The Significance of Music
In May 2018 I led a Musicians’ Liberation Workshop for the Northeast Regions of the United States and Canada. I emphasized the significance of music. I said that music can be a powerful and revolutionary liberation tool and that we can take music and musicians’ work seriously.
Yo-Yo Ma, a well-known cellist, played in the “Place-des-Arts” subway station in Montreal, Canada, as part of his year-long “Bach Project” of playing Bach’s cello suites in various places around the world. The following is from his website: “I share this music, which has helped shape the evolution of my life, with the hope that it might spark a conversation about how culture can be a source of the solutions we need. It is one more experiment, this time a search for answers to the question, ‘What can we do together, that we cannot do alone?’”
How have you used your music (or other art form) to build connection, make change, and bring liberation? What has intrigued you? What have you tried? How has your connection with other musicians or artists assisted you? I particularly encourage young people, young adults, People of the Global Majority, and people living outside the United States to share their thoughts.
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Reprinted from the RC e-mail
discussion list for leaders of artists