You can learn a lot about a society by their social gatherings.
Be it a block party, quinceañera or even a wake, humans find the need to celebrate, mourn or otherwise commemorate significant moments of their individual or communal lives. And these various types of societal meetings tell us a great deal about what that particular community finds valuable and how one might integrate that specific society.
Take the Balinese Cockfight essay by Clifford Geertz for example. In this seminal work of anthropology, Geertz analyzes and explores the symbolism and social interplay of the Balinese cockfights in the late 1950s. Geertz surmises, after spending 1 year with the Balinese people, that the cockfights not only are an essential part of Balinese life but serve as a microcosm to comprehend the delicate social interplay of that community. From the betting, to the localization of the rings, the illegality of the gathering; all these aspects tie together to form Balinese culture. So much so, that both Hildred and Clifford were only truly accepted after watching their first cockfight.
So what does this have to do with music in the international school community? In so many words, everything!
Music is one of the most powerful bonding agents for a school community. It can promote the kinds of environments in which individuality is exalted while, paradoxically, the boundaries of the self are dissolved in favor of the bounds of community. It can encourage collaboration, risk taking, empathy and a collective experience which not only forms bonds but also strengthens them.
I distinctly remember our first Spanish Honor Society Bake Sale and Concert at the American School of Rio de Janeiro in April of 2024. Its inception arose, as many things do, from an off the cuff conversation in the teacher lounge with Virginia Ibazeta, the SHS coordinator. During which, we both noticed that many of the so called "band kids" were also Spanish students and members of SHS. With that realization we both thought "Wouldn't it be nice, if we had these students showcase their heritage in a way that brings the school community together?" And from this educational eagerness a beautiful community gathering was born in which I saw: an Upper School Band parent participate in the bake sale and in the concert, lower school students stopping to observe their older peers playing and faculty members dancing. I saw the very best of what an international school can offer: community.
Therefore, all that being said, find time in the ever-busy schedule of an international school for live music making. These are the moments that our students, faculty, staff and leadership can bond and therefore create a stronger school community.
After all, it takes a village...
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