Mar 72 min read
Mar 63 min read
Mar 28, 20233 min read
Laura Thomas, Guest Contributor
Instrumental music, particularly orchestral and big band music, elicits a full range of emotions within me. My joy in music stems from my family's involvement in the musical community. My siblings and I studied piano as children, eventually progressing to instrumental instruction in high school. I can fondly recall coming home from high school at lunch and spending the majority of time in my room listening to albums on an old record player my parents had given me for Christmas one year. It was not my intention to become a professional musician. My first passion was writing, but as I progressed in my musical education, my interests turned to conducting and how they communicate their vision of the music to the performers in the ensemble. I am a graduate of Mohawk College and McMaster University, where I studied percussion and composition and continued my master's degree in conducting at New York's prestigious Bard College, where I was further inspired by Harold Faberman who taught me the inner workings of music. Currently, I am the music director for the Dundas Valley Orchestra and Artistic Director of the Hamilton/Niagara area WomEnchant Chorus & Drummers and conductor of Hamilton's Singin' Women chorus. My contributions to the music community include writing music for symphony orchestras, choirs, small ensembles, jazz groups, and guest appearances as a conductor and performer in Southern Ontario and Western New York.
My enjoyment of music continues in my backyard, where I can garden and relax to the sounds of birds. I find further joy in working with women singers who share my commitment to social justice, peace, equality, and environmental stewardship and encourage women to "find their voice" in both singing and increased confidence. My focus is to create a local impact and contribute to the greater arts community.
The last performance of Singin' Women, a community choir created for women with the lived experience of precarious housing, homelessness, and their allies, was at Beth Jacob Synagogue on March 1, 2019, just ten days before the World Health Organization declared a pandemic. The performance was a fundraiser for Carol Anne's Place, an overnight drop-in for women experiencing homelessness, located in downtown Hamilton, at the YWCA. It also included a tribute and birthday celebration for Sister Carol Anne Guay who was in attendance that day. She is the founder of Out of the Cold, a hot meal program in the city, and for whom the women's drop-in is named.
While I have the privilege of conducting this choir, it is through the vision and action of many women, that it came into existence to begin with. I am tremendously grateful to Deirdre Pike, our volunteer coordinator, and Katherine Kalinowski, from Good Shepherd Centres, who provided us with space, a piano, and the ability to take donations to cover our small budget. Sadly, because of COVID-19, we have been silenced now for over a year. Many women have stayed in touch for support through our Facebook page during the pandemic, with a few able to meet and walk or garden together at times, but the hope remains for a reunion and the ability to start regular practices again someday.
In the meantime, WomEnchant Chorus and Drummers is another choir I have been associated with for over 25 years. We are a feminist and social justice-oriented choir committed to peace, equality and respect for all people of Earth. The idea was sparked by a conversation I had at the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival in the late 1990s. I had just started learning about and hearing the music of a number of women who were social justice activist musicians, and I loved the music and the hopeful message. I knew it was important to bring that inspiration back to the communities with which I was connected.
We have performed at numerous events and rallies such as International Women's Day celebrations, Take Back the Night rallies, V-Day anti-violence events, and in Seneca Falls, New York at the Women's Rights Museum.
There are many ways to advocate for change and ensure a gender lens is applied to the issues of the day, including a just recovery from this pandemic that many economists agree has left women, Black, Indigenous, and other communities of colour languishing behind. One of our ways to contribute to this important advocacy is to sing. We enjoy singing together for community and, we hope, to help move us all to greater justice. Inspired by the songs and all the dedicated women who have come before us, we will continue to sing toward our main mission to make the world a better place for everyone.
Comentários