Exactly one week after the recent presidential election concluded, I visited with some local middle schoolers who attend the Graham Expeditionary Middle School on East 16th Avenue. As usually happens with children, I walked away having learned much more from them than they probably did from me.
These particular students from the GEM School attend an afterschool program directed by my friend Maria Cabreja, near the OSU campus. They are incredible students, one and all, and many of them have already started finding their artistic voices in music and the visual arts.
Music and Emotion: From Brunhilde to Beyoncé
During my first visit, we talked about opera, their favorite musicians, and even the similarities between Wagner's characterization of Brunhilde and Beyoncé's latest album, Lemonade. These young people had some incredibly insightful questions and comments about music and life from the get-go.
To get the conversation going, I sang a brief passage from Bellini's Per pietà, bell'idol mio.
From that piece, we talked a little about the role of emotion in composition and opera. Several students asked how music is composed, and what role emotion and feelings play in the process. Of course, every composer is different in their approach, so I tried to represent that endless spectrum as best as possible. But descriptions of music are always best when they are personal. So, I told them about my very favorite character, Brunhilde, and even showed them my "beasty" tattoo of my dearest heroine. (Their description, not mine.)
When I mentioned the similarities and differences between the poetry of Brunhilde's character and the poetry of Beyoncé Knowles' most recent album, Lemonade, I watched 30 sets of eyes go from quiet exasperation and polite boredom to, "Oh my gosh, this lady has finally started speaking my language."
--And we all got to share a moment of laughing and talking about a stellar album with intensely poignant language and meaning.
The lesson I learned? Reach out to an audience through what they already know and love, and the reception of what you have to share will always be more impactful.
Difficult Questions
One question that gave me a bit of pause later in the evening was: "What setbacks have you faced in your career?"
To put this in perspective, I was asked by a young woman of color about my challenges. I felt completely inadequate to answer that question from a young person who has already experienced so many obstacles of her own, but I answered as best as I could.
This young woman has already experienced the ugliness of seeing racism locally and on national television; she is not blind to the world we live in. I tried my best to check my privilege at the door and to be real with the students and to acknowledge the very real struggles that face every musician, and the ones I have seen face dear friends of various backgrounds.
But having met these brilliant kids, I can say one thing with complete confidence: They will rise to meet these challenges with incredible grace and beautiful intellect and wit.
Go Out and Make An Impact
It was great to see that I was not the only local musician reaching out this week. ProMusica's incredible cellist, Cora Kuyvenhoven recently spoke to students at the Hubbard Mastery School about what it is like to be a professional musician, and my dear friend and fellow musician Kim Beyer will be visiting the GEMS students this week, as well.
Chances are, if you look for the chance to make an impact and a positive influence, there are opportunities in your neighborhood, too. Reach out and tell some young people how much they matter this season.