Celebration of Service Speech: Joohyun Lee

Author: Joohyun Lee

Before coming to UNCSA, I taught with a Suzuki program in Miami, Florida for two years. Last year, the majority of my service was focused on violin and strings instruction. When I interviewed to return for a second year with ArtistCorps, I told Rebecca and Debby that I wanted to get involved with integration, which uses arts standards to teach core subjects such as math, science, and history. I had always been interested in interdisciplinary connections with the arts, and honestly, I just thought it would be fun. I wanted to connect with students from other schools here at UNCSA and I thought integration would be a great opportunity to do that. 

I was teamed up Miles McKeller-Smith, Cynthia Cukiernik, and Rebecca Walters to lead lessons for first, third, and fifth grade classes at Diggs-Latham Elementary School. I was also paired with Kayana Waller for storytelling with the pre-Kindergarten students at Sarah Y. Austin Head Start. The fifth grade class at Diggs-Latham wanted us to focus on literature and reading. Miles and I had to put our heads together and think, “How can we make this interactive?" Instead of handing the students a story and saying, "Read this," how can we engage the students further? It was around Halloween time, so we decided to do a ghost story. Miles narrated the story and I accompanied him on the violin, creating eery sound effects. Our usually rambunctious class of fifth graders were suddenly so quiet and so engaged. 

Later when Kayana and I were paired together to do storytelling,  I had the same idea. I thought the violin accompaniment would be a great way to enhance the experience of reading a book to the students. At the same time, the idea terrified me. I never thought of myself as any good at improvising, and any composition I ever attempted was laughable. But I stuck with it, and the students and the teachers absolutely loved it. Every Monday morning, Kayana and I bring a story to read, while I play the violin to create accompanying melodies or sound effects. We have them act out small parts from the story, like a monster's roar or drinking a glass of milk.

It wasn't until I was preparing for my own degree recital that I realized how much I was learning from that experience. I started hearing my repertoire a different way. In the past, coaches and teachers had told me to "tell a story" with the music. By literally telling a story through music,  I started to understand this concept. I started hearing melodies as different characters, and my own learning became a lot of fun. 

Working on the integration team has taught me how much the arts relate to the world around us, and vice versa. On a very basic level, I can no longer watch a TV show or movie without thinking about what type of camera angle or shot is being used. I have the filmmakers that I've worked with this year to thank for that. Integration has made me look at my craft differently. It's made me reconsider the classical music industry and how I can contribute to it, and not just be a part of it. Last year, I spoke about how my pre-Kindergarten violin students changed the way I viewed myself. This year, my service with ArtistCorps has changed how I view our world.