Romel Joseph was an influential man who lived a passionate life as a musician, teacher, humanitarian, a servant to his community, and a genius whom we have all been fortunate to share his vision, passion, selfless deeds and experiences with. He was the face of resilience, courage, and strength who advocated the belief of “never give up no matter what!” Anything relating to the advancement of children, education and music, he gave his all.
Romel Joseph was Haiti’s most prominent violinist and teacher. Mr. Joseph, a Fulbright grantee, with a master’s degree in music and violin performance from the Juilliard School, dedicated his life to sharing his musical knowledge. He channeled his creativity into music education and instrumental training for children and youth for more than three decades until his death in 2015.
This is the first of a unique six-volume collection of popular children’s songs which Mr. Joseph has collected from the United States, France, Haiti and Latin America. Over the course of his distinguished career, he transformed these classics into an instructional method designed to help young violinists at the beginning and intermediate levels master some of the essential difficulties with becoming proficient in violin technique.
Mr. Joseph strongly believed that music students, especially those of an early age, will not only enjoy learning to play a musical instrument, but will remain motivated and master the instrument much more rapidly while learning familiar songs. This technique has been proven by thousands of music students who sought personal instruction with the acclaimed violinist or attended The New Victorian School, which was founded by Mr. Joseph.
The complete collection of songs was buried, along with Mr. Joseph, under The New Victorian School’s 5-story building during the January 12th, 2010 earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Fortunately, the hard drives which contained the arrangements were found four months later in excellent condition, waiting to be shared with the world.