13-year-old Naparima College student aims to own a music company

MEET a future CEO of his own music engineering company, Leonidus Sammy.

Sammy has envisioned a future where he can incorporate his creative side as a singer, dancer and dramatist, with his passion for science and the ability to take things apart and put them back together again.

"I want to build my own music," 13-year-old Leo, as he is called, said of his dream.

“I also love all things bikes. I love to ride, I love to take it apart and fix it."

A form one student of Naparima College, San Fernando, Leo is the son of Sunil and Amanda Sammy, of Couva. His sister is Lillian.

His dad, a singer and composer, who works with the protective services, discovered Leo’s talent at age five while he was singing in the shower, and made it his mission to hone his son's skills ever since.

Leo began singing at functions and inter-school competitions as a student of Exchange Presbyterian Primary School, and at the Bethel Presbyterian Church, captivating audiences with his ability to hit high notes performing cover songs of artistes such as Celine Dion and Whitney Houston.

With his voice changing as he gets older, Leo is experimenting with covers of different artistes to find his style. Although his favourite singer is Michael Jackson, Leo has identified with Scottish singer, songwriter and musician, Lewis Capaldi.

He has sung Capaldi’s Someone You Loved, which holds the record for the longest running top 10 UK single of all time by a British artist. Like Capaldi, Leo also plays the drums and is improving his skills on the guitar and piano.

He has quite a list of accomplishments, having won medals and trophies at shows. These include second place in the School’s Intellectual National Carnival Chutney Soca Monarch competition, along with the People’s Choice award, and gold, silver and bronze medals in the World Youth Championship Rising Star competition. The 2021 World Championships of Performing Arts, which attracted thousands of artistes from over 66 countries, was scheduled to take place in Hollywood, but had to be done virtually because of the pandemic.

Leo has made a guest appearance on the Everybody Loves Raymond concert headlined by chutney singer Raymond Ramnarine, was one of the youths participating in the Young Media Reality TV show, has performed with 103 FM at Christmas functions at the malls, and also with Synergy TV.

Although he entered Naparima College recently, when schools were opened after two years, his musical talent had already been discovered and he was invited to participate in the school’s Mother’s Day programme.

“I sang Beautiful in My Eyes and got wonderful comments. “

As he buckles down to ace his academics after being out of the classroom for two years, Leo is also managing his musical pursuits.