Music Prodigy Happy at Home in East Providence

You may not know the name Brandon Lahoud now, but odds are, one day you will. The 23-year-old aspiring composer and music teacher has hung his hat in the home of Townie Pride, quietly chipping away on original classical compositions and mainstream adaptations right here in his new home of East Providence. 

A recent graduate of Providence College, Lahoud came to Rhode Island to study music for post-secondary education. His love of music was ignited by his parents' constant, and diverse, catalog of records, ranging from Ella Fitzgerald to swing, even 1990s grunge band Soundgarden. Listening to his parents' diverse tastes allowed Lahoud to "welcome all music with open arms," as well as "accept people with open arms," he said. Though, it was his early discovery of REM's album Automatic for the People that took his love and understanding of music to a level of professional commitment.

"I would make my parents play 'Losing My Religion' in the car all the time," Lahoud said. "I think they hated it, but they knew I loved it, so they let me listen to it constantly. It was really the first time I ever became obsessed with something."

In the fourth grade, Lahoud began taking violin lessons. He stuck with it, eventually picking up piano and guitar as the years unfolded. By his sophomore year in high school, he was teaching beginners piano in his town's conservatory. With his love of music already firmly established, a love of teaching the art took hold, and Lahoud made the choice to marry his passion for creating art with teaching those how to do the same.

During his time at Providence College, Lahoud formally took voice lessons for the first time and immersed himself in deeper, more technical levels of composition. He discovered Counterpoint music theory, which he describes as the "suduko of music theory."

Learning these primative rules in music theory really opened my eyes to the structure of music," he said. "I really hold that class dear."

During his time at Providence College, Lahoud student-taught at several schools in Rhode Island, remembering one incident at Pleasant View Elementary School as one that affirmed his need to share his love of music with youth. The school was delegated for special needs students, yet Lahoud said the impact of the arts was intense.

"There was a [student] who had shaken baby syndrome, and he would never talk or make sounds," Lahoud said. "One day we're doing this opera class. We used a stuffed butterfly in the class, and when it was placed in front of [the student] he had to make a sound like an opera singer. When it was placed in front of him, he made a moan. Everyone started tearing up because it was the first sound he's ever made. It was a breathtaking moment." 

Lahoud is now looking for jobs as a music teacher, preferably with middle school students, citing his own experience.

"I was always influenced by my music teachers; they were the best classes I had," he said. "Music was always a good home, a good friend."

In his own artistic realm, Lahoud is busy composing involved pieces of classical music. Composing was first introduced to him during a music theory class in high school. He said he was given a melody and was told to modulate by drifting away from the original key in the middle and bring it back.

"Without us realizing it, [the teacher] had us do a Sonata form," Lahood recalled.

He later went on to compose a 10-minute long piano concerto titled Heaven and Hell, originally slated for entrance into the Queen Elizabeth Competition. The concept was inspired by an art piece that depicted Lucifer falling from heaven. If chosen, Lahoud would have flown to London to see his piece played by the London Philharmonic. While he ultimately did not submit the piece, he is still working hard on polishing it up. 

Lahoud is also working on adapting a song from the anime program "Cowboy Bebop" for a middle school choir. Once he lands a full-time teaching job, he'll allow his students the chance to perform it.

While composing and "polishing up" many original compositions, Lahoud says that he is comfortable in East Providence and is happy with the decision to move here.

Lahoud ended by saying that when he composes pieces at home like Elephant Stampede, he often looks out of his window, across the water to the east side of Providence.

"I wake up and see my friends who are paying a ridiculous amount more than I am, and I have way more room and great landlords," he said.

"This place is great," he said. "It's accessible to 195, with little traffic on the Henderson Bridge. My whole neighborhood is full of great people, everyone stops and waves to each other."