Spanish Fiesta

Tomorrow brings a new class, and a new song sheet! For the next three weeks we'll be focusing on Spanish language and culture in our music classes. 

My friend and kid-music-guru, Brian Barrentine, created this fantastic company called Funikijam. He's now leading the way in childhood education and entertainment. 

"Built on the original rhymes, chants, songs and stories of founder Brian Barrentine,  FunikiJam started with a Nashville playgroup  in 1999. Now, FunikiJam has evolved into a landmark early childhood education and entertainment organization with an annual reach of over 70,000 patrons. From NYC headquarters, FunikiJam delivers its trademark "music exploration for the next generation" across the globe through classes,  live shows, musical recordings, film production, and teacher training."

I was trained by Brian over the course of 3 years, and learned his unique fusion of known educational methods (like Kodaly and Orff Approach) with his own original kid-friendly compositions. As his first NYC "Teaching Artist" I ended up working for a number of schools including Brooklyn Conservatory, The Caedmon School and PS3, and performing all over the country with the Funikijam World Tour. The experience I gained was truly invaluable. 

When I heard about the possibility of working with the International Friends Play, I knew this curriculum should be incorporated. It celebrates everything we are trying to create within the playgroup: intercultural understanding, connecting through music, and a safe, fun atmosphere for kids to grow and learn. 

In a perfect world, there would be some Arabic translations on this song sheet (like the one from last week...below):

However, our translator is a volunteer as well with children of her own and sometimes... there just doesn't seem to be enough time in the day. So, as a student of jazz I do what I've been taught - I improvise! We'll print the all-English song sheet for tomorrow and then if the Arabic comes later, I'll simply add it to the sheet and (try) to learn the pronunciation for at least one song. 

I'm still trying to decide how to go about my next level of research - the women's Circle Singing. I suppose the first step will be permission forms... in English AND Arabic. Oooofff... not looking forward to that part, but it is an absolutely necessary step. Besides the normal "permission forms" in research, I must be especially delicate with the refugee situation. Sometimes being filmed isn't just uncomfortable, but dangerous to the family involved. We'll see what happens, but tomorrow... we sing!

Hasta mañana!

A New Beginning: My Introduction

Life is full of them; new beginnings. Things end, others begin. As an expat, I know this journey personally. It's a way of life. I chose it, and willingly accepted ending my time in one space to move freely to another, only to build up a life in that space and move on once again. It will probably happen at least a couple more times before my time is done. This ebb and flow is natural to me. Like a rambling river I glide through different atmospheres, tumble over rocks and boulders and eventually find my way to the great sea. All the while, I try to enjoy the beautiful and ever-changing scenery.


My newest beginning, as of late, is in a small city in the Southern part of the Netherlands called Maastricht. Fittingly, a river runs through the middle of the city, separating it into parts. Most notably to me -the City Center and Classical Music building of ZUYD University are on one side and the Jazz Building and Train Station are on the other. Both sides have their charms. In the eight months that I've lived here I have set up "home" in four different apartments on both sides of the River Maas. Ever-changing.

Many people have questions when they hear how many places I've called home.

1. Why did you move so much? Were your parents in the military? No... no, we moved to follow my father's work. After college, I decided I wanted to keep on moving a bit. I spent 6 years in NYC but saved all my money from bartending and teaching to take "personal trips" once a year to different countries. These other worlds opened my eyes and influenced every part of my life. I then moved to Colombia for a year after being swept away by the romantic imagery and Magical Realism of "Love in the Time of Cholera" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. In Colombia, I fell in love with a jazz man, started singing Latin Jazz, learned to cook and taught English. My partner and I moved to the Netherlands after receiving scholarships to study Masters in Jazz at the Conservatorium Maastricht. So - here we are.

2. How can you afford this? I can't. At least not in the way that you may think. I always only have juuuust enough to cover food and shelter. I figure the rest out when I get there building on previous experiences (musician, music teacher, english teacher, travel writer). I find the more open one is, the more opportunities present themselves.

3. Do you miss your friends and family? Of course! But the beauty of traveling is that you are forced to make personal connections with people in order to survive (that is - if you are a "social" person, like me. Some people don't need this connection in the same way I do). I have had the great pleasure to become incredibly close to people that I may never have spoken to in the USA due to language restrictions or cultural differences. Some of these friends have become so important to me for different reasons that I consider them family as well. My "family" didn't disappear... it just got a little bigger.

Here's where my introduction comes to an end, and a new story begins. 

I move because I want to, but that's not the case for some people. Between April 2011 and December 2015, approximately 897,645 Asylum Applications were received from Syrian Refugees seeking safety in Europe (United Nations, 2016). These men, women and children have been surrounded by violence for years, and have decided to risk everything for a better life. With this decision, they are suddenly uprooted from their homeland and everything familiar. Sometimes families are separated for months or years while seeking safer shelter. 

I felt immediately drawn to the plight of these strong men and women, many of whom have suffered more than I will ever know. My instinct wasn't to give money to the cause (I have none), or to demand justice in the governmental systems (not my area) or even to explain my supportive position to frightened family members (been there, tried that). My strength... my purpose is music. It always has been no matter where I am on the map. So, how could I bring my passion for music into the Refugee Community of Maastricht?

It's all about communication.

I started talking about it. And talking about it. And asking questions... and talking some more. I talked to her and she talked to them and then I talked to them and they talked to her. That's how I came to be involved with Emma Bendall, Poyer Conforte, the initiative International Friends Play and the NGO -Not Just a Number. 

With my previous experience as a music teacher and Teaching Artist at Funikijam in NYC, I offered my services as a volunteer "music teacher" for the playgroup on Tuesdays. Funikijam LLC has granted me permission to use their curriculum for this project. I also incorporate my own curriculum and try to include at least one song in Arabic (graciously translated by another volunteer). We rock and roll and sing and dance and play! The kids range from 3 weeks to 7 years and the families come from all over the world, but the majority are refugees from Syria.

My goal is to create a communication between refugee, expat, and local women of Maastricht using Vocal Improvisation. I've been working with this project for the last 8 weeks. Though it's a part of my Master Research at the Conservatorium Maastricht, it's also a very personal project. I want to further our understanding of communicating through music and what effects this nonverbal communication may have on our global future. 

That's my "research plan". For now, we get together every tuesday. We talk (with the help of hand gestures and translators), share coffee and cookies, run after children of all colors and backgrounds, and make music together. I believe that's a good start.

I'll be keeping this blog as a sort of documentation to see what changes from now until the end of my research. I'm happy to receive comments or questions you may have about my research or in general. This is all new to me! There will - no doubt - be rocks in the river that I'll have to swim around. But I know, no matter what happens, it's going to be a great and ever-changing view. 
Thanks for joining my journey!