MONICA BONNIE-SAYED:THE RENOWNED percussionist and teacher Monica Bonnie-Sayed has died in Dublin.
A respected teacher at the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama, she was a regular soloist on TV and radio and played percussion with symphony orchestras and ensembles throughout the country. She was best known, however, as a solo percussionist and her workshops, both for children and aspiring soloists, kept her busy between performances.
She grew up in a house on Collins Avenue, Dublin, where her father Joe Bonnie, who was also a percussionist, had a percussion workshop. He introduced her, at the age of three, to his “extended family” at the Capitol and Royal theatres in Dublin.
With her blonde curls and sweet smile, the “Irish Shirley Temple” had a natural talent for music and performance. Over the years, she shared the stage with such well-known singers as Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole and Sammy Davis Jr.
She was also a champion Irish dancer who performed worldwide and entertained Irish troops in the Congo in the 1960s.
When her father died in the 1970s, she took over his percussion classes in the VEC School of Music. Her students generally got more than a percussion lesson; they got a life-coaching session too, and this became known as “the Miss Bonnie Way”. She also taught at Wesley College, Dublin, and was a popular adjudicator at schools throughout Ireland.
The youthful ambience of her teaching reflected her youthful outlook on life, and she continued her own music studies, attending classes all over Europe, including annual master classes with Ian Wright and Evelyn Glennie in the UK, and consulting with other percussionists, such as Noel Eccles and Michael Skinner, principal percussionist with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
After performing at Dublin’s Ballroom of Romance in the 1950s, she met and fell in love with a young South African, Kamaludeen (Kamal) Sayed, who was studying at the Royal College of Surgeons. After they were married, their home in Rathfarnham became an embassy for many medical friends from around the world. She became an excellent Indian cook, following the teachings of Indian in-laws and friends.
The combination of a cosmopolitan household, ethnic cuisine and music made for memorable gatherings over many years.
Monica Bonnie-Sayed, who guarded the secret of her exact age with a ferocious determination, was predeceased by husband Kamal and is survived by her children, Camilla, Jacintha, Safia and Amo.
Monica Bonnie-Sayed:born in the 1930s; died April 14th, 2011