Niccole Williams, MME | February 20, 2023
Hello, my name is Niccole Williams, MME, a fellow of The Institute for Healthy Singing & Voice Research and a music educator in Kansas City. This March, I will be traveling to Kapkemich, Kenya, with IHS&VR Fellows Dr. Jamea Sale and Christine Freeman, MME, to work with St. Anne’s Girls High School students and Kapkemich Primary School students. When Greg Wegst, a member of the Choral Foundation’s Board of Advisory and supporter of Kenyan education efforts, approached me to be a part of this team, I jumped to accept the invitation. My passion is helping all people, especially helping those with changing adolescent voices, to connect with and understand their singing voice and to help them cultivate a lifelong love of music. The ability to nurture and grow your musicality is powerful and flows into so many other areas of life. It is an important part of developing the human spirit. Music, after all, is about connection.
Upon learning that I would be traveling to Kenya, my middle and elementary school had many questions about the invitation and what the IHS&VR team would do in Kenya. The students especially wanted to know about the Kenyan children. I took a day to talk with them about where I was going and the history and mission of St. Anne’s Girls School and Kapkemich Primary. My students were shocked to learn that education is not always an option for Kenyan girls due to financial issues and cultural norms. It was tough for the children I work with to wrap their minds around such differences, but it also inspired many of them to want to help and find ways to support them in the future. I also discussed some of the exciting ways we will work with St. Anne’s Girls School and Kapkemich Primary School, including assisting their teachers with the introduction of vocal pedagogy into the classroom and mapping out a music literacy curriculum, spending time working with the students in individual and group settings and delivering instruments for their program.
Many more questions and conversations have taken place in my classroom about life in Kenya and how things are progressing for the upcoming trip. However, the two most frequent requests have been, “Don’t forget to tell the girls in Kapkemich that I say ‘hi,’” and “you should show them “this” song.” Thus, an idea was born. My middle school students will exchange letters and music with the girls from St. Anne’s. My students will write letters full of questions about children’s lives in Kenya, the music they enjoy, and other questions. They will share about their lives here in Kansas City. My classes have picked the songs they’ve loved learning for me to share with the students in Kapkemich. They are looking forward to hearing and learning the music we learn and bring back from the girls at St. Annes. We have designated a few songs that both my students and the singers at St. Anne’s will sing. It has been cool for Kansas City middle schoolers to imagine that there will be students just like them singing the same songs on the same days 8,252 miles away. What a wonderful opportunity to connect music-loving students across the world.
Niccole