Two Inspirations

Today I was reading a part of the Choral Journal.  And I was inspired.  Now, I will tell you why.

The first inspirational part of the reading was the president's column, where he quoted part of a letter he received from a woman who worked with Arts in Prison.  What she wrote was fascinating, but I also found that when she spoke about music breaking down barriers, it really resonated.  When I taught in Arizona, one of the schools I taught at was a Title I middle school- which means a large majority of students were from low income families.  I remember one day one of my middle school students showed up to school drunk.  But those students, once they experienced a tiny amount of success in choir, really took pride in what they were doing.  They thrived knowing they were doing well against the other middle schools in the district.  They thrived knowing that they were learning things even the high schoolers didn't know.  They loved it when they could hear when they were in tune or when they were singing with good diction.  They would sometimes call themselves out when they got "sweet ears" (their ears got "sweet" on another part and they sang that instead of their correct part).  And they were proud of themselves.  It wasn't a snap of the fingers, but it took passion and persistence on my part, trust and a little curiosity on theirs.  So yes, music broke down barriers.  Music gave them something to be proud of.

The second thing I read was an article about working with the accompanist.  My Women's Chorus accompanist recently sent me a message (which I have yet to respond to- I want to make it a worthy response).  In it, he explained that he was cutting back on some of his responsibilities to help make time for things he really cared about and really wanted to focus on.  Being a collaborative pianist is important to him, so he was rededicating himself to it and explaining he wanted to spend more time learning from me and from the choir.  The article I read inspired me to start planning how to work with him... how I can help teach and guide him, as well as what I can learn from him.  I am very excited to have a better working relationship with him (it was never poor before- but I think it could be even better).  I think that a stronger collaboration will make better use of rehearsal time and more music making.

I love my profession.  I am so inspired.