Sounds of the Season: Music as Harbinger of the Holidays

While the holidays can be exciting, they can also be expensive, especially during a recession. But there’s at least one tradition that can lift your spirits for free: music. Whether listening to it performed live or on your car radio or singing to yourself or out loud with a choir, holiday songs undoubtedly set the soundtrack for the season.

Rutgers–Camden musicians have chimed in with why music is not only recession-proof, but can be a boost for the weary.

According to Julianne Baird, a distinguished professor of music at Rutgers–Camden, where she directs the student

madrigal choir, music has a distinct and inimitable power to heal body, mind, and spirit.

“Certain kinds of music have the power to pull aside an inner curtain that veil over our emotion so to speak, making us aware of parts of ourselves, our emotions and feelings which are often untapped,” says Baird, who is one of the most recorded women in all of music, with some 140 CDs to her name.

Joseph Schiavo, director of the music program at Rutgers–Camden and a clinical assistant professor of music, says holiday music in particular harkens back to fond memories instantaneously. “We identify with certain music especially when it relates to how we are feeling at any given moment in time, whether good or bad,” says Schiavo. “I believe holiday music is most certainly uplifting for many, even in troubled times.”

Musician Mark Zaki, an assistant professor of composition at Rutgers-Camden, where he directs the Rutgers Electro-Acoustic Lab, says music can offer an escape. "If we take time to actually listen to music and engage with it, we can lose ourselves in it. Just for a moment everything is all right with the world," offers Zaki.

While listening to music can be energizing for one, singing with a choir of many can establish a sense of community, bringing an additional sense of comfort and belonging. The Rutgers University Singers, directed by Julia Zavadsky, combines undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff to create a diverse community of singers. “Singing is definitely recession-proof and joining a choir can be a tremendous stress relief,” says Zavadsky. She further developed the RU Singers’ sense of community by establishing numerous collaborations with musicians from around the region, including concerts with Temple University, Girard Academic Music Program, Cherry Hill West High School, Community College of Philadelphia, and the Orchestra Society of Philadelphia.

“The goal of the choir is to provide our singers and audiences with a rich musical experience,” adds Zavadsky. “The vocal and ensemble training singers have received will stay with them their whole lives.”

Two holiday concerts will take place on campus this week: The Rutgers University Singers will join choirs from the Creative Arts High School and the Agnes Irwin School in Rosemont, Pa. for a special performance at 12:15 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 8 in the Gordon Theater and the group will perform on its own at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 9 in the Multi-Purpose Room of the Campus Center.

 

 

Media Contact: Cathy K. Donovan
(856) 225-6627
E-mail: catkarm@camden.rutgers.edu