Thoughts on the importance of teaching music on World Music Day

Music education nurtures emotional depth, self-expression, and discipline. On World Music Day, let's honour its power to heal, connect, and inspire personal and collective growth.

- Noor Anand Chawla

Shakespeare may have referred to music as the food of love, but many would agree it's the food of life itself. Hence, World Music Day, celebrated on June 21, is the apt occasion to reflect on the importance of teaching this beautiful art.

The Sunday Guardian spoke to vocalists and vocal teachers on the subject. We have Jeanne Merchant, a seasoned vocal coach known for her soulful, independent music exploring themes of self-expression, empowerment, emotional honesty and reinvention; Nush Lewis, a multidisciplinary composer, harpist and educator whose work blends music and storytelling highlighting one's identity and the search for emotional truth. She is also the founder of OffSet Education, where she builds inclusive spaces for artistic learning, collaboration and community engagement; Harini Iyer, a multifaceted Indian singer, songwriter, composer, music educator and the founder of The Tamil Jazz Collective, known for fusing classical Indian music with contemporary genres like Soul, RnB and Jazz; Shrea Suresh aka Shrae, a vocalist, educator and songwriter whose work is rooted in jazz and neo-soul, reflecting emotional honesty and genre-fluid artistry; and Shannon Donald, a singer-songwriter and vocal coach, currently touring as co-singer with Farhan Akhtar and Ayushmann Khurrana.

Excerpts from an edited interview below:

Q: What is the importance of teaching music now when technology claims to do everything?

Jeanne Merchant (JM): As a voice coach, I teach vocalists to dig deep into their souls and draw from their deepest emotion to help them connect with a piece of music in a soul-stirring way. I include tips on enhancing technique to help them with their unique sound.

In my opinion, technology handles things scientifically but when it comes to matters of the heart and spontaneity in art, it just doesn't match up. At our vocal sessions we sing for joy and happiness and to connect with people through our music.