Colie Ballard
Musical Clarity
As I sit down on the small wooden stool, I take a breath in, hold it for a second, and slowly let it out. I stretch my fingers and place them on the piano’s familiar ivory keys. After I scan my music, I shut my eyes and play the first note or chord. The music takes me on a journey, and allows me to transform from scared and nervous to completely relaxed and confident in the music I am playing. The first sounds of the piano lead me into a place of serenity, and prepare me for the vocals, which I begin shortly after the piano introduction. As I take another breath, I produce my own vibration and begin to sing. As the words and melody of “All of Me” by John Legend resonate through me, I am caressed by an everlasting bliss. At this moment, my brain detaches from reality, as if I am in a dream. Sitting on a chair performing with a piano backing up my voice and expressing myself through music is a place where I am nothing but content. With each note I play and word I sing, I feel enlightened. It is special that I have a place to engulf myself in, my own little haven. I lose myself and all of a sudden it’s the last note. I look up from the music and the keys, and the roaring and clapping from the crowd snap me back to reality.
Throughout my childhood I have been brought up with music. It has been something generations of my family have used to cope with any difficulties that came their way, express themselves, and to learn more about who they are as a person throughout their life. My mother grew up with music playing throughout her home continuously. As she left her home, she went on to be the lead singer of a band throughout her college life at Michigan State. The stories she has shared of those years and her experiences only confirm how music can truly help someone. As a child, I was never forced to play piano, or any instrument for that matter, but I always sang. Just like my mother’s childhood, there was music playing constantly. Morning drives to Cranbrook’s elementary school, Brookside, with my father consisted of playing music from bands like Rush or Aerosmith. My two younger sisters, Brooke and Brigitte, would join me in belting out the familiar lyrics: whatever we thought they were, we didn’t care. It was something I had always looked forward to and a mental break after my ten math questions I would answer for the first five minutes of the car ride. I saw music as my escape and haven at a very young age.
In fourth grade, I picked up the violin and played until my eighth grade year. After dropping violin, which I no longer enjoyed due to the learning of songs I did not care for, and being graded on my interpretation of the new music, I sat at my piano for the first time with the true intention to learn. I no longer could stand not playing an instrument and knew in order to pursue my dream of becoming a musician I would need an instrument accompanying me while I sing. I ended up in the same wooden stool for the entire day. I did this over and over again, listening to songs and finding ways of learning them whether it be on YouTube or some other website. Never did I read music and play what one may call “classical piano”. Instead, I listened and learned to play by ear.
As I became a stronger musician, I appreciated even more how empowering playing and writing music could be. Seeing how rewarding music was for me made me want to help others play their own music as well. In the winter of my sophomore year in high school, five other musically-inclined teens, their parents and I sat down to create Teens for the Arts, an organization that would raise money for teens’ post-high school music education. Originally it was my friend Willy’s mother’s idea so that we would have something to add to our college resume, and the charity developed into something much bigger. To fundraise, we organized a house concert where we performed. There were two shows, one for family and one for friends with a total of about 100 people. I can still remember our first performance, held on a make-shift stage with mediocre sound equipment in a living room filled to its capacity. However, the experience of performing even for that small audience, secured in my mind that this is what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Not only was I performing, but also knowing we were raising money for an important cause was gratifying. I believe that every person deserves a chance to pursue their dream, whatever that dream may be. To be able to do that for teens my age who share this love for the arts was especially satisfying. So we continued the charity. By our second event, more people heard about our charity, and about five hundred people attended the event. We raised around $80,000 at the event, more than three times what we had made the first event held only a few months prior.
The satisfaction and gratification of knowing kids with the same passion as I do can pursue music is extraordinary. It has almost been three years since the beginning, and I am now president of the organization. Through hard work, communication, practice, and a love for music we are coming up on our third event with an expectancy of over 500 and double the money raised from the year before. The charity is growing and changing with the members. Companies such as Neiman Marcus are now asking for major sponsorship roles, and many are recognizing the importance of children being able to pursue their dream regardless of their economic status. Creating something and watching it succeed was a turning point in my life, and I saw that my love for music could drive my creativity in a number of different directions. Music has created a world that I will never let go of and a love that can never be broken. It has become my home and the place I am most comfortable.
The crowd was cheering and I had never been so grateful. Performing music that I love, in front of an audience that is at the event in order to support something I truly believe in, was amazing. It allowed me to solidify my plan of going to college for music and music business along with studying how to run non-profit organizations. Breathe, press down on the piano and play the last chord. Next I smile, breathe again, lift my hands, and finally I lift my foot from the pedal: terminating the song and triggering the cheering from the audience. I stood up from that wooden stool, smiled at the beautiful audience of hundreds, and walked out of the room liberated and positive that this is what I wanted to do forever.