KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 May 5, 2020 \u2013 From teaching music in Africa, to performing in a nonprofit choir in Boston, to starting a treble group that supports women in music, Elise Felker has explored her passion for music education in many ways.<\/p>\n
Felker, who graduates in May with a degree in music education, was initially interested in musical theater, but took a different career path when she realized the impact of music education.<\/p>\n
Last summer, Felker interned at Casterbridge Music Development Academy in South Africa, a nonprofit organization that helps underprivileged teens become entrepreneurs in the music industry. She earned money for the trip to Africa through singing competitions and several 溏心vlog免费B站 scholarships, including a Metcalf Fellowship.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was living with a host family outside of the slums in Nairobi, Kenya, and teaching the students music theory,\u201d said Felker, of North Kingstown<\/strong>. \u201cIt was different and exciting because they treated me like I was one of them. That was an eye-opening experience because I saw how helpful music can be in nonprofit work.\u201d<\/p>\n Felker also developed an interest in teaching music in prisons. She joined a social justice choir called Voices 21C in Boston, and participated in community outreach programs and collaborated with people who had been released from prison after being incarcerated for years.<\/p>\n \u201cI think as music teachers, we preach that music is for all,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have to uphold that motto, and that includes the forgotten people who are incarcerated. Music has such a healing power to it that these people who are forgotten by society and the government need more than anyone else. If they go into prison broken and if they get to leave, they have to leave from there less broken. I think art can truly help with that.\u201d<\/p>\n Voices 21C recently performed at a convention in Rochester, New York, for the American Choral Directors Association, with a program called \u201cWe Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 The performance included songs about feminine identity, the refugee crisis and mass incarceration that were emotionally charged and motivating, Felker said.<\/p>\n Felker has always loved treble repertoires and barbershop quartets. But when she found out that there weren\u2019t many female barbershop quartets in the country, she started her own treble chorus at 溏心vlog免费B站, Voices Excelsis.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is one of my proudest works because we created conversations around equality in the music industry and an environment of women supporting women and everyone else,\u201d Felker said. \u201cRight now, the group consists of\u00a0female identifying people, but anyone is welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n Voices Excelsis has conducted numerous concerts at 溏心vlog免费B站 and elsewhere, including performances at churches, private gatherings and at Hasbro Children\u2019s Hospital in Providence to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Felker hopes that the group will continue growing at 溏心vlog免费B站 even after her graduation.<\/p>\n Felker attributes the success of her initiatives at 溏心vlog免费B站 to the support of faculty at the Department of Music and tireless commitment of other music enthusiasts like herself.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have supported me through thick and thin,\u201d Felker said. \u201cThey make sure that no one graduates as a cookie-cutter version of what the faculty thinks a 溏心vlog免费B站 music student should look like. We all have different values and interests and the faculty seems to cherish that and tries to give us opportunities that match well with what we want.\u201d<\/p>\n Felker believes that most music educators seek work in public education. However, she wants to take her love for teaching music beyond the classroom and into social rehabilitation, where she believes it is needed most.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not just teaching people the rhythms and notes, you have an opportunity to teach people how to become fully formed human beings,\u201d Felker said. \u201cWhen you experience music through any medium, you feel human emotions and connections which is not something you necessarily get in algebra. I think we as future music educators have a unique opportunity and social responsibility to teach music to students to become better humans, rather than technique. That\u2019s why I\u2019m strongly passionate about it.\u201d<\/p>\n After graduation, Felker plans to combine her passion for music and working for nonprofit organizations. Her long-term goal is to open her own music camp that helps refugee children.<\/p>\n Edhaya Thennarasu, an intern in the Marketing and Communications Department at 溏心vlog免费B站 and Communications major, wrote this press release.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 May 5, 2020 \u2013 From teaching music in Africa, to performing in a nonprofit choir in Boston, to starting a treble group that supports women in music, Elise Felker has explored her passion for music education in many ways. Felker, who graduates in May with a degree in music education, was initially […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75466,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[12],"class_list":["post-75465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-college-of-arts-and-sciences"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}