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When I was writing for Wind and Wire magazine, I was sent Patrick Lee Hébert’s “The Poet’s Dream” to review. I really liked the album a lot, and emailed Patrick to let him know. That was the beginning of what has become a great friendship along with being a special professional relationship. A poet as well as a composer, and a piano teacher as well as a performer, Patrick has had a varied and fascinating career so far, and he’s still in his early 30’s. Three of Patrick’s pieces were included in Solo Piano Publication’s first collection of piano solos, “New Voices”, and Patrick has gone on to publish more of his own sheet music and songbooks through his Highland Piano Studios in New Hampshire. A young artist on the rise, here is an interview we did by email recently.
KP: When and where were you born?
Hébert: March 20, 1969 in Manchester, New Hampshire.
KP: How many brothers and sisters do you have? Are any of them musicians?
Hébert: One of each. My brother did a stint as a Pentecostal singer for 6 years with me in the band. He was great. He never did it again and just listens now. My sister played guitar in that band until she developed carpal tunnel syndrome and never played again.
KP: What are/were your parents’ occupations?
Hébert: My mother was a homemaker. My father was a boiler engineer. Then in 1977, they both became pastors, and life was forever different. Mom passed away when I was 24.
KP: What was it like growing up the son of pastors?
Hébert: There were pros and cons. The cons were things like no rock music, no school dances. However, I don’t think I ever would have become a performer without that. My early influences were classical and gospel - that was all I was allowed to listen to. (I didn’t own a rock album until I was 18.) So, that gave me the love for those forms that influenced my composing. I also played in our church as house pianist and soloist. I was in charge of the choir. I became Music Director at age 16. Our church toured me in the early '80’s as a gospel soloist all over New England. I was 13 a the time. I would play and Dad would preach. I developed the discipline it takes to practice every day.... no matter what. I still practice every day, so I am thankful that it worked out that way. I still play at the same church, and it was been twenty years now.
KP: How old were you when you started piano lessons? How long did you take formal lessons?
Hébert: I had a friend up the street who had a piano. We had one here in the church as well, but I didn’t want anyone to know. So, after school, we would figure out songs by ear. It was two years later, at the age of 12, that I decided to take formal lessons. I was taught by the best piano teacher around here. At the age of 18, I began studying with a prominent concert pianist, and was with him for ten years. Then I took master classes on Chopin and Mozart in Arizona. I still take lessons a few months a year, as I believe learning is for life. It also keeps me fresh for concerts.
KP: Were you encouraged to improvise or compose by your piano teachers?
Hébert: Yes, especially by my first teacher. She was very stern about theory and application. She called me her “dream student.” The others encouraged me, but were hardcore classical. They fumbled around a fake book, but could play all of the major concerti - amazing.
KP: Did you play in school orchestras or bands? Did you enter any music competitions?
Hébert: I went to a Christian school, and they did not have a band program. I was playing three days a week in church, though. Competitions? Many. I won a Mozart Competition when I was 15. It gave me a partial scholarship to University of New Hampshire, but I never got to use it since I married right out of high school.
KP: Do you play other instruments?
Hébert: Yes. Guitar and drums.
KP: How old were you when you started improvising?
Hébert: Age 10, before I started lessons, because I had no clue as to what I was doing. After formal lessons started and I could read well, I was improvising constantly.
KP: How old were you when you wrote your first song?
Hébert: I was 13 and madly in love with a girl named Stacey. She kept breaking up with me (ten times, if I remember correctly!), and I wrote a sad song named after her. The funny thing is that I kept ALL of those early songs (about 50 of them) and teach many to my students now.
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