When I thought about what to write about this week, the theme of community continued to resonate in my teaching, learning and performing spaces. It’s the usual time of culminating projects, concerts and recitals–the end-of-term celebrations of the work we’ve done thus far. This term, I decided to join forces with my colleague Jennie Such. She had taken a certificate in CCM (Contemporary Commercial Music) pedagogy this past summer, and I wanted her to share some of her learning with my students (and selfishly: me!), so I invited her to do two classes for my students on CCM techniques. In exchange, I went into her studio and did some work with her students on Body Mapping and some more general embodying vocal work. Because of this closer connection, we thought it would be a great idea to do a joint studio concert to end out our term, and Jennie came up with the brilliant theme of “Heartsongs”–songs that spoke to each student’s heart, that sparked joy and encouraged authenticity. It was a way for us to celebrate this new community we’d created together.
One of my traditions at these class concerts over the past few years has been to do a collective intention-setting exercise at the outset, as well as encouraging each student to create three manageable, achievable goals for themselves in performance. At the end of the concert, we then all sit together and each person is invited to share what some of their goals might have been, and reflect on how it went. This has become something that the students really value, and my studio pianist Anna Ronai and I now feel we can’t do without it–it has become as essential as the performance itself! I therefore introduced this idea to Jennie’s students as well, and we began the concert with a group warm up after we set our intentions, so that everyone’s nerves could be (hopefully) a little less jangly, and we could affirm our collective purpose: to share music from the heart.
What a morning it was! Each and every student showed up in ways we had never seen before, rising to the occasion resoundingly. The concert on its own was absolutely stunning, with each singer bringing something so personal, so powerful into the room and sharing it with the community. The sharing time after the concert was equally inspiring. There were many tears, much joy and a feeling of collective connection that I think we have all been missing and was like a tonic for these troubled times. It buoyed me up for the rest of the day, and I know it did for others too. It reminded me that we are all one community, and that together, we are powerful, connected and hopeful.