Violinist and Haiti earthquake survivor gives memorial concert

14 January 2013, 12:09 | Updated: 30 September 2014, 14:24

Violinist Romel Joseph has given a moving concert at the Jackson Memorial Hospital on the third anniversary of the Haiti earthquake, of which he was a survivor.

After surviving the Haiti earthquake of January 2010 and suffering two broken legs and a broken arm, blind violinist Romel Joseph has given a special memorial concert at the medical centre that helped him recover.

Romel, a graduate of the Cincinnatti Conservatory of Music and the Juillard School of Music who has also studied with members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, is the founder of The New Victorian School and the Haitian Foundation for Musical Development in Haiti.

Founded to give young people in Haiti a chance to make music, The Victorian School is where Joseph was trapped under rubble for 18 hours during the earthquake. While trapped, he recited violin concertos in his head to keep his mind active until he was rescued.

His injuries were so severe that he feared he would never play the violin again, but thanks to the medical work he received from the Jackson Memorial Hospital in Florida he was able to play within three months of the disaster.

The memorial concert featured works by Myaskovsky and Shostakovich, played by Joseph with his daughter and son who played violin and piano respectively.