Healing Choir Songs

[Kou Quintana]

Guitarist, singer, and composer Sarah Louise lives in the woods outside of Asheville, North Carolina. In her work as a solo artist and in the duo House and Land, she draws upon both traditional and experimental music, teasing out the commonalities between old Appalachian songs and 20th-century minimalist compositions. She initially became known for her distinctive 12-string guitar fingerpicking style, but has increasingly used multitrack recording and digital processing to summon a palette of abstract sounds from her instrument. Here, she talks about the importance of nature and meditation in her creative practice, and a healing experience that inspired her latest album, Nighttime Birds and Morning Stars.

High school was when I got really into field recordings, specifically of pre-war blues, and just was totally obsessed. No matter what class I was in, I would try to make it a research project about the blues, and spend all my money on blues CDs, and devour the liner notes. I sometimes will get obsessed with one thing, and just completely devour as much of it as I can, for as long as I can.

That idea of teasing out those connections between seemingly disparate traditions feels particularly relevant to House and Land, your duo with the fiddler, Sally Anne Morgan. How have you approached playing a repertoire of old-time Appalachian songs in a new way?

And beyond musical elements, how do you think about the social and political context around the traditional music you play? There was often a lot of ugliness surrounding these beautiful songs.

I made it in the middle of the night. A lot of the music on this record was made at night, and the record is really this document for me of this time when I was gifted profound healing from the Earth. And so that song is me in the throes of experiencing healing. It would make me really happy if it could help other people on their own healing journeys.

Yeah. I think that my music practice was really my spiritual practice before I had one, because it works on the mind and the nervous system when I play. It happens when I see other performers, too, who are amazingly present and just letting things flow through them.

Here, Susan J. Latimer, an Episcopal priest and musician, tells us how chant can give us courage, heal us, and help us become more present to the divine through the very resonance of sound in our bodies. May Susan encourage you to sound the rhythm, breath, and vibration of chant, and through it, deepen into a holy Advent.

This my first response to the pandemic because as long as I can remember, I have been singing. Singing in choirs, singing on horseback, singing with friends. Singing along with popular songs on the radio, weaving harmonies around melodies, singing art song and lieder in recitals. Singing has always brought me joy.

Susan J. Latimer was born and raised in North San Diego County, California, with a love of music and the ocean. She has a BA (Yale) and MA (U of S. California) in Music, and an MDiv from The Candler School of Theology at Emory University. Ordained to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church in 1992, she has focused on contemplative practices and spiritual formation in her work in parishes. She is also a professed member of The Order of the Ascension, a religious order within the Episcopal church.

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A: I grew up in a family that is musically oriented. My mom and youngest brother are music teachers, while my dad, myself, and two other siblings sing and play an instrument. I started playing the piano at five in my local church and I always wanted to sing. No one gave me an opportunity because my voice was not so pleasant to the ears and there were so many good singers in church. However, in fourth grade, my elementary school organist (James Martins) wanted us to sing some songs at the Christmas party, but no child was willing to take the lead. I saw the opportunity and I grabbed it with excitement. I was the only one who was bold enough to volunteer to hold the microphone and lead the songs. I presented our choral rendition and received a standing ovation from everyone because I sang so beautifully and had a professional stage presence. That was my first opportunity to sing on a stage and it marked the beginning of singing as a hobby.

I led the school choir in high school and became a music director for a non-denominational gospel group in university. While working for my former employer in Nigeria, I used to coordinate and teach Christmas carols to children of employees at the Bank's annual Christmas carol service. Here in Toronto, I am part of a gospel band led by gospel artist Efe Alasa.

A: I was born into a devout Christian background, so God inspires me. Travis Greene, Donnie McClurkin and Bishop TD Jakes also inspire me greatly because their songs are written based on their life experiences.

When I am happy, I sing to express my joy. When I am sad, I sing to encourage myself. When I see people around me who are unhappy, I look for songs that speak about their situation and sing to them. I like soul songs that carry messages and meanings because they have the power to brighten a depressed heart.

Singing has also taught me to be calm and listen more. As an auditor, you need to be quick to hear and slow to speak. If you are not calm and attentive, you will not gain the maximum support from your clients and this could lead to you making wrong inferences and arriving at wrong conclusions. Having a calm mind enables me to pay attention to details when conducting my fieldwork. The end result is a good quality audit report.

In the summer of 2019, the nonprofit Voicez Inc. was created to develop the next generation of singers and songwriters in north Minneapolis. Founder Pickens is the choir teacher at Henry High School (from which he graduated) and Fair High School, as well as being the worship leader at Epiphany Covenant Church in south Minneapolis, so he has a great deal of experience working with young singers.

Students leave for sports or they graduate, so auditions continue to be held regularly. There are now 35 active choir members. Students are asked to submit a one-minute video of themselves singing a favorite song, along with an essay explaining why they wish to join the choir and how they believe their membership will benefit themselves and the wider community.

To date, Known MPLS has opened for gospel artists such as Grammy winners Jonathan McReynolds and Le'Andria Johnson, as well as seven-time Grammy nominee Vanessa Bell Armstrong. Last summer, the singers performed on MPR Day at the Minnesota State Fair. (See the video above.)

'All Is Bright', with host Lynne Warfel, offers an hour of gorgeous, contemplative choral music that tells the traditional Christmas story with songs about angels, the star and the manger scene. Featured artists include Cantus, Chanticleer, Cambridge Singers, Bryn Terfel, Emma Kirkby, Jessye Norman, and a variety of choirs.

The Minnesota-based vocal ensemble 29:11 International Exchange recently presented a fantastic display of African-rooted music and traditions to the enthusiastic students of Harding High School in St. Paul. Watch now!

I am a pianist and composer of classical/new age solo piano. I have had a bond with the piano most of my life, playing by ear as a child, taking piano lessons and accompanying school choirs through high school. It was never my intention to perform and compose piano music.

I believe my gift to my mom was her gift to me, as I rediscovered my love for the piano. From this experience I learned that music is very powerful, very spiritual. Music can provide positive healing and can be a great comfort.

Several years after my mom passed away, I was asked to be an artist for The C.A.R.E. Channel, providing an opportunity for others to benefit from the healing effects of music. I am very proud and happy to be a part of it.

Coincidentally, I learned The C.A.R.E. Channel is broadcast at Craig Hospital in Littleton, Colorado, near Denver, the same medical facility where my mother passed away. Over the years, I have received numerous letters and emails from people who have had an emotional connection to my music, helping them through the loss of a loved one, an illness, divorce or personal struggle. This feedback compels me to continue to compose.

Music is a great escape for me, and very relaxing and therapeutic. Each CD chronicles a period of my life, some songs joyous while others more reflective, but each an emotional experience. As life moves on, there are new experiences, challenges and conflicts. I turn to my piano often to express these feelings.

I live in San Diego with my wonderful husband and two amazing sons. Currently, I am composing my next CD and hoping to record it this spring. I continue to be inspired by the beauty around me and my life experiences and emotions.

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"Anne was my music therapy sister," DiMaio said. "It came from me and Anne. I was doing bereavement and I thought, how can music therapy be more part of the bereavement side of things? How do people grieve musically? I listened to a lot of people grieving, and I needed to have music be a part of this in a very meaningful way."

DiMaio and Wilkerson did pioneering work in the concept of a grief choir when they worked together in hospice care in Asheville, N.C. When DiMaio joined the music department at Texas Woman's University, that partnership ended but grief choir did not.

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