Brenda Earle Stokes: Finding Her Way
by Susan Frances
Finding one’s way to fulfillment can be a struggle and perhaps never achieved in one’s lifetime. Pianist and vocalist Brenda Earle Stokes recognized the profession that would best fulfill her, and she let it be known to her family as a young lady in high school.
“When I was in grade 12,” she remembers, “I sat down with my father to have the ‘I want to go to university to music’ talk. When I told him, he laughed and said, ‘of course you are!’ I guess it was pretty obvious I was going to be a professional musician since I was involved with music 24/7. My dad was always supportive of everything I did, never missing a single concert I ever did. He liked the idea that I was going to go into the world doing what I dreamed, and knew I had the hustle to achieve.” She teases, “And I think he likes getting free tickets to my shows!”
She shares, “I started studying classical piano when I was 4 and always enjoyed it, but something didn’t quite ‘click.’ When I was 15 years old, my high school band director played a recording of Oscar Peterson and a light went off. It was at that moment that I knew I wanted to be a jazz pianist. I always loved to sing, but I wanted to be known as a pianist, so I kept my singing hidden. I finally started singing publicly in my early 20’s, once I felt confident with my ability as a pianist.”
Growing up in Sarnia, Ontario, Canada exposed her to a wide range of artistic cultures that she took with her into her adult life. She describes, “Sarnia is a small city with a huge arts community. I started playing in the band in grade 4, and in high school, all I did was music all day, every day. I was exposed to all kinds of music growing up, going to concerts in Sarnia and nearby Detroit, London and Toronto. I was exposed to all sorts of music growing up, and I loved it all.”
These musical influences from her hometown fostered her creative endeavors as she recalls, “My first professional work as a musician started in grade 9 when I accompanied ballet classes for a local studio. It felt great to get paid to play the piano! I also started a jazz trio in high school, and we would set up downtown on the weekends to busk. It was really exciting to play our music in front of people, to plan what we were going to play, to share our work with people. Those early days taught me how to lead a band and showed me how much darn work it was going to take! I have always been a strong leader and a hard worker, and that’s exactly what it takes to get anywhere in music. A LOT of hard work.”