Thriving in Music Outside of Work...
I've had a whirlwind few months since my last post.
Something I have wanted to touch on is my interest in music-making outside of my profession. I spend all day providing music for patients based on their interests and preferences, processing their feelings, taking their requests. And I am always afraid that somehow I will lose my own personal passion for music. It's silly to think that, because honestly all I DO anymore is music-related.
I have six students that come to my house for voice, piano, or guitar lessons each week. It's extra income and also fun for me. I used to teach a studio of 15 students during graduate school and I missed interacting with kids and that kind of young, innocent, untarnished passion and eagerness to learn that kids so easily display. And teaching out of my quaint music room in my own home is such a bonus- gone are the days when I drove all over Kansas City and the suburbs to teach my studio!
I love singing with my band, The Cover Girls. My two best friends and I cover songs spanning all genres with luxurious three-part harmony. What is better than making music with your besties?! We have very occasional gigs, but are starting to get back in the scene following the birth of one sweet Cover Baby.
But what I really wanted to highlight is a new musical adventure...
I joined the Kansas City Symphony Chorus as a second alto. It was a rough start to the season with a real bear of a contemporary piece--I remember coming home from rehearsals feeling so exhausted because the intricate rhythms and atonal melody lines required strenuous attention to detail. But we just came out of our fifth concert series for this season with a tremendous week of Carmina Burana. I sang this piece in my undergrad years, and honestly I don't think I ever put as much heart and emotion into choral singing as I do now. It was still enjoyable when I was in college, but it was required. And I hate rules and requirements, so I felt like I sometimes just went through the motions. Things are different now...this chorus is for leisure- I signed up (and PAY TO BE A MEMBER lol) for this community choir of 160 singers across the KC metro area. It's not required to join, have passion, sing the right notes, try your best---we do it because we WANT to. And it's so refreshing.
I ended every concert this past week with misty eyes. I looked out at the audience as they gave standing ovations and we had to take several bows...and I had so much joy in my heart. I felt that I was filled to the brim with new found passion. I sing with wonderful people that have welcomed me into this community, who don't know that I'm going through a difficult season in my life, but that don't question when I wipe my tears and beam at onlookers in the gorgeous Helzberg Hall because they feel those emotions too. I was really needing some happiness, and I found it in music. And not in music that I typically listen to or perform...but in this pseudo Latin/German sexualized WEIRD piece of music that required so much passion and intent care.
I recently went through all of my music and songbooks that I had purchased for my undergrad Vocal Performance degree. I got rid of them- sold them to some wonderful folks that will get great use out of them. I thought for a while that I would pursue classical singing and opera. I was really not wanting to acknowledge to myself how I hated the competition and the egos. And I was truly in denial about how preparing for classical solo performances made my anxiety sky-rocket. I was never comfortable onstage when I was singing opera. Flash-forward to years later, hand me a guitar, and I will sing The Beatles with ease and emotion. But going through all of those books and material...purging myself of an identity I never really embraced...it was still hard. I am comforted knowing that I have found my passions and set them each aside in their own space, to be acknowledged and sought after day after day.
So finding the joy of music-making outside of work is possible. And yes- most days I now listen to podcasts and audiobooks in my car instead of music. But I can't lose this passion for music. It's what I know...it oozes from me. I am always singing...whether I realize it or not. The music is in me. I just have to make sure that I keep feeding these parts of my soul and avoid the burnout that comes with working in the music therapy field.
Be well. Find your passion. Join a choir. Or a book club. Find people that have that passion! It will change you, I promise. You will grow and learn to thrive in ways you never knew before.
Something I have wanted to touch on is my interest in music-making outside of my profession. I spend all day providing music for patients based on their interests and preferences, processing their feelings, taking their requests. And I am always afraid that somehow I will lose my own personal passion for music. It's silly to think that, because honestly all I DO anymore is music-related.
I have six students that come to my house for voice, piano, or guitar lessons each week. It's extra income and also fun for me. I used to teach a studio of 15 students during graduate school and I missed interacting with kids and that kind of young, innocent, untarnished passion and eagerness to learn that kids so easily display. And teaching out of my quaint music room in my own home is such a bonus- gone are the days when I drove all over Kansas City and the suburbs to teach my studio!
I love singing with my band, The Cover Girls. My two best friends and I cover songs spanning all genres with luxurious three-part harmony. What is better than making music with your besties?! We have very occasional gigs, but are starting to get back in the scene following the birth of one sweet Cover Baby.
But what I really wanted to highlight is a new musical adventure...
I joined the Kansas City Symphony Chorus as a second alto. It was a rough start to the season with a real bear of a contemporary piece--I remember coming home from rehearsals feeling so exhausted because the intricate rhythms and atonal melody lines required strenuous attention to detail. But we just came out of our fifth concert series for this season with a tremendous week of Carmina Burana. I sang this piece in my undergrad years, and honestly I don't think I ever put as much heart and emotion into choral singing as I do now. It was still enjoyable when I was in college, but it was required. And I hate rules and requirements, so I felt like I sometimes just went through the motions. Things are different now...this chorus is for leisure- I signed up (and PAY TO BE A MEMBER lol) for this community choir of 160 singers across the KC metro area. It's not required to join, have passion, sing the right notes, try your best---we do it because we WANT to. And it's so refreshing.
I ended every concert this past week with misty eyes. I looked out at the audience as they gave standing ovations and we had to take several bows...and I had so much joy in my heart. I felt that I was filled to the brim with new found passion. I sing with wonderful people that have welcomed me into this community, who don't know that I'm going through a difficult season in my life, but that don't question when I wipe my tears and beam at onlookers in the gorgeous Helzberg Hall because they feel those emotions too. I was really needing some happiness, and I found it in music. And not in music that I typically listen to or perform...but in this pseudo Latin/German sexualized WEIRD piece of music that required so much passion and intent care.
I recently went through all of my music and songbooks that I had purchased for my undergrad Vocal Performance degree. I got rid of them- sold them to some wonderful folks that will get great use out of them. I thought for a while that I would pursue classical singing and opera. I was really not wanting to acknowledge to myself how I hated the competition and the egos. And I was truly in denial about how preparing for classical solo performances made my anxiety sky-rocket. I was never comfortable onstage when I was singing opera. Flash-forward to years later, hand me a guitar, and I will sing The Beatles with ease and emotion. But going through all of those books and material...purging myself of an identity I never really embraced...it was still hard. I am comforted knowing that I have found my passions and set them each aside in their own space, to be acknowledged and sought after day after day.
So finding the joy of music-making outside of work is possible. And yes- most days I now listen to podcasts and audiobooks in my car instead of music. But I can't lose this passion for music. It's what I know...it oozes from me. I am always singing...whether I realize it or not. The music is in me. I just have to make sure that I keep feeding these parts of my soul and avoid the burnout that comes with working in the music therapy field.
Be well. Find your passion. Join a choir. Or a book club. Find people that have that passion! It will change you, I promise. You will grow and learn to thrive in ways you never knew before.
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| I'm the curly-haired chick with glasses smiling so big in the second row. |
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