German singer has special love for Jamaica

German singer Nastassja Nass said she was filled with pride and gratitude when she was asked to sing Jamaica's national anthem at the island's 62nd Independence Day celebration in her home town of Berlin.

"It brought back memories of my visits and my friendships with Jamaica. In addition to the anthem, I also performed some Jamaican folk songs which were very much enjoyed," she said. Nass said the celebration was the initiative of Deniese Sealey, who is chargee d'affaires at the Jamaican Embassy in Berlin. Nass has maintained a strong relationship with the embassy and the Jamaican people for more than two decades.

"I initiated a concert in 2014 in Berlin called Jamaican Folk Music meets Opera where we invited Michael Sean Harris [singer, former lecturer at the Edna Manley College for the Visual and Performing Arts (EMCVPA)] and Roger Williams (pianist, dean of EMCVPA] to perform with me and the embassy was very helpful in [organising] it," she said.

Nass was born into a culturally diverse musical family. She started to learn the piano at the age of five and continued to the age of 13 at the young student programme at the Julius-Stern-Institute, part of the Faculty of Music at Berlin University of the Arts. She later received her first voice lessons there. In 2000, she commenced her opera solo studies at the College of Music and Theater in Hannover, also in Germany. Since then, she has performed with various orchestras and bands internationally and has also organised her own concert series. In 1998, Nass said she performed as an opening act for Beenie Man at a concert in Berlin and that was the beginning of her musical connection with Jamaica.

"He was with Shocking Vibes at that time and they told me to come to Jamaica and link up. So my former singing partner and I came and we got interviews and performed around Kingston," she said. Nass said she later returned to Jamaica after accepting an invitation from an old friend.

"I visited a friend who emigrated from Berlin to Jamaica and I was invited to meet the late Maria Azan whose mother Mercedes Kirkwood is considered Jamaica's first opera singer," Nass said. That connection has led to multiple local performances since 2004. She said the Jamaican people welcomed her with open arms.

"I hope to expand the musical exchange between Germany and Jamaica and to introduce and enlighten the classical and operatic music more in Jamaica, as well as introduce the Jamaican musical diversity to Germany. In November this year, Jamaica-born tenor Steve Higgins will be performing Jamaican folk songs and jazz songs with me on several concerts in Germany," she said.