Dear <<First Name>>Happy Midsummer/ Midwinter wherever you are in the world!🌹 🎶
In this Month's Newsletter 🌹 🎶
* Wayfaring Stranger - for Refugee Week
* Blog: Musical Migrations - celebrating and honouring musical exchanges
* Summer Sing - your invitation to a sunny singing Workshop 10th July
* Choirs - latest singing news and videos from Choirs
* Coaching - find your unique voice
* Vocal Revolution Podcast- Ep 19 with Michael Harper
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Musical Migrations 🎶🌹
Music travels more easily than people. Migrants may be in exile or faced with closed borders or the red tape of immigration regulations, but music crosses political boundaries without difficulty. - Moving People, Changing PlacesThis
#RefugeeWeek, I wanted to celebrate the enrichment that musical migration brings to our world and reflect on how we can ensure our musical exchanges are honouring and appreciative.
Our human family tree has its roots in Africa and, as any DNA Ancestry test will testify, our ancestral pathway travels centuries of migration. Humans have always been on the move and human civilisations have always been a cauldron of cultural exchange bubbling with a multitude of musics.
Simply put, we are all migrants, and our music travels with us.🌹 🎶
Enriching Musical Exchanges 🎶🌹
As we travel in song, we take imaginative voyages which broaden our minds and open our hearts to each other. Based in the mad, magical melting pot of London, I am privileged to enjoy, learn and teach a wonderful diversity of musics - the benefits include:
* Empathy - one psychologist who attended a singing workshop told me that learning the songs of different cultures has been demonstrated to reduce prejudice and increase empathy for our global neighbours.
* Musical Skills - learning diverse musical styles, rhythms and techniques.
* Lingo - singing is a fantastic way to learn new languages.
* Collaboration - cross-cultural musical connections widen our musical spheres - eg: in one choir with Welsh-speaking members, we learned Welsh songs and performed in concerts with a Welsh Male Choir.
* Learning & Listening - to the expertise and experience of members of our communities. In one hospital group, a Ghanian member of the group gave us a fuller understanding of the song
Senua Dedende and led us singing it.
* Respect, awe and wonder - for the amazing diversity of cultures and musical forms in this world.
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Honouring Musical Exchanges 🎶🌹
Appreciation is when someone seeks to understand and learn about another culture in an effort to broaden their perspective and connect with others cross-culturally. Appropriation on the other hand, is simply taking one aspect of a culture that is not your own and using it for your own personal interest. -
Kelsey Holmes, GreenheartCultural appropriation is one aspect of the legacy of colonisation by white westerners, which consumed, destroyed, assimilated, censored and silenced vast amounts of global music. It's an ongoing learning process to ensure that our cultural exchanges are honouring - this can include:
* Research - it's important (and fascinating!) to trace the roots of a song - composer, lineage, history, cultural context, meaning and translation. We may also need to check whether singing a song out of context will cause offence or harm to the culture of origin.
* Crediting - making sure the roots of a song are fully acknowledged and communicated verbally and in writing on programmes, lyric sheets etc.
* Honouring practitioners - collaborating, deferring and renumerating the expertise of practitioners from the traditions whose musics we enjoy.
* Giving Back - sometimes there is a clear way to pay our dues - eg paying copyright or buying the score/ audio of a piece of music. Many times, however, there is no direct way to do this, especially if a song comes from an oral tradition. In these cases, we can find creative ways to contribute - eg donating to charities working in the countries of origin. Fundraisers such as Sing for Water, which I'm honoured to co-direct in London, are an important way for our choir communities to give back.
If you have ideas to share please let me know - I am always learning!
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Wishing you magical musical travels!
@katierosewindow on the Socialskatie@therosewindow.orgwww.therosewindow.org
