My Musical Journey (Dec 2022)
My earliest musical memories are of my dad singing old Hindi songs to me. Music was constantly playing in our home. When I was 4 years old, my family moved from Richmond, VA to Evanston, IL, a suburb of Chicago. We lived very close to the Evanston branch of the Music Institute of Chicago. In fact it was walking distance from our apartment. One Spring evening, my mom noticed the open house for their Musikgarten program for toddlers and kids, and signed me up for weekly classes. I have faint memories of going to those classes - participating in musical activities of singing, dancing, and storytelling from my teacher (his name was Mr. Alejandro - I don’t recall many details but I distinctly remember that he was a very kind man with long hair and a quick smile). I re-enrolled with the MIC Musikgarten program that summer and continued my lessons for the two years we lived in Evanston. Looking back now, I feel that early introduction to music, and those fun classes played an important role in setting the foundation of my music journey. It made music a part of my day, like having breakfast, or brushing teeth! I remember trying to sing along with the songs my dad would play. I became obsessed with movie soundtracks and old classical pieces.
When we moved to the New York City metro area, I continued my voice lessons and started Piano lessons in Rutherford, NJ. I still fondly remember my two teachers at the Park Conservatory in Rutherford - Ms. Stella who taught me vocal lessons, and Ms. Christine who taught me the piano. They both were very professional and taught me to take my classes seriously. They treated me as a ‘musician’, even when I was a tiny 6 year old girl! Ms. Stella told me about this fabulous Chorus in Manhattan called the Young People’s Chorus of New York City. At the age of 8, I auditioned and got accepted into the YPC. YPC continues to be a huge part of my life today (more on that later!).
I was fortunate to have opportunities to get introduced to music education at an early age, and was lucky to always have great teachers and parents who encouraged me in all my efforts. I strongly believe that all kids should have equity to participate in these opportunities. Schools, parents and government can play a collaborative role for providing such opportunities and I intend to be a voice enabling this.
