the power of music

D is for … Dorothy Lawson — Wednesday Worthy

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You’ve likely never heard of Dorothy Lawson — unless you’ve been part of the Manitoba classical music/voice world. Dorothy was a voice teacher par excellence, as well as an accomplished pianist, organist … the list goes on. A cello and a violin “lived” beneath the grand piano in her living room — she and her sister played duets in their youth. She taught out of her home in Winnipeg, and for years also traveled to Brandon University (which has a top-notch music program) to teach there. Many Manitoba singers who have gone on to great things list Dorothy Lawson as one of their teachers. She was from my mother’s hometown. She taught my mother (who had a beautiful warm, rich mezzo-soprano voice) and my uncle (who had one of the purest tenor voices I’ve heard) … and years later, she taught me. And I will be forever grateful that she did.

Music in the Schools, Minnesota Sinfonia — Spotlight Worthy

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As I mentioned in Monday’s post, I am honored today to be interviewing Jay Fishman, Executive and Artistic Director of the Minnesota Sinfonia. Jay was the founder of the Sinfonia, which is a professional orchestra offering all its concerts free to all who want to have access to their music. This policy was inaugurated under his leadership, as was the policy of making children welcome at all concerts. Today, Jay and I will focus on the Sinfonia’s program for inner-city schools, Music in the Schools.

The Arts and Learning — In the Spotlight

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One of my favorite quotes about the arts is one from an interview with Katherine Anne Porter in The Paris Review. It is about the influence and impact of the arts in general, but also, I believe, speaks to the importance of the arts in children’s lives as well as the lives of adults. “Human life itself may be almost pure chaos, but the work of the artist is to take these handfuls of confusion and disparate things, things that seem to be irreconcilable, and put them together in a frame to give them some kind of shape and meaning.” The arts can help children take the many things they are learning, and give them a framework. The arts have even been proven to help children learn in other areas of their lives as well. An article at “edutopia” entitled Why Arts Education is Crucial, and Who’s Doing it Best states that “Involvement in the arts is associated with gains in math, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking, and verbal skill. Arts learning can also improve motivation, concentration, confidence, and teamwork.” If I needed a further reason to champion the arts, this would do it. For this In the Spotlight week, as Behind the Scenes month concludes, we’re going behind the scenes of some symphony orchestras — not to see how they tune their instruments, or how long they rehearse, but to see how they are working to enhance the educational experience of children who otherwise would have very little exposure to symphony music.

Louise Rose — Wednesday Worthy

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It is no coincidence, nor do I think it is too redundant, to post again this week about a jazz pianist (although Louise is so much more than “just” a pianist). When I was describing Oscar Peterson’s Hymn to Freedom last Wednesday, I remembered the first time I heard this mighty music played in person, and that led me to today’s Wednesday Worthy. Louise Rose.

Music and Words are Powerful Things

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Imagine yourself a slave in the Deep South, struggling to survive, struggling to work hard enough to avoid the driver’s lash, then you hear it. A lone voice begins to sing “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” To an outsider, the slaves are just singing to keep their spirits up, but you recognize the signal. Tonight will be your chance to escape. A conductor for the Underground Railroad is nearby. The hidden message in the song has told you that. You feel your spirits rise, your courage strengthen. Now imagine you are on a long, hard march. You are bone-weary, foot-sore. You have been knocked down by the force of firehoses turned on you and the marchers around you. You have seen people next to you beaten with billy clubs. You don’t know if you can go on. Then someone starts singing softly. “We shall overcome…” One by one the people around you join in the song, as do you. You feel your spirits rise, your courage strengthen. Deep in your heart, you do believe that we shall overcome some day. Music is a powerful thing.

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