Kennedy Ng, known on the music circuit as Enyi-K, sat at his piano in the performance room of his recording studio at Kennedy’s Music World on Bergenline Avenue in Union City recently. There, he and his partner give a variety of instrumental and vocal lessons to between 50 and 55 students each week and record a plethora of artists.
He had just come from his 9-to-4 job as executive director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Community Development Block Grant Program to begin the four-to-two part of his work day.
Ng also happens to be a volunteer member of the Union City Board of Education, a performer and composer in his own jazz trio, and a freelance composer for the likes of Celia Cruz, Fania Allstars, and Ray Barreto.
“When I make music, I am born again.” –Kennedy Ng
____________
How does he do it?
“I love coffee,” he said. “If you want to do something good for the community, you have to spend a lot of hours.”
The path of a prodigy
Ng was born in the Dominican Republic to his English mother and Cantonese father (hence the last name). When he was 5, his mother registered him in a music school in the country’s capital of Santo Domingo. Three years later, he transferred to the prestigious National Conservatory of Music to study piano.
While his education there was mostly classical, Ng said, he was heavily influenced by the stylings of Chick Corea, Glen Miller, and renowned Latin jazz pianist Jorge Taveras. At 17, Ng played piano with the Dominican National Philharmonic Orchestra.
“I was lucky,” he said. “If you have talent and good teachers, that combination makes magic.”
Ng’s mother brought him to Union City when he was 18. He went on to receive his bachelor’s and master’s degree in music education from Jersey City State College (now Jersey City University), and in 1987, he returned to school for a dual bachelor’s in music therapy and psychology.
From 1987 to 2003, he worked as a music therapist; first at Jersey City’s Pollack Hospital Nursing Home, and three years later he transferred to Meadowview Psychiatric in Secaucus where he also worked with seniors.
Ng said his work as a music therapist allowed him to combine two of his loves: music, and community outreach. When he worked with patients, he found that music “helped to increase their socialization, alertness and orientation,” which is often difficult for those with little or no family to visit them, stuck in an environment that can be sterile and isolating.
Ng is a music therapist to this day, though on a volunteer basis. He works with local adults — one-on-one and in groups — and uses music to engage “people who are very lonely” and help ease the symptoms of various psychological disorders.
After years of community service, it’s time for music
Enyi-K has performed at such prestigious venues as the White House, Radio City Music Hall, B.B. King’s, and Lincoln Center. He has performed with and conducted Tito Puente, Johnny Pacheco, and Fernando Villalona.
In 2000, he wrote the scores for Premios ACE at Lincoln Center — “it’s like the Latin Grammys,” he said. In 2009, he played with Tito Puente Jr. at Union City High School to christen the brand new auditorium. He records world-famous bands in his recording studio at Kennedy Music World and has composed and recorded the music for various commercials for NBC, Telemundo, and Univision.
Sometimes, he says, he selects his top music students to perform in these recordings.
But his musical legacy does not end in the U.S. In 2010 the president of the Dominican Republic, Dr. Leonel Fernández, called him up and asked him to write the score for “Homenaje a Fernando Villalona” (or, “Homage to Fernando Villalona” who is arguably the number one merengue/bolero singer in the D.R.) for an orchestra of 48 musicians. He competed against two other Dominicans: Manuel Tejada, who wrote music for Michael Jackson, and Ramon Orlando. His works were performed at the prestigious Teatro Nacional in Santo Domingo.
So what’s next for the man who sleeps only four hours a day?
“I’ve always been involved in the community,” Ng said, but he hopes to make his jazz trio the focus of his life. He certainly has the resume for it, which is as long-lived and intense as his love for music.
“When I make music, I am born again,” Ng said. “When I finish here [at the studio] at 11 p.m., I stay and play until two, and I am like new.”
For more information on Ng’s future performances or to find out more about music lessons, visit www.kennedys-music.com.
Gennarose Pope may be reached at gpope@hudsonreporter.com