother’s perpetual recitation of it. In my adult life, its first stanza inexorably sparks an indefatigable persistence that shows itself mightiest when all bets are against. At 26, I now realize that I have accomplished more than what many people will achieve in a lifetime. Counter-intuitively, I am far from satisfied. In fact, I would wager that my satisfaction vs. my hunger for achievement is comparable to the disparity of a ditch vs. the Grand Canyon. The things that I would like to see occur in our world, admittedly, are ambitious, transcendent, and unprecedented. However, so too have been many of my accomplishments.

If you could have dinner with any person in the world, who would it be and why?

I would be exceptionally honored to have dinner with Ta-Nehisi Coates. At that dinner, I would glean as much insight as possible from his incredible experience going from a blogger to an internationally best-selling author. I would also ask questions related to fatherhood and being a husband, as those are two titles I wish to assume one day.

Where do you see yourself in the next five years?

In the next five years, I would like to contribute both my voice and physical energy to the ongoing struggle for human rights, both at home and abroad. I would also like to serve as a coalition builder in my resident West Baltimore. To this end, I am already fast at work as a real estate investor and community ambassador. Lastly, musically, I would like to perform my original music in stadiums around the country and the world.

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You can listen to Rod’s album on Soundcloud here

https://soundcloud.com/oderickemmingsr/sets/a-foggy-day-in-baltimore-town

Feature by Karynne Summars /// Editor-in-Chief