I have been told many times by various directors that you never know how a piece of music is going to make someone feel. They may laugh or cry, smile or frown, have a rush of adrenaline or fall asleep. You run the risk of these things happening is a single song. People are tied to music in various ways. Some are very emotional while others are just there to listen.

For me, being a music lover, creator, performer, I love it. I love to sing, sometimes to the annoyance of others. I love discovering new songs, new genres, and music from cultures different from my own. I was lucky in high school to be exposed to different genres of music and other languages too. On my occasions, my director would have a least one piece in a different language. Many of those times the language was Swahili or Zulu but other times the pieces were in French, German, Yiddish, definitely Latin, and Spanish. She wants to make us well-rounded singers and learn about the world we lived in. And I loved it.

I loved and still, love to be a part of singing groups. In high school, I was a member of many of the choral groups but probably my favorite was our women's group, The Nightingales. We performed challenging yet beautiful pieces. They were powerful and often times helpful to us young women in our current climate. The pieces we were given were often times driven by female empowerment but also a way to teach us about our world, our roles, and the choices we can make to better ourselves and the world around us. I am so proud of the group's success throughout my times with them and now I can see their success through my sisters who are now a part of the same group. It is such a great feeling to have them a part of the something special that I was a part of.

I love music that makes emotional connections to the audience. Many times the piece is uplifting but again you never know how someone is going to react. I love performing pieces with these connections and sharing them with an audience. I know how I feel when I sing the piece and many times I have strong feelings about it, but to see the look in eyes of the audience is a powerful thing. You can see the reactions on their faces and you can tell how your performance is impacting them even before you hear the comments.

I will say it again. Music is a powerful thing. As humans, we love our emotional connections whether that is to a song or a person. Music has a way of bringing out someone's personality. It has a way of expressing many different emotions. It has a way to bring people together. It has a way of changing lives.