Singing
In Gaza, Children Sing with Drones
Ahmed Abu Amsha, Founder, Gaza Birds Singing; musician, singer, composer, sound engineer, music teacher, and manager of music education programs in Gaza, as told to Ensemble editor Tricia Tunstall
In the beginning of the war on Gaza, I was displaced from my town of Beit Hanoun at 3 a.m. We were running, without shoes, without anything. We arrived in Jabalia, near Gaza City. I was not thinking about music; I was just running for a safe place.
GUEST PERSPECTIVE
The Courage to Create: Helping Students Sing through Fear
Meagan Mayne, Founder, Meagan Mayne Voice Studio
Singing (really, any artistic act) is an act of vulnerability. Your voice is you—your breath, your body, your emotions, your story. When you sing, you offer all of that up; even after a lifetime of performing, I still feel that fear when I step on stage.
If performing can be scary for us educators, how much scarier must it be for teen students still discovering their identity—for whom “fitting in” can feel like the most important thing?
Free Lesson Plans from Smithsonian Folkways
Are you a music teacher looking to diversify your lesson plans? The Smithsonian Folkways website hosts a digital database of free music lesson plans from around the world.
