Cultures in Harmony: William Harvey visits the Daily Orchestra Program

What is American culture?  This is the question violinist William Harvey asked the students of the Daily Orchestra Program to consider on Friday April 8th.  The answers ranged from “obesity” to “accepting of all different kinds of people.”  Using that question as a jumping off point William Harvey led the Daily Orchestra students in an hour-long workshop designed to provoke reflection and discussion on the topic.  This workshop was part of a year-long project by his nonprofit organization Cultures in Harmony.  William is spending the year visiting each of the 50 American states, asking citizens to reflect on American culture, leading workshops and performances on the topic, and documenting the experience along the way.  

Our students definitely had some strong opinions on this topic, but I could tell William was giving them things to consider that they had not thought about before.  They were intrigued.  They dazzled at the agility of his fingers as he played an elaborately ornamented version of the Star Spangled Banner, but then they thoughtfully pondered the question of “Is this piece American?”  “How could it not be, since it’s our National Anthem?!” was the response of some, but William took our minds one step further with “If the composer of the music was actually from England, can the music still be American?”  Good question!

What about the rap artist Silentó’s popular hit “Watch Me (Whip/NaeNae)”?  After William got our students dancing in their seats with his virtuosic solo violin rendition of the song, he asked us “Is the music Classical music?”  What if it’s played on a violin?  Does playing it on an instrument associated with classical music transfer the title of “Classical” to the music?  If it is Classical music, can it still be American?

As you might expect our students never came to a clear consensus on any of these questions, but that wasn’t really the point.  The point was to get them thinking about the question and to open their minds to questions they might not have considered before.  William Harvey certainly accomplished his mission, and I think he also won the heartfelt admiration of all of our students!  I’m sure we’ll be hearing more of their thoughts as the weeks continue.

As for me, like my students I’ve really come up with more questions than answers when pondering the topic.  Whether we are a melting pot or a mixing bowl, we are a vast and diverse nation.  We draw cultural influences and inspiration from everywhere, which can be a beautiful thing, except perhaps when we forget to acknowledge and honor the places and people from where those traditions came.  I would like to think that American culture is a culture in which you can comfortably ask the question “What is American culture,” never come up with a clear answer, but somehow still feel at peace with that lack of clarity, comforted that if nothing else ours is a culture that provides ample space for its wide variety of people and opinions.

–Lisa Barksdale, Resident Musician

You can read blog posts and see videos from 13 other completed states on the American Culture page of the Cultures in Harmony website.  Watch for the Rhode Island video soon, and you might see our students in action!