Gareth: Throughout the lockdown of spring 2020, I yearned to connect – with other people, with the world around me, and with my drums. But working from home sapped my energy and drive. The strangeness of not hugging or shaking hands and of avoiding people on the street, was intense. Distanced human interactions took on READ MORE
Author: Tawnya Smith
The Role of the Worship Leader in a Global Pandemic – Conference Presentation Preview
The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdown measures included the closure of churches, chapels, synagogues, and mosques around the world. While Christianity is very diverse in nature, church attendance is foundational to many Christians’ spiritual lives as it includes elements of worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and mission, among others. As a result of the pandemic, however, READ MORE
Culturally Responsive Mentoring for Music Educators – A Presentation Preview for the Upcoming MSWI Conference
For music educators, establishing positive, dependable relationships with colleagues in the community is an important element of the mentoring process. Culturally responsive care, when applied to mentoring, fosters an environment where individuals are fully seen in all aspects of their identity through a holistic and anti-oppressive approach to mentorship. For music teacher educators, READ MORE
Christians, Muslims, and Jews welcome the winter season performing together on Zoom from Israel and the UK
The 2020 pandemic unleashed two contradictory forces of global affinity and lonely isolation. As many countries enacted lockdown policies individuals and communities had to deal with unprecedented enforced isolation. At the same time, at least for a few moments, people all over the world felt a strong sense of affinity and empathy, as no matter READ MORE
Transient Communities: The Case of a Refugee Choir in the Catholic Church of Lesvos – A Presentation Preview for the Upcoming MSWI Conference
During a typical summer evening rehearsal in 2018, a talented young Congolese refugee raises his hands expectantly, his eyes resting momentarily on each person in front of him. As he lowers his hands for the downbeat, voices raise together as one, echoing off the walls of the tiny Catholic Church. Just outside the cool refuge READ MORE