Look at their faces! Watch their body language! My high school choir conductor would have given anything to have us emote like that, but I guess by high school we've got too many reservations for raw emotion.
This is the PS22 Chorus. I found their blog and learned that they've got dozens of videos and count several famous folks among their fans, including Tori Amos and Coldplay, whose songs they've performed. (And here I was, ready to hunt down Chris Martin and make him watch this video. Ha.)
What gets me the most is the beautiful simplicity. It's just a bunch of kids sitting in their school auditorium, a guy on guitar and a hand-held video camera. It doesn't need anything to jazz it up. Everything we need to see is right there in their faces. I am so moved by what this music teacher is doing; I almost feel like he's teaching us more than he's teaching the kids.
Kids need music. They need art. They need sports. They need the kinds of things that bring expressions like that to their faces. In fact, we ALL need the kinds of things that bring expressions like that to our faces. I wish that every superintendent of schools would watch that video before making budget cuts. These programs are lifelines for a lot of kids. Music was certainly a lifeline for me, and were it not for my high school choir conductor, I don't know who I'd be today.
This video reminds me that it doesn't take much to start a revolution. You can start a revolution with a guitar.
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3 comments:
I really loved these kids! Such an uplifting group of youngsters:-) They remind me of You!
Errin I found it difficult to decide what moved me more, the kids or having the great pleasure of (once again) reading something you wrote. Your "voice" has always spoken in song AND in your writing. Yes, the kids are great, the teacher is pumped, and it's fun to see the unjaded results. Our h.s. choirs rocked just in more subdued ways, but still kicked...especially C.S. and Mads. Childlike enthusiasm is the key! Thanks for sharing this. It provided great joy for the old Campbell!
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