Pianist Olivette Burch Morris devoted her life to passing on her love and knowledge of music to others.
She taught piano for more than 70 years, giving lessons to hundreds of young Bermudians, and some adults, including professional musicians Lance Hayward and Clarence “Tootsie” Bean.
A serious student of music from childhood, practising for five to six hours a day, she continued teaching well into her 90s.
Born in St. George’s to a musical family; she is the eldest of five children. Her father Carlyle “Carl” Burch was a carpenter and a violinist who played with a quartet at St. George’s Hotel. Her mother, Venetia Reid Burch, was a pianist, organist and singer. Little Olivette fell sleep at night to the sounds of hymns her mother played on the family piano.
Carlyle Burch placed great store in education and invested heavily in music lesson for all his children. Of the five, Olivette was the one for whom music would become a career. Her first music teacher was her mother’s sister Alice Reid (later Burch), a gifted singer, who lived with the household for a time.
Her formal music lessons began at age nine, when her father engaged the services of Miss Albertha Burgess, a Bermudian who had received musical training in the U.S. Other teachers were Mrs. Minnie Tucker, an organist at Richard Allen AME Church, in St. George’s, Mrs. Cecily Richardson Caisey and Mr. Joseph Richards, both graduates of the Boston Conservatory of Music, and finally, Professor Geoffrey Tankard, a Fellow of the Royal School of Music who moved to Bermuda in 1961. Mrs. Morris took Royal School of Music exams up to Grade 8—the highest level—which she passed in 1936 when a student of Mrs. Caisey’s.
Morris attended East End Primary School and won a scholarship to attend Mrs. Millicent Neverson’s First Excelsior Secondary School on North Shore in Pembroke. The thought of making the long journey from St. George’s to Pembroke—not insignificant during the 1930s—was too much for the self-described “crybaby”. She turned down the scholarship and with it the opportunity to go to high school. But she continued with her piano lessons.
During the 1930s, as numerous reports in the Bermuda Recorder attest, Morris was a star performer, playing at concerts, church and community events. She played piano and sang duets with her sister Eulah and as part of a quartet with brother Carlyle, a saxophonist. She also played the organ at Richard Allen and acted in plays staged by the St. George’s Amateur Dramatic Club.
In 1935, when she was aged 17, her father died—an event that brought about a change in the family’s circumstances. Her mother had to work as a cook in private homes to support the family and brought along her eldest daughter as her assistant.
In 1936, the family moved to Devonshire. Morris had by this time already begun teaching piano and she continued to give lessons at their new home in Devonshire. According to her brother Willard Burch, Morris was unusual among Bermuda music teachers in her day in that she taught both theory and practical. She prepared her students for Royal School of Music examinations and presented them with their RSM certificates at annual recitals.
She had a high success rate with her students but had no qualms telling parents of youngsters who showed little interest in music that they were “wasting their money.” For Morris, the key to being a good musician is constant practice.
A lifelong student of music, she took music education courses through Queen’s University. In 1975, with more than 40 years of music instruction under her belt, she obtained a formal teaching qualification, after studying with Professor Tankard. She earned the diploma, Licentiate of the Royal School of Music, which qualified her to teach up to Grade 8.
Morris had few interests other than music. She had her weekly roster of students, sometime as many as 20, and played piano and organ on Sundays at North Shore Gospel Church—a church, which the family joined after their move to Devonshire.
She also played piano with the Bermuda Philharmonic Orchestra for a time. Her repertoire was classical and church music. Chopin, Grieg and Haydn are her favourite composers. Although most of her students were children, she also taught adults. She told adults who came to her for lessons that she taught anyone from “eight to 80.” Lance Hayward, a jazz pianist, came to her for pointers in how to play classical music. Drummer Tootsie Bean took piano lessons.
Other students include Kenneth Amis, the tuba player who now tours the world as a member of Empire Brass, pianist Jared Robinson, and Brian Swan, a bass player. Morris was the first music teacher for all three.
Now widowed, Morris was married for 48 years to taxi driver Chesterfield Morris. He died in 1997. The couple had no children.
Despite her many years as a teacher, she has remained largely out of the public eye. In 2007, she was recognised by the Bermuda Arts Council, which presented her with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
She was praised at the awards ceremony for being “a wise steward. In teaching the beauty of music, she has taken her gift and multiplied them many times. Her impact on each of her students, and the ways that she has enriched their lives, is beyond calculation.”
