Within the security of grace

Earlier this year, I shared my goals for 2012. Among "make more decisions" and "pursue excellence," I wrote:

- Keep the faith. Think positively even when surrounded by negativity, stay strong even in the midst of frustration and weakness, find new ways to actively build my faith throughout the year, commit to worry less.

As such, I thought I'd share an expression of faith that's been on my heart lately. This year, the season of Lent spans the entire month of March. It is a solemn time in the church year, a time of self-reflection and sacrifice (giving things up). A few weeks ago, our pastor shared this thought with the congregation: "Lent is a time to examine ourselves as God sees us, within the security of grace." It resonated with me. "The security of grace" is a thought so comforting, so freeing. It's not an excuse not to do my best, it's motivation to try again, to forgive again, to move forward. It's a simple reminder that my whole life fits into the palm of His hand. We can choose to live in this security of grace every day. What will you choose?

2012 WCMW Schedule of Events

Steve and I are so proud of and excited about this year’s Westminster Chamber Music Workshop (WCMW)!  We have four great events planned for May 2012.  Each event is designed to be educational, entertaining, and fun, combining the performance of music with insight from our esteemed guest artists (see more here).  Our mission is to provide excellent musical opportunities to people of all ages and as a result, all events are FREE of charge and open to all!  If you’re in the area, we hope you’ll join us! THE SAMIRAH EVANS JAZZ TRIO Saturday, May 5, 2012, 7:00 p.m. First Congregational Church of Westminster Free Admission

Co-presented by CenterStage at FSU.

Originally from the Great South (New Orleans, to be exact) and currently from Brattleboro, Vermont, Samirah Evans is a dynamic performer with a voice described as “smoky-sweet” by the Times-Picayune.  Joined by two members of her “Handsome Devils” band, you’ll enjoy an evening of sultry, fiery, and foot-tappin’ tunes that will have you dancing out the door!  Click here to read more about Samirah.

COMMUNITY SING with DR. SUSAN CONKLING

Saturday, May 12, 2012, 7:00 p.m. First Congregational Church of Westminster Free Admission

Rich with tradition dating back to the early 20th century, the Community Sing is an informal musical event designed for all ages – no experience and no preparation necessary!  We hope you’ll join us for an evening of good, old-fashioned singing.  Come be a part of the fun!  Click here to read more about Susan Conkling.

THE SAXOPHONE QUARTET directed by LYNN KLOCK Saturday, May 19, 2012, 7:00 p.m. First Congregational Church of Westminster Free Admission

We are so pleased to welcome not one, not two, not three, but four saxophonists for a concert of quartet music!  For those of you who have never heard a saxophone quartet play live, you’re in for a real treat!  The concert program will include a wide variety of music written for soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophone.  The quartet is coached and directed by master teacher and performer Lynn Klock.  Click here to read more.

THE COPERNICUS DUO Saturday, May 26, 2012, 7:00 p.m. First Congregational Church of Westminster Free Admission

We are thrilled to introduce the members of the Copernicus Duo to you – meet David Bebe and Jamecyn Morey, a husband and wife duo active in the realms of musical performance and music education.  The Copernicus Duo, featuring David on the cello and Jamecyn on the violin will present our final concert of the 2012 season.  Join us for what promises to be a wonderful evening of music!  Click here to read more about David and Jamecyn.

Image Credit: personal, Andrew Kielbowicz, David Pope, personal

The Art of the Spiritual

Some of you may remember my posts on our lecture recital last spring: The Art of Song.

Steve and I were asked to put together a program for the Women’s Fellowship at church last April so we chose three art songs from three different periods, talked about the genre (music for voice and piano), the composers who wrote this kind of music, the texts they chose to set, and our process of preparing this music for performance on the saxophone and piano.  We had a wonderful audience!

In just a few (short!) weeks, we’ll be giving another lecture recital of sorts, this time on the history of the spiritual.  We thought it might be fun to choose a few of our favorite Gospel tunes and explore a little bit of the history behind this well-loved genre.  With musical classics such as “Wade in the Water” and “Just a Closer Walk With Thee,” if you’re in the area, we’d love to have you join us for a fun, engaging program of performance and conversation!  The event, free and open to the public will be held on Monday, March 12, 2012 at 7 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Westminster.

Hope to see you there!

Presenting Concerts in Your Local Community

Ever wondered how musicians can afford to give concerts for free? Interested in learning more about how Steve and I built the Westminster Chamber Music Workshop (WCMW)? Want an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of the chamber music series?

Join us for an exciting presentation and live Q&A on Monday, March 19 from 8:00-9:00 p.m., Eastern Standard Time presented by the popular young musician initiative, Polyphonic On-Campus. It's free!

Presenting Concerts in Your Local Community: Creative Ideas for Making Concerts Happen Anywhere

Presented by WCMW Artistic Directors, Ashley and Steve Danyew

As musicians, we love to put on concerts, perform for others, showcase our friends, and share our passion for music with all kinds of audiences.  Organizing a concert or a series of events can seem daunting, and we often make excuses why it's not possible or won't be successful.  In this webinar, we will discuss how we made music happen in our community – from finding sources of funding, to finding performers and venues, to building a local audience base, and more! 

We will use the Westminster Chamber Music Workshop (WCMW), a chamber music series based in a small New England town as a case study for thinking about creative ways to make music happen in any community – large or small.  This webinar will give you the tools to create your own opportunities for music-making and presenting.  There is always a way to make it happen - we just need to be creative!

Location: Your computer.  With the power of the wonderful world-wide web, you can join us from the comforts of your living room, fuzzy slippers and all!  Platform details to follow once you are registered.  Click here to sign up for the free webinar.

Authenticity - Part II

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Some of you may remember my first post on authenticity a few weeks ago (read it here).  It’s something that’s been on my heart and mind a lot since then, enough that I thought I needed to say a little more about it.

First of all, some exciting news: I’m building a new professional website and I can’t wait for the launch later this spring!  New content, new photos, new colors, new logo, new everything.  It’s been an exciting creative journey for me (from designing a myriad of custom details to way more HTML than I ever thought I would need to know!) but a big part of the process has been a search for my true (authentic) identity. 

This is the hard part. 

The part of the experience that stretches me in new, uncomfortable ways.  The part that requires risk and pushing past the boundaries that confine me.  The truth is, there’s a little part of me that feels as if my whole self detracts from the music professional image I am trying to project (wait, I thought you were a music teacher not a web designer…).  Gosh, that’s hard to say out loud!

Somehow, I had this idea going into this process that the people who visit my site should only know certain things about me:

• I am a passionate teacher (insert statement of philosophy here)

• I am dedicated to my students (insert professional accolades here)

• I am experienced in music (insert list of credentials, degrees, and other experiences here)

Anything else I might share would take away from my credibility, right?  When I realized that I was only sharing pieces of myself, I felt like less of a musician.  Ever heard that slogan, “Eat. Sleep. Play music”?  What kind of professional am I if I don’t commit 110% of my life to the pursuit of music?

Well, I’m passionate, dedicated, and extremely driven.  I have a combination of sweet southern charm and a fiery spirit (and sometimes, you might hear a little bit of an accent).  I work hard.  I am always trying to improve and I love learning new things.  Music is my life but not my whole life.  I realized authenticity is more than packaging my musical self into a neat little square box.  There is more to me than the smiling, cardboard cutout image that I had created of myself.  Any music teacher can say the generic things I was saying.  How can I set myself apart?  By telling my story (including the not-so-perfect parts).  By being true to myself – my whole self.  By sharing my mission statement:

My authentic mission, the core of my work as a teacher and music professional is to encourage creativity, share experiences, and inspire a passion for music-making.

I find inspiration in more things in life than just dedicated students and good music.  I am inspired to be better, to try new things, and to learn more about myself as a teacher when I watch other teachers (music and otherwise).  I am inspired to create beautiful music when I see expressive works of art, classic designs, gorgeous color schemes, and when I read simple, sweet lines of poetry.  Other creative professionals (in music and other fields) who are committed to authenticity encourage me to be true to myself in everything I do (though I’ve never met Emily Ley, this post struck a chord with me and inspired me to write this follow-up post).  Making decisions in everyday life helps me to make more musical decisions in teaching and performance – when to interject, when to listen, when to push ahead, when to pull back.  Taking time to be outside, to walk, to jog, to be spontaneous clears my head and empowers me to be more effective in my work.

I’m Ashley Danyew – it’s a pleasure to meet you!

Image Credit: personal (Yes, that is a Coca-Cola can on the bench next to me.  I did say I was from Georgia, didn’t I?)

Finding Joy

Count it all joy.  All of it. That's quite the challenge, don't you think?  I find myself asking for compromise: "Can't I just pick a few really good things to be joyful about?"  Of course, I know the answer.  There is joy to be found all along the journey, not just at the scenic overlooks.  Your job is to seek it.  Seek joy.

I used to think joy meant turning into Pollyanna, determined to turn everything in life into a positive.  No, joy is deeper than that.  Joy is the bigger picture.  You can't soak it up as you run by onto the next thing in your day.  Stop.  Stand still.  Take a deep breath.

• Joy is not dwelling on the things that went wrong but celebrating what went right.
• Joy is accepting the imperfect with grace.
• Joy is greater than anger and frustration.
• Joy is spontaneous.  And contagious.
• Joy is all around you.

Standing still in the midst of a world traveling a mile a minute, I think to myself, "There, you found it."  This is joy - larger than life and much larger than the little things that keep me spinning in circles day in and day out.  A wise friend reminds me often, "The joy is in the journey" and friends, the journey is so much more than just the distance between here and there!  In the midst of those crazy, circle-spinning days, there's joy in teaching, there's joy in helping others, there's joy in making music, there's joy in homemade blueberry muffins (even if they are from a box), and there's joy in sharing this journey with a sweet, funny, selfless man.

Find a moment today to just stop, quiet your heart and mind, and count it all joy.

At the Symphony

We're off for a day in the city to shop and hear the BSO play!  It's always great to be in Symphony Hall and the orchestra has a great program lined up for this weekend: Ravel, Stravinsky, and Shostakovich.  Of course, I love any day I get to spend with SD.  Concerts are way more fun with company! :-)  I'm also looking forward to traveling by train today - something about it always makes me feel so sophisticated!  Happy weekend, friends!

The Children's Concert - Recap

Last week, I wrote this post about a children’s concert Steve and I were presenting for a group of preschoolers.

Originally, we were told to expect 8-10 children and a few adults.  With one week still to go, 35 children were registered (i.e. they called to say they were coming.  The concert was free.) including two preschools!  We were very excited at the prospect of having such a big crowd and knew we wanted them to have some space to get up and move around a little bit.  We decided to rearrange the front of the Sanctuary to give us as much floor space as possible.  And it’s a good thing we did.  Imagine our surprise when 56 children (ages 2-5) and their grown-ups (including three preschools!) crowded into the church at 10 a.m. Thursday morning.  We were overwhelmed but of course, thrilled!

We sang.  We danced.  We moved. We learned about the saxophone. We made funny sounds and learned the difference between high and low. We listened to several short pieces, waved our arms, and patted our legs.

It was a great musical experience!

The Children's Concert

I love working with young children, particularly when we have the opportunity to sing!  In my experience, most 4-year-olds are confident, adventurous, effervescent music-makers and they learn new things so quickly!  When the opportunity arose to share a free program of music with a group of children from the community (ages 3-5), I was eager to take part.  Together, Steve (known today as “Saxophone Steve”) and I planned a dynamic and interactive program featuring a series of familiar songs as well as a few new things.

1. Hello there.  We’ll begin with a simple call and response song to get everyone singing and moving.

2. Instrument Demo.  With a surprise entrance, we’ll segue smoothly into a demonstration of the saxophone.  Steve will talk about the high and low sounds a saxophone can make and ask the children to echo him.  We’ll talk about funny sounds and pretty sounds and use a few short, prepared pieces to demonstrate a variety of musical styles.  We’ll have the children participate by moving while we play.  When we talk about animal sounds, we’ll lead right into a crowd favorite, “Old McDonald.”

3. Sing-a-long.  We’ll lead a brief sing-a-long of songs we think they might know: “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star;” “The Itsy, Bitsy Spider;” and “If You’re Happy and You Know It.”  We’ll talk about our different voices (whisper voice, speaking voice, and singing voice) and move along with the music as we sing.  Simple visuals will help us explore form and repeated material.  Sandwiched in between the songs they know, we’ll incorporate a song I think will be less familiar: “Oats, Peas, Beans” (with a simple movement activity).

4. Short Performance.  To conclude the program, we’ll end with a short, prepared piece in ABA form (“Old Joe Clark”) and ask our little listeners to listen for the change in sections and respond with a given motion.  Hopefully, this will keep them engaged in their listening.

Think of us at 10 a.m. as we gather in a room with 35+ preschoolers and their grown-ups for a time of music-making, teaching, and learning!

Image Credit: Nicholas Garofalo

WCMW: First Look!

As some of you might recall, Steve and I co-founded and co-directed the first Westminster Chamber Music Workshop last summer (recaps here and here). A week-long series of music events for the community alongside a chamber choir workshop for adult amateurs, we wrote a few grants, built a website, contacted the press, brought in guest artists from the regional area, advertised, and organized the details. What a wonderful privilege to be able to create new opportunities for music! These sorts of creative projects are some of my favorites as they combine my interests in leadership, community music, and teaching.

Last week, we announced the dates for the 2012 WCMW (read the full post here). If you’re in the area, be sure to mark your calendars!

We’ll be announcing our 2012 Guest Artists in the weeks to come but for now, here’s an idea of what’s in store:

• a dynamic, classical string duo (cello and violin)
• a soulful jazz trio featuring a vocalist from New Orleans
• a community sing led by a passionate choral director and music educator
• a cutting-edge saxophone quartet

I hope you’ll plan to join us for these four very exciting events if you’re nearby! Want to be in the know? Subscribe to our blog (see sidebar) and sign up for WCMW email updates!