Music education allows us to experience the POWER of music-making. Music helps us to deal with our feelings, emotions, sentiments, passions, and even grief and loss. In this video recorded by the New Yorker, students express how the November 2018 Camp Fire impacted them deeply and how they are still dealing with the tragedy of losing their town of Paradise, CA. It is followed by the beautiful, "Fly to Paradise" by Eric Whitacre who had programmed the piece to be performed at the 2019 NAMM Show well ahead of the fire ravaging Butte County. NAMM had extended an invitation to the choir students, parents, administrators and music educators from Paradise High School to attend so that they could have the engaging experience of singing under Whitacre's leadership right along with the rest of us. As the video started, we were all captivated by the exquisite vocal solos emanating from the video. But it was when the entire audience joined in singing that the most powerful emotions began to sweep through the room as we all began to realize that we were experiencing this alongside the students from Paradise, CA.
There wasn’t a dry eye in that huge conference room filled with over 600 music educators and members of the music community - each of us singing over and over, “And all I want to do is fly, Just fly...to Paradise!” at the top of our lungs and crying at the same time.
The students from Paradise were holding each other arm in arm while reveling in this cathartic, poignant moment of true joy and self-expression with tears rolling down their faces.
As this video clearly demonstrates, yes. . .the POWER of music can also help us heal!
Presentation provided pro bono at the Ryan Anthony Music Project Conference for Educators, June 19, 2023
22 июл 2022
