For my MUED 371 Musicianship Project, we were given the task of performing music at the Election Day collaboration with the James Madison Center for Civic Engagement. My initial thought was that this project was a great idea and would provide an outlet for us to be civically engaged, but I had no idea how we were going to put everything together at the last moment. We had about a week to put together a set of songs to perform at the event and I was stressed. I decided to partner with Sophie Harrison, Adam Miller, and Erica Unroe to perform a set of four songs. I am definitely more uncomfortable singing in public than my peers, so that added to my nervousness doing this event. Once we got to the event and performed, it was actually more fun and relaxing than I thought it would be. It was super low stress and felt more like a jam session than a performance where I was going to be critiqued and I loved that. It reminded me of why I love music in the first place.
Prior to this event, civic engagement through music to me meant recognizing and understanding that music can affect events in the U.S., specifically when artists express their feelings about current events through songs and their lyrics. I also thought more about big name musicians’ ability to be civically engaged because they had a large platform to talk about their beliefs and affect change. After this event, my perspective on civic engagement has absolutely changed. I realized the importance of each individual person being civically engaged, even though they may not have as large of a platform as some artists. Being engaged through music could mean writing a song with lyrics about current events or expressing feelings about the events, but it could also just mean playing a song that has significance and sharing that with others. I felt like I was civically engaged at Election Day because I thought through the songs we chose and what their impact may be at the event and for those listening. Being civically engaged does mean being up to date with events and politics, but there can also be a lot of fun in it. Here’s a link to our group singing! |
Davina MiawOn this page, I will present videos of my playing, concerts, and original compositions. Archives
November 2019
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