What took you to Germany recently?
I was there by invitation from AMIS, the Association for Music in International Schools. I was invited to be the guest conductor for the European high school honor choir (they spell it the American way) last March in Poland. I wasn’t yet cleared to travel internationally, so they postponed and held it this year in Germany.
I am so glad it happened this year and not last year. If I were to have gone last year, they wouldn’t have gotten my full self, and I would have been mentally unready. This year I could give it my all and more, coming out of my cancer journey My relationship with music and human connection is different now.
How so?
I connect with people at a deeper level. I can’t cure cancer, but if ten people hear my story and realize it’s not scary to do self-examinations, then they can learn from my experience. For me, cancer was more like a university course than a battle. I’ve learned all these things about health, about prioritizing our bodies that I’m excited to share. I don’t necessarily set out to inspire others. I don’t say ‘today I want to inspire!’ (she bangs her fist on table here). But often the feedback is that they find it inspiring.
I worked with over 200 high students from 20 international schools all over Europe. Many are children of ex-pats, missionaries, or business people. They’ve lived in many countries, and so come with an inquisitive mind and worldly perspective. They’re all good at connecting socially. I didn’t see a cellphone for three days! They’re bringing back digital cameras (and would even ask permission to use them! It was extremely endearing). The whole thing had a vintage vibe.
How did you approach the time with them?
I started with self-reflection: how lucky am I to stand in front of you? What got me here? I can offer a different perspective than your usual teachers. Although I am not currently a school teacher, I very much consider myself as a music educator. I work with singers aged 4 to 90 at TEMC, with professional choir singers with doctorates to folks who never knew choir music would be a part of their lives. So I can be whatever you want—like a high school teacher or a professional ensemble expert. Then we can elevate together and see what we can reach.
I was intentional in not asking the students what grade they’re in. Some were grade 9, some grade 12, but they were all chosen to be there, whether they were a first or fifth year student.
To start I told them I believe to do anything with impact, we need to be intentional. So whether it was a simple warmup, or how we breathe together, how we stand or sit—all of it will be change our experience of music-making.
Day 2 was already our second-to-last day. So we needed to hunker down and work musically. On day 2 we found an elasticity between when to play and when to focus. It was productive, and genuinely beautiful.
Did your faith come into play?
My faith wasn’t explicitly a factor, but these last few years as my faith has strengthened, I’ve leaned into God being here and with us all. At the end of the day the music we make and successful feeling we have are not just our product to be proud of. There’s a spiritual element that guides us through this teamwork together. There are just too many coincidences. For me to be so open and flexible, with these students who respond so well: God orchestrates that. God put all of us together in that place for that reason.
What was the final product like?
We performed 8 pieces together (concert program). Although every piece was chosen for a reason, there are definitely a few performance highlights. First, the students sang a piece in Mandarin - 蒲公英 (Dandelion), and to hear them sing it like they genuinely understand each character was absolutely moving. Second highlight - we did a TaReKiTa! by Reena Esmail (a South Indian- American) composer. Two South Asian students, one from Belgium, another from Switzerland, asked to introduce it at the concert together. In their emcee speech, they said this was the first time they understood diversity efforts, because they saw themselves and their culture represented. We ended with sîkwakhi by Sherryl Sewepagaham (Woodland Cree composer from Little Red River - an indigenous community in Alberta) and sang it in Woodland Cree (in Germany!) combining with 100 middle school choir students. Sherryl had zoomed in for an hour session (on her way to the Juno ceremony!). These students had no idea why this was important to Canadians. sîkwakhi opened a door for international students to learn about truth and reconciliation, and hopefully to long to learn more.
We sang a few Christian sacred pieces (Psalm 98) as well. I am mindful of picking inclusive & diverse repertoire but I don’t say no to religious music. This was the second time in an honour choir that I have guest conducted, where Christian students came up and thanked me for keeping some Christian music in the repertoire. In diversity efforts we can be too quick to be inclusive by excluding certain groups. It’s better to strike a balance.
If you are interested in watching this concert, this is the Livestream link:
https://amis-online.org/page/concert-showcase-2526
Scroll down for: 2026 AMIS European Middle School & High School Honor Choirs
(High school choir begins at 47:00)
