After yet another mind-numbing day of online job searching, I finally left the confines of my bedroom to join the ARTogether staff at the SEASAW mural unveiling in Peralta Hacienda Historic Park. During the drive over, I couldn’t have been more disarrayed…
I had the privilege of joining Khamsa’s very first listening party at the Reef Studios. I arrived at the given address and was greeted by a single-paned, glass door propped open, revealing the start of a long and narrow staircase. The music studio was tucked away at the top, bursting with life. A crowd of musicians exchanged hugs and laughter while a small white dog ran between their ankles. The air smelled of pizza, and behind a table of studio equipment, a large plasma television silently played Planet Earth videos. The atmosphere was electrifying yet tender, the excitement palpable as everyone settled into their seats.
I joined my scheduled Zoom meeting with Hannah Jeffers the day after my family left. It was a joyful and chaotic visit, their first since I moved to the Bay Area, and now I was filled with a medley of expected emotions: relief, sadness, gratitude. A confusing and daunting acceptance of the newfound distance between us, as their plane touched down in New York.
My phone call with Ryan Samn opened with the busy sounds of clattering kitchenware ringing in the background.
“Sorry, I’m making dinner with my family right now,” He quickly explained. I myself was hidden in the back room of the tutoring center I work at on Thursday nights. The center was quiet, most of the students having left to return home for their own family dinners, and so I welcomed the familiar sounds of pots and pans, of running water.
The Magic of Music by Emma Grover From May 9th through May 25th, students of Oakland International High School will participate in the first in-school music class as part of their post-session program delivered by ARTogether. But things were different last fall, when we first started our Music Club there.
