And it’s 2019 already. Not sure how that happened.
The new year is always an opportunity for self-reflection and goal-creation. What have I accomplished? What do I want to accomplish? What areas of my life do I need to improve? What skills to I already have that I can expound upon? I would of course like to think that I possess many skills that will help me in life, but it is certainly another task to identify and explain any of them. As a peer of mine recently wrote, it is much easier to identify the skills we lack. However, this will be a more positive post, as I have recently been asked to consider and describe my top three skills. After some contemplation, I believe that my learning, performance, and communication skills are my greatest assets.
I am an avid learner. I have been fortunate enough to have been raised by educators and have been able to have a variety of diverse learning experiences throughout my life. One of my most formative educational endeavors was when I began to learn Spanish. My mother taught English at a school in Ensenada, Mexico and I lived there as a fully-immersed exchange student when I was thirteen and fourteen. This was the first time I gained complete fluency of a skill in a relatively short period of time. One that I had essentially no foundation in. I started from scratch but immersed myself completely. Since then I have taken a variety of university level Spanish courses, lived and studied at La Universidad de Salamanca in Salamanca, Spain, and utilized my skills in other professional and educational environments
My learning skills were also greatly honed during my conservatory education. As an undergraduate student at Lawrence Conservatory of Music, I learned and practiced what it takes to master a skill: music performance. While using the institutional resources, I set out on a journey of self-guided self-improvement. Practicing instruments for hours daily, participating in a variety of diverse ensembles, and coming up with and executing my own creative projects. One such project became an honors thesis.
When I first started school I stumbled upon the Afro-Cuban ensemble. A peer on my floor had been studying in Cuba and found out that I sang and spoke Spanish. I had no prior knowledge of Afro-Cuban traditions, which have deep roots in West-African culture and religion. I had only been in the ensemble for a month when I was asked to lead an upcoming recital. This involved me performing as a lead vocalist in languages I was unfamiliar with (i.e. Lucumí), learning about a hundred songs from memory, and leading the entire ensemble for the entire forty-minute medley of music. While I was intimidated, I was undeterred. I had two months to prepare and spent a lot of that time working one-on-one with the director so I could lead rehearsals. The performance was a success, gained national recognition from Downbeat magazine, and played an instrumental part in the Lawrence University Percussion Ensemble’s 2014 award as the best undergraduate World Percussion Ensemble in the nation. I think it is important to remember that the reason I was accepted to conservatory had nothing to do with Afro-Cuban vocals and everything to do with my foundations as a classical guitarist, but no matter. It was a thrilling process. As an upperclassman I wanted to learn more. I obtained a grant and executed a research trip to Cuba that involved intensive study of music, religion, and general culture. My focus was on Santería. When I returned the United States, I began to direct the Afro-Cuban ensemble using the music I learned during my research, wrote a thesis, and presented a lecture-recital to earn my degree. This experience, and many others in my music education, truly taught me what it means to learn: no shortcuts, realistic goal-setting, and daily cumulative work.
All this talk of performance is a reflection of one of my greatest skills. I am, and have always been, a performer. Whether it has been singing arias or playing etudes, leading an ensemble or a research trip, or delivering a monologue or a presentation, I know how to engage, commit, and sell. This obviously has many musical contexts, but is applicable to all areas of my life. No matter how I am feeling, I am trained to put on a face, play a character, communicate emotion and purpose, and maintain my composure no matter the pressure or obstacles. This was reflected in my journey leading Lawrence University’s Afro-Cuban ensemble, as well as in every leading and supporting performance role I have ever engaged in. One example was a series of improvised experimental operas I participated in called Shoot From The Hip. We reached out to the greater Wisconsin community about their experiences and opinions related to firearms. In groups we selected various responses and physically and musically interpreted them for our audience on the spot. It turned out to be effective and powerful. I have performed while sick, I have performed while sleep deprived, I have performed immediately after learning about the death of a close friend, and I have performed in last-minute situations where I have had little or no ability to prepare in advance. If you are interested, check out the many examples of my performances on this website!
Lastly, I am a communicator. I have always loved to connect with other people and build community. It is certainly where I thrive. My past learning experiences have developed my communication skills in a variety of useful ways: I am well-versed in the English language, I am bilingual (Spanish), I have the capacity to be analytical and ask questions, and I am fluent in musical conversation as well as creative and performative communication and improvisation.
While I was in Havana, Cuba doing research for my thesis, I managed to get a heavily discounted rate at the hostel where I stayed at by serving as a translator. The hostel was a newly-opened business and there was nobody that could effectively communicate with foreign guests. I stepped in to help out daily, earning the respect of the business owners and their clients and earning compensation for my efforts and effectiveness. In addition, what allowed me the opportunity in the first place was my ability to effectively communicate my purpose and plan while writing my grant proposal.
My research also encouraged me to communicate with anyone and everyone and to reflect and ask engaging questions. This is where I was able to have some of my biggest successes. In one instance, a conversation in a park turned into a five-day immersion into Afro-Cuban religious culture. I was able to meet a local religious community and participate in and document a variety of ceremonies. I was able to have this exceptional and intimate experience because I was able to speak their language, I chose to engage with anyone who wanted to engage with me, and I asked the right questions and committed to honesty and transparency.
One of my biggest feats of communication involved my development, coordination, and execution of two day improvisational art festival called ImprovisationaLU 2017 in Appleton, WI. Using my creative skills, I dreamt up a concept. I then used my communication skills to contact and book artists, come up with a budget, and write a grant proposal. I received 17,000 dollars in funding and used that to coordinate and execute every detail of the festival: scheduling all aspects of it, coordinating advertising efforts, executing day-to-day operations. If I didn’t communicate what I wanted or needed, none of it would have happened. I functioned on my own and successfully hosted six performances, six masterclasses and workshops, and two afterparties with participation from artists from all over the country. It was a great opportunity to communicate with professionals that I admire in the art world, as well as to communicate with my community about my vision and efforts, drawing a large turnout and providing a valuable service to the general public.
Today I am still learning, performing, and communicating. I am keeping up with my musical studies and organizing a tour of the Midwest with my quartet in June (stay tuned!). I am working on my writing and business skills (further developing my communication skills), while also committing to intensive study of Shaolin Kung Fu and Yang style Tai Chi Chuan in order to better educate my body so I can perform more effectively on a daily basis.
It is easy to have plenty of self-doubt in such a relentless economy that forces us as individuals to sell ourselves as products. I am happy to have engaged in this exercise as an opportunity to remind myself of my self-worth. I hope that if you read this that it encourages you to do the same. I would love to hear from anyone who has any questions or comments! I would love to collaborate with any individual or business.
Be well and happy new year,
Nathan