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Humanities Courses Lead Students to New Orleans

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A major grant awarded to Kalamazoo College helped 17 students begin experiencing a new dimension of hands-on learning in their humanities coursework through a visit to New Orleans over winter break.

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation granted $1.297 million in January 2022 to provide new learning opportunities through the College’s Humanities Integrated Locational Learning (HILL) project. HILL builds student coursework rooted in the College’s commitment to experiential learning and social justice to address issues such as racism, economic inequities and homelessness, while examining history, how humans share land, and the dislocations that bring people to a communal space.

Within HILL, there are multiple academic departments represented with clusters of classes that emphasize collaborative learning within the humanities and humanistic social sciences:

  • The Beyond Kalamazoo course clusters focus on location or dislocation and emphasize place-based learning through an integrated travel component in New Orleans, St. Louis or San Diego.
  • The Within Kalamazoo cluster, which emphasizes a theme relevant to location or dislocation, where faculty directly collaborate on coursework that engages directly with social issues in the Kalamazoo community.
  • The digital humanities hub, which publishes, archives and assesses outcomes in relation to course work and partnerships beyond and within Kalamazoo.

New Orleans was the first site on which the Beyond Kalamazoo cluster focused. In fall, courses consisted of Lest We Forget: Memory and Identity in the African Diaspora in New Orleans, taught by Associate Professor of Anthropology Espelencia Baptiste; Public Art and its Publics led by Professor of Art and Art History Christine Hahn; NOLA Divided: Race in the Big Easy, led by Associate Professor of English Shanna Salinas; and The World Through New Orleans, led by Associate Professor of Music Beau Bothwell. Each course operated independently with discipline-specific instruction.

Students interested in doing place-based research in New Orleans applied for the Beyond Kalamazoo cluster, which included six weeks of preparation, instruction on research methodologies in the humanities, the seven-day research trip, and post-trip research and writing. Those students were put into research groups formed by research interest and a distribution of one member from each of the cluster courses, so every group had at least one representative from each of the four cluster courses.

The students’ pre-trip collaboration—based on their knowledge from their respective courses within the departments of English, art history, anthropology-sociology and music—helped them create a collaborative research project that would emphasize location or dislocation, problem solving and social justice in New Orleans.

Students and volunteers paint colorful signs
During a volunteer day, Jenna Paterob ’23 worked with her peers to create signs for Ms. Gloria’s Garden at People for Public Art in New Orleans.
Paintings and artwork on a wall
Community partners such as Lower Nine, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the long-term recovery of the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina, Ida and Rita, and the levee breaches of 2005; and People for Public Art, an organization of artists that funds, creates and documents works of public art for the City of New Orleans to reflect the stories of the people, were significant contributors to the experiences Kalamazoo College humanities students had.
People for Public Art facility during humanities trip to New Orleans
“Throughout the day, I discovered that we were seeing different types of public art, allowing us to feel like we were a part of the community,” said Jenna Paterob ’23 of her humanities experience at People for Public Art in New Orleans.
Colorful paintings and adornments on a building in New Orleans
Kalamazoo College students enrolled in Humanities Integrated Locational Learning classes this fall called their experience in New Orleans educational, eye-opening, fun and immersive.
Figurines of seven African powers in New Orleans
“There is a ton of history that none of us knew about before going there, even though we had all taken a class about the city,” said Josh Kuh ’23. “I thought it was valuable to have this structured opportunity that felt like doing more than observing for research.”
Students and volunteers painted signs for a garden in New Orleans
During a volunteer day, Jenna Paterob ’23 worked with her peers to create signs for Ms. Gloria’s Garden at People for Public Art in New Orleans.

Their subjects of interest for the projects included the city’s theatre scene, public transportation and historical ties to slavery with each student connecting their social justice interests with each of a variety of community partners. Students were encouraged to use onsite and digital archives at the Historical New Orleans Collection for their projects when applicable.

The community partners included Lower Nine, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the long-term recovery of the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina, Ida and Rita, and the levee breaches of 2005; and People for Public Art, an organization of artists that funds, creates and documents works of public art for the City of New Orleans to reflect the stories of the people. Students then worked with these partners during their on-site visit this winter.

Morgan Acord ’23, an English major with a passion for literature, found Salinas’ class to be fascinating because New Orleans has a literature culture all its own, she said. She appreciated that their trip also included cultural opportunities such as participating in a second-line parade, seeing the Oak Alley and Whitney plantations, and observing French and Spanish artifacts at the New Orleans Archive.

Yet for Acord, filling a need for social justice work through a nonprofit was the biggest benefit.

“We helped an 80-year-old woman and her husband who had been sleeping on an air mattress in their kitchen after Hurricane Ida,” Acord said. “They were living in a shotgun-style house and all of her belongings were in what I assumed was the living room. Overall, it showed how catastrophic those New Orleans hurricanes were. You see the footage on TV, but to see it firsthand and see how people live in houses still under repair is eye opening. It felt good on the surface to be able to help, but it was eye opening to know how privileged some of us are.”

Together, Acord and classmates including Josh Kuh ’23, an anthropology-sociology major from Seattle, tore a front wall out of the house that had been destroyed by termites, painted baseboards, and laid down flooring in what was to be the couple’s bedroom. Professor Mills along with Lower Nine representatives assisted in painting the ceiling and the dining room.

“There is a ton of history that none of us knew about before going there, even though we had all taken a class about the city,” Kuh said. “I thought it was valuable to have this structured opportunity that felt like doing more than observing for research. We provided a meaningful service to the organizations that we were working with. I think the biggest takeaways of mine involved seeing firsthand how extensive the hurricane damage was. I saw the disarray in this house and it hadn’t been fixed even though it had been almost 20 years since some of the damage happened.”

Jenna Paterob ’23, a business and psychology double major and art minor, took Professor Hahn’s class in fall because she often feels like she overlooks public art.

“Our experience in New Orleans was educational, eye-opening, fun and immersive,” she said. “It isn’t every day that we get to go into a new area of the country and interact with the community there. I feel like we were able to see bigger issues encapsulated in the city such as tourism, racism, white supremacy and classism. “I feel like when we stay in one place for a long period of time, we may become a little desensitized to the issues that surround us. Therefore, going to a new area, especially as someone who has never been out of the Midwest, was definitely an educational experience for me.”

Paterob had a social justice experience with People for Public Art in New Orleans. During the volunteer day, Paterob worked with her peers to create signs for Ms. Gloria’s Garden. The location offers opportunities for children to garden, cook, sew, make jewelry and music, and take yoga and meditation classes. The garden is managed by a nonprofit, Developing Young Entrepreneurs, which provides youths and young adults with entrepreneurial skills and a safe space for people to feel free to be themselves.

“When I first discovered that we were going to be making signs, I was confused about what that had to do with public art,” she said. “Throughout the day, I discovered that we were seeing different types of public art, allowing us to feel like we were a part of the community. Painting signs for plants in a garden may not be the first thing people think of when they think about public art, but we really did create some fun and beautiful pieces of art that communicate information and improve the garden. I liked that day because I was exposed to a whole new setting and sense of community. I also learned that the organization creates a bunch of impactful pieces, such as the memorial pieces they showed us. They took a tragic event that was minimized and silenced by certain people and allowed the community to come together to grieve. I learned a lot about New Orleans and how the residents interact with their community through learning about the public art there.”

Ally Noel ’24, an anthropology-sociology and English double major, had similar praise for her experience at People for Public Art.

“That day shifted my entire trajectory in terms of my research in New Orleans,” she said. “Going into New Orleans, I had this idea of what I thought I wanted to study but then after Monica (Kelly, representing People for Public Art) was telling the story of the lower mid-city and the inequities that exist there, I realized I wanted to do research on the closure of Charity Hospital after Hurricane Katrina hit. That was the day that everything clicked for me, and I realized, being in that space was important. A student can study a space from afar, but being there helps research in terms of learning and making meaning of the experience.”

Salinas is serving as the curriculum coordinator for integrated travel to New Orleans and a co-principal investigator for the HILL initiative as a whole.

“The primary vision of this initiative is collaboration, be that students sharing their knowledge with other members of their research group based on the cluster class they took, community partners holding space for students to learn about the work they do in New Orleans and the stakes of that work, and research groups working across disciplines in the humanities to develop a digital humanities research project that reflects both their academic knowledge and their experiences in the city,” Salinas said. “We asked students to commit to one eight-hour work day with two of our community partners. Students self-selected according to interest or research investment, frequently with research group members on different work sites. Afterward, students were able to come together and share those experiences with each other and discuss what they learned. It was these moments that enhanced their research and, ultimately, their collaborative projects. HILL’s curricular design relies on students being able to share their experiences, to talk to each other about what they learned, to root in in the type of instruction they received in their cluster classes, and to make those concrete connections back to things like community-building as a crucial element of the humanities.”

As they reflected on their experiences, the students praised the opportunity to go to New Orleans and said they would encourage their peers to seek HILL-focused, place-based learning classes as well.

Baptiste’s class, for example, set the table for students such as Maya Nathwani ’23, an anthropology-sociology and biology double major, to examine history away from campus when she missed a study abroad opportunity because of COVID-19. Lest We Forget: Memory and Identity in the African Diaspora in New Orleans provided Nathwani with a life-changing experience in her college years that she otherwise would’ve missed.

“The class emphasized understanding what history is and how it’s created and produced, along with who has the ability to share and pass on history, impacting how we remember the past,” Nathwani said. “Going to do research in a space where I’d never been was intimidating just because I’d never done it before. But I would encourage other students to try these classes, too, because the professors prepare you to be successful.”

First Album Spotlights K Student’s Music

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Isabella Pellegrom Album Nomadic Tendencies
Isabella Pellegrom ’25 conducted a launch party
for her album, “Nomadic Tendencies,” at a sports bar
near her home in Minnesota and performed to rave
reviews in the nearby town of Pepin, Wisconsin.

It’s the time of year when Spotify and Apple Music users look forward to the apps revealing the artists, songs and genres they’ve listened to most and the statistics that surrounded them in 2022. But search for an artist less familiar, and you might find a new voice to appreciate: a Kalamazoo College student reaching new audiences and achievements with her first album.

Isabella Pellegrom ’25, from Eagan, Minnesota, has produced and released Nomadic Tendencies, a 10-track collection of her vocal talents. Spotify describes Pellegrom as a vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, producer and songwriter, who pulls inspiration from indie pop, soft rock and jazz, while embedding her own voice. As a storyteller, she hopes to find truth and unite others around her. The album reflects a journey of self-discovery and self-love to highlight the idea that everyone builds a wall and runs away only to return and appreciate the people who matter most in their lives.

That theme of running away followed by an inevitable return helped her realize the moment she finished writing the song Nomadic Tendencies that it would be the title track of her album.

“It was one of the first times I’d just written a song from front to end all in one go,” Pellegrom said. “It was cool to talk about this person who tends to go everywhere because they can’t really find their place. It worked because I realized it correlated to the story of this person throughout the album who is constantly going to new places, whether it’s for better or worse. She’s meeting new people or finding out more about herself, and so has these tendencies to always move around. I liked it because at the very end, it comes back to I’ll Come Home to You because she eventually finds out that her home is with the people who have always supported her.”

Pellegrom first discovered her love of music and singing when she was about 6 years old.

“I have an older sister and she had given me her old MP3 player,” Pellegrom said. “It had maybe 15 songs on it, and by the end of the first week I had it, I knew every lyric to every song that was on it. I sang along to them and pretended I was a little pop star. I loved it.”

Album Cover for Nomadic Tendencies
You can hear Isabella Pellegrom’s album, “Nomadic
Tendencies,” on all streaming platforms
including Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.

Yet over the years, she became not only a vocalist, but an instrumentalist through guitar, saxophone and piano, and a songwriter whose talents and shared messages have grown with her.

“It’s funny to look back at the songs I first wrote because, when I was 10 years old, I would write and sing about things like fairy-tale princesses,” Pellegrom said. “It wasn’t anything that had to do with what was happening in my life. I would like to say I’ve improved since then. I’ve joined choirs, I’m in band (Academy Street Winds) at K now and I did jazz band in high school. I also just recently got into acapella (the student group Limelights) where I’ve learned to arrange music, which has helped me put together and break apart songs. Music is a huge part of my life and it’s nice that I’ve kept it separate from what I hope to do with my career. In that way, it’s allowed me to take off some pressure and just do it because I love it.”

While boating on the Mississippi River one day a couple of summers ago, Pellegrom’s family voted on which town they would stop in to find dinner. The decision turned out to be fateful.

“My mom and her friend, who had this little café, were just eating, when all of a sudden, the café had this live artist,” Pellegrom said. “The artist was Tim Cheesebrow, and my mom knew I wanted to get back into playing guitar. She was wondering if Tim taught lessons and he gave us his card.”

Pellegrom spent those lessons working on songwriting and collaboration.

“He helped me with my songwriting by saying that a lot of times it’s good to keep a continuous theme or have a main message,” Pellegrom said. “It was helpful because I ended up finishing a lot of my songs for those lessons. It was the first time I got to collaborate with someone in terms of songwriting. Through these lessons, I eventually had about 13 songs that I thought were great together. Tim also has his own at-home studio and he’s been producing music for a long time.”

Pellegrom recruited some fellow musicians, pared her songs to the 10 that worked best together, and produced Nomadic Tendencies at Cheesebrow’s studio.

“That’s what I spent the majority of my summer doing the year I came to K,” said Pellegrom, whose parents, Jeffrey ’88 and Mary ’88, also attended K along with a grandfather and some of her aunts and uncles. “I got help from other local musicians for the baselines and the drumming. Tim helped me out with the guitar and walked me through the whole process of what it takes to release it. It all felt like a fever dream at the time and it still kind of does. It’s now out in the world and I’m really proud of it.”

Pellegrom conducted a launch party at a sports bar near her home in Minnesota and performed to rave reviews in the nearby town of Pepin, Wisconsin. She has plans to release a second album, although when is not yet decided as she tries to balance an intended biochemistry major and music minor. Medical school is a possibility for her, too, one day. Yet in the meantime, she will enjoy the success of releasing Nomadic Tendencies.

You can hear Pellegrom’s music on all streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music; she performs covers on YouTube; and you can follow her on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and TikTok. Her website is IsabellaPellegromMusic.com.

“I love it when people listen to it,” Pellegrom said. “The best part is realizing that I released it for me. I don’t really have any expectations for it. I don’t need for something to come from it. I just felt it was time to release it. I was ready to put this project that I’m really proud of into the world and move on to other songs and other projects. In terms of my goals for it, the main goal was to release it and hope that people who listen to it can enjoy it.”

Music Department Slates Four Concerts

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College Singers Performing at Light Fine Arts
The Kalamazoo College Singers will present their fall program, a concert titled
“Unattached,” at 7 p.m. Sunday, November 13, in the lobby outside Dalton Theatre.

Kalamazoo College’s Department of Music has four ensembles that will be performing their free and open-to-the-public fall concerts on Friday, Sunday and Tuesday. 

Directed by Thomas G. Evans, K’s Jazz Band pulls together an eclectic collection of contemporary and classic jazz arrangements to provide the participating students and the audience with an electric experience. The group will perform a set list titled “Swing Set” at 8 p.m. Friday in the Dalton Theatre at Light Fine Arts. Music selections will include favorites from Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Jimmy Davis and more with songs such as “Satin Doll,” “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” “Sweet Georgia Brown” and “In the Mood.” Two dance groups will also entertain the audience: a community group and a K dance group. 

The Kalamazoo Philharmonia, directed by Guest Conductor Anthony Elliott, is an orchestra of Kalamazoo College and the community. The group brings together students, faculty and amateur and professional musicians. The group won the 2014 American Prize—Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award in Orchestral Programming and has produced several CDs. Philharmonia also has appeared on CBS Sunday Morning, and collaborated with the Bach Festival Chorus, as well as many renowned soloists. The ensemble, at 3 p.m. Sunday in Dalton Theatre, will perform selections such as “Global Warming” by Michael Abels, “Symphony No. 29” by Wolfgang Mozart, “Fountains of Rome” by Ottorino Respighi and “Suite No. 2” by Albert Roussel. Hear from Elliott about the concert in this interview with WMUK 102.1. 

The College Singers choral group includes music majors and non-music majors, offering a different approach to choral singing with a specialty of social justice. At 7 p.m. Sunday in the Dalton lobby, the group—with solos from choir members—will perform songs such as “California Dreamin’,” “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard,” “Imagine” and more with the theme of “Unattached.” 

Finally, the International Percussion Ensemble will perform at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Dalton Theatre. The group—which includes African drums, Japanese taiko drums and Caribbean steel drums—features individuals with varied musical backgrounds from K, nearby institutions and the general community. 

For more information on these performances, contact Susan Lawrence in the Department of Music at 269.337.7070 or Susan.Lawrence@kzoo.edu. 

Obon Festival to Feature Taiko Drums, Dancing

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Obon Festival Featured Performer Ken Koshio with stretched out arms and a drum looking over a city.
Taiko Master Ken Koshio will be among the featured performers Saturday
at Kalamazoo College’s Obon Festival.

Kalamazoo College will host a Japanese cultural festival on Saturday that traditionally is held to commemorate deceased ancestors as their spirits return to visit their relatives. 

The Obon Festival, the first of its kind at K, will feature Bon dancing, Japanese martial arts and taiko drums with Japanese Taiko Master Ken Koshio, along with crafts and food. The event is presented by K’s International Percussion Ensemble, a group that features a West African ensemble and Caribbean steelpans in addition to Japanese taiko. 

K’s taiko group will perform with the Michigan Hiryu Daiko drumming group, the Japanese instrumental group Sakura and Fort Wayne Taiko. The free event will be conducted on the Quad from 2 to 5 p.m. with the Dalton Theatre in Light Fine Arts reserved as the rain site.  

For more information on this performance, contact Susan Lawrence in the Department of Music at 269.337.7070 or Susan.Lawrence@kzoo.edu. 

WMUK interview: Hear from Ken Koshio and Carolyn Koebel of the Michigan Hiryu Daiko Taiko Drummers.

Political Internships Provide Experience, Connection for K Senior

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Growing up in various countries overseas, Peter Fitzgerald ’23 considered northern Michigan to be home base. Now a series of political internships have helped the Kalamazoo College senior connect more with his adopted home and envision a possible future. 

With a dad who was a Foreign Services officer, Fitzgerald was born in Australia, and his parents now live in the Washington, D.C., area. In between, they lived in Denmark, Ukraine, Morocco and Belgium. 

Every summer, however, he would spend with his grandparents in northern Michigan. His mom and cousins would stay there, too. 

“We moved around so much,” Fitzgerald said. “That was a place to call home. In relation to other Foreign Service kids, it was unusual to have that kind of stability. I was always grateful to have that place that didn’t change.” 

Peter Fitzgerald playing tennis
Peter Fitzgerald ’23 has played tennis his four years at K in addition to being a member of College Democrats, playing classical guitar, singing in the choir and pursuing a double major in history and political science, minor in music, and concentration in American studies.
Political intern Peter Fitzgerald poses with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer
Peter Fitzgerald ’23 has completed three political internships in his time at K, including a summer 2022 internship with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s office.

That sense of Michigan as home, combined with both a cousin and a Foreign Services acquaintance attending K and a K representative visiting Fitzgerald’s Belgium high school, made K the only school Fitzgerald even considered attending. After taking a gap year in Belgium, he started at K in fall 2019. 

Fitzgerald is a double major in history and political science. He is also working on a minor in music and a concentration in American studies. The K-Plan’s open curriculum has made it possible for him to explore a variety of interests and discover new ones. 

“I knew that I loved political science,” Fitzgerald said. “I didn’t really plan on doing another major besides that, and then I took a history course with Dr. Boyer Lewis and I just loved it.” 

He plays classical guitar and has sung in the choir, filled a leadership role in the College Democrats, and has played tennis all four years at K. 

“I feel that having those interests and having a lot of leeway in what courses you take connects you to a lot more of the school than you otherwise would have the opportunity to experience,” Fitzgerald said. 

At the beginning of winter term his first year, Fitzgerald was on Handshake looking for opportunities outside campus when he came across internships in Democrat Jon Hoadley’s 2020 U.S. House campaign for Michigan’s 6th congressional district, which includes Kalamazoo. 

“I was curious if there was something I could do, along with my academics, to get to know the Kalamazoo area better,” Fitzgerald said. 

He worked on Hoadley’s campaign, primarily making phone calls and canvassing, for about two months before the COVID-19 shutdown sent him to his parents in D.C. 

“It was rewarding getting a start in the political world,” Fitzgerald said.  

It was rewarding enough that when summer 2021 rolled around, Fitzgerald sought out another political internship, this time with Darrin Camilleri ’14, a member of the Michigan House of Representatives, representing District 23, south of Detroit. 

Come summer 2022, Fitzgerald applied via Handshake for an internship with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s office. He took advantage of K connections, reaching out to Christopher Yates ’83, who also played tennis at K and was recently appointed a Court of Appeals judge by Whitmer, to ask if Yates had any connections within the campaign. Within a couple days, Fitzgerald was contacted for an interview, and soon after that, he was in Detroit working for the governor’s office for three months. 

This internship involved a lot of planning, coordinating and logistics for small business stops, community events and constituency groups, such as Native Americans for Whitmer.  

“I would reach out to the small business owner, or whoever, make a plan, promote it and get people to attend,” Fitzgerald said. “We would drive to these events, two and a half, three hours, for a 15-minute visit with the governor. It wasn’t glamorous a lot of the time, but it felt really important, meaningful and worthwhile. It felt like we were making a difference.” 

The internships have affirmed Fitzgerald’s interest in political work, perhaps with the State Department, and helped him envision some of the possibilities that lie along that path. 

“I learned a lot,” Fitzgerald said. “I met a lot of people who could probably make more money doing other jobs, but they’re working for something that they believe in fundamentally. I felt like I had a relationship with Michigan, from spending my summers here growing up, but this job opened my eyes to people’s lives that I wouldn’t normally have interacted with. I still think I’m on a path where I’d like to work for the federal government, but also, I can see that people’s issues are really localized. People care about what’s in front of them.” 

Working for the governor’s office was both humbling and uplifting for Fitzgerald. 

“People have come up to me and asked me about issues in Michigan thinking that I had power over policy issues,” he said. “Even though I couldn’t do anything, just to be able to listen to people and share with someone who had that power felt really meaningful.” 

The internships also helped Fitzgerald draw connections between coursework and real life. 

“It makes an experience a lot more meaningful when you are able to make connections,” Fitzgerald said. “Whether it was from my American history course or my political science course, there were pertinent things I could draw from in relation to the issues we were talking about this summer. I am also bringing things I’ve done on this campaign back to K.” 

Connections to people have also been key to Fitzgerald’s K experience. Networking and professional contact with alumni such as Camilleri and Yates, personal interest from President Jorge G. Gonzalez, academic inspiration from Professor of History and Director of the American Studies and the Women, Gender and Sexuality programs Charlene Boyer Lewis ’87, and guidance from men’s tennis Head Coach Mark Riley all combine to make K feel like a new home base for Fitzgerald. 

“I think initially, I had some dissonance between knowing that I’m from here but never having lived really in the U.S.,” Fitzgerald said. “I felt out of my element for a time, but the people, my mentors and the friends that I have now, made it possible for me to feel like even though I did come with a different background, even though I felt maybe a little discombobulated at first, that there were people that I could rely on and who would support me.” 

Free Concert Targets Environmentalism

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Free concert duo Bruce Cain and David Asbury standing back to back with a guitar
Bruce Cain and David Asbury, a duo committed to environmental activism,
will offer a free concert Thursday at Dalton Theatre.

Kalamazoo College’s Department of Music is offering a free concert Thursday featuring a duo committed to environmental activism.  

Bruce Cain and David Asbury have collaborated for more than two decades on concerts of art songs for voice and guitar. Since 2011, the duo has been commissioning and performing new works in English and Spanish by composers from across the United States and beyond. At K, they will present a program titled Cantos Por La Vida, consisting of mostly new pieces for voice and guitar that are environmentally themed and written especially for them. 

The concert will feature selections from A River of Words Song Cycle, based on award winning poems by school age children in a contest sponsored by the Library of Congress; Amor Y Desventura by Mexican composer Julio César Oliva; Cantos Por La Vida by Cuban composer Eduardo Martin; and Sobre La Naturaleza by Ecuadorian composer Diego Luzuriaga. These works, which are new within the past decade, evoke the distinct groups and heritages they represent. 

The concert is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Dalton Theatre. For more information, contact the music department at 269.337.7070. 

Classical Music, Liberal Arts Compose Alumna’s Noted Devotion

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Jacqueline Mills with her violin 1
Jacqueline Mills ’18 toured Spain and Portugal with the Kalamazoo Junior
Symphony Orchestra this summer with Kalamazoo College Music Chair
Andrew Koehler.

Jacqueline Mills ’18 has an inspiring story of how a liberal arts education continues to benefit her life after Kalamazoo College as her appreciation of music has blossomed from an interest into a lifelong passion.

Before majoring in chemistry at K, Mills began playing violin at age 9. During her middle school years, she developed a music outreach program, V is for Violin, where she would visit her former pre-school to play the violin and introduce children to the world of classical music.

“A lot of young people knew rap, pop and other genres of music, but this was a time when arts programming seemed to be on the decline in schools,” Mills said. “The lack of music programming in public schools was one of the reasons I had to seek out alternative weekend programs to develop my musical talents further.”

As Mills progressed, she didn’t expect music to play the role it did in her college years, instead anticipating it to be more of a side interest or outlet.

“My mindset was that I had just spent 10 years playing the violin and I didn’t want to waste it, so I decided to try out,” Mills said.

That tryout was for the Kalamazoo Philharmonia, an ensemble of students, faculty, amateur musicians and professional musicians of various ages that performs three concerts a year under Music Director and K Music Department Chair Andrew Koehler, who immediately and enthusiastically accepted her to the group and with whom she also took violin lessons.

Later, her study abroad experiences in Perth, Australia, were significant because she interned at the Aboriginal School of Music. On this site, Aboriginal students learn about a variety of music genres.

“I wasn’t in an orchestra in Australia, but it was still nice to have that connection to music,” Mills said. “I was learning about their culture and other instruments they have. It reignited a deeper understanding of music in me that I wanted to pursue further, in the sense that music can be a part of my life forever even if it’s not my profession.”

By the time she had returned to K, Koehler had recognized in Mills her growing enthusiasm for music.

Kalamazoo College Music Chair and Kalamazoo Junior Symphony Orchestra Director Andrew Koehler leads the orchestra in a classical music performance at a cathedral
Kalamazoo College Music Chair Andrew Koehler,
who is the music director of the Kalamazoo Junior
Symphony Orchestra, leads the orchestra in a
performance.

“Jacqueline was always a really thoughtful, observant, self-aware kind of musician,” Koehler said. “These are qualities that I feel are really essential to good music making. When you’re in the practice room, you’ve got to be thinking about what is working and what is not and ask, ‘How can I bridge the gap?’ Jacqueline studied chemistry here at K, so music wasn’t necessarily going to be the central thing that drove her. Yet she was really a gifted violinist. Like every K student, she was busy and had to fight to make time for music, but she always carved out the space to make sure that she kept improving, day by day and year after year.”

Additionally, by this time, Koehler was leading the Kalamazoo Junior Symphony Orchestras (KJSO), a group representing around 42 schools in 23 area communities. KJSO has a tradition of self-funded touring for performances that started in Europe in the 1960s and it was planning a trip to perform in South Africa during Mills’ senior year.

“She and I were still working on private lessons and she was playing in the Philharmonia,” Koehler said. “She had spent her junior year in Australia, so I floated the idea to her of going with us to South Africa. I said, ‘One doesn’t get to go to South Africa every day. Is there any chance you might be interested?’ And she was.”

But that was just the first time Mills would tour and perform with KJSO. This past summer, after she took the initiative to approach Koehler about the trip, she toured Spain and Portugal with the group where they had two performances.

“With the South Africa experience cemented in her mind, when she heard through the grapevine about this new tour, and was already enjoying being more established and working a job, she actually contacted me this time,” Koehler said. “Of course, I was over the moon. I’m always delighted for any opportunity to make sure a K alumna is still finding ways to make music. And it was just such a beautiful opportunity to reconnect with Jacqueline in particular.”

Mills admitted there was a bit of a spoken language barrier in Spain and Portugal that she hadn’t encountered in South Africa, but fortunately, music is a universal language.

“It was a unique experience, in South Africa and Europe alike, to be both a tourist and a performer,” Mills said. “It was harder in Spain because I don’t speak the language, so trying to communicate about our concerts was difficult. But it doesn’t matter what your nationality is. If you’re playing well, the music will resonate.”

KJSO performed for a small crowd in a concert hall in Madrid before moving on to Salamanca, where, Koehler said, it seemed the whole city turned out to pack a historic cathedral.

“There was an intensity to the experience,” Koehler said. “It was just so special to be in this amazing place, playing music that combines some American composers, a Portuguese composer and, of course, a Spanish composer. There was a kind of a cultural ambassadorship that we were trying to achieve with the program, and sharing it with this audience that was wildly enthusiastic and cheering us on, is just something that we will long remember.”

Mills’ story is significant for Classical Music Month, which first was instituted in September 1994 by President Clinton. His proclamation stated, “Classical music is a celebration of artistic excellence. This month we exalt the many talented composers, conductors and musicians who bring classical music to our ears. Music is a unifying force in our world, bringing people together across vast cultural and geographical divisions.”

In her professional life, Mills has worked in a lab as a quality control chemist. She’s also performed some research involving sickle cell disease. She now works with the City of Detroit in an adult education program called Learn to Earn, which aims to break intergenerational poverty and position job seekers on a pathway to the middle class. Yet she always wants her career to allow her time to bring classical music to the ears of children and people around the world.

“In the short term, I would like to join a community orchestra,” Mills said. “But long term, I hope to start a nonprofit or foundation to provide instruments and classical training to underrepresented children as a way to celebrate and invite youth into the fine arts. From my experience, having continued access to instruments and private lessons at a young age can be half the battle and I want to provide that support to my community. I would also like V is for Violin to pick up where I left off by going into pre-schools and elementary schools and introducing kids to the world of classical music; showing them that it’s not a dead art confined to a specific race and gender. Music is a universal language that can take you anywhere, and if I can do it, they can do it, too.”

Koehler said he’s proud not only of K’s music majors, but all K students like Jacqueline who go on to make music a permanent fixture in their lives.

“Of course, it’s very rewarding to work with students who really dive all the way with us into the musical field,” Koehler said. “But no less valuable, in terms of what we offer to a liberal arts campus and in terms of what we aspire to in our teaching, is to see students who hold space for music as part of a fuller, truly human existence. My hope for those who have played in the Philharmonia or any of our ensembles, no matter what path they go on, is that music remains a part of their experience, as it has for Jacqueline.”

College Singers Plan Spring Tour

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College Singers Performing at Light Fine Arts
The Kalamazoo College Singers, seen here performing
in October 2019, will present their spring tour
this month with a concert in Bellaire and two in Traverse City.

The Kalamazoo College Singers, under the direction of Assistant Professor of Music Chris Ludwa, will present their spring tour this month with a concert in Bellaire and two in Traverse City, all on the weekend of April 29-May 1. The performances are: 

  • 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 29, at Church in the Hills, Bellaire, Michigan 
  • 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 30, at Central United Methodist Church, Traverse City, Michigan 
  • 1 p.m. Sunday, May 1, at First Congregational Church, Traverse City, Michigan 

The program is titled “More Light, More Love” and will present songs from a variety of sources and styles from the Renaissance to Aretha Franklin, including music inspired by ancient poets such as Rumi and modern composers of American Indian heritage. The music is designed to uplift, inspire and mend the hearts and minds that have been so isolated for the past several years. Some pieces include piano while others are a cappella, and audiences will enjoy music by smaller ensembles as well as soloists. Singers come from as far away as Kenya and as close as Traverse City, reflecting the College’s diverse population and vibrant study abroad emphasis. 

COVID-19 pushed the College Singers, like many ensembles, into virtual mode for the better part of a year and a half. Musically, the result was that many groups got stronger. Almost all that have returned to in-person singing are appreciating the beauty of live performances even more. The ensemble is made up of 30 singers whose majors range from music to physical science and from political science to psychology. An academic class, the College Singers seeks to foster love for a wide range of music, awareness of social justice, and a deeper appreciation for the power of communal singing.   

No tickets are needed for performances, but a free-will offering will be taken to help defray the tour bus expense for the ensemble. More specific questions can be directed to Ludwa at cludwa@kzoo.edu.  

Music Department Concerts Feature Guest Artists

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Guest pianist Natalia Kazaryan
Pianist Natalia Kazaryan will perform Saturday with the Kalamazoo Philharmonia.

The Kalamazoo College Department of Music has two upcoming concerts scheduled featuring renowned guest artists. 

First, the Kalamazoo Philharmonia will feature a pianist and a piece she recorded with the Philharmonia that is included in an upcoming independent film. Together, they will perform Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Piano Concerto, which was chosen for Sounds of Silence, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Dalton Theatre. 

The film, due out later this year, revolves around a pianist at an international competition and her struggles with the pressures of her art. The concerto was chosen for the movie because it was the first work of Rachmaninoff after a long compositional drought brought on by bad reviews of his First Symphony, mirroring the struggles of the character herself. 

The Philharmonia, with Conductor and Music Department Chair Andrew Koehler, unites students, faculty, amateur musicians and professional musicians of a variety of ages to perform symphonic music. Tickets for this concert will be available at the door. Students are $2 and adults are $5. Kalamazoo College students will be admitted free.  

The second guest concert will feature Spektral Quartet, a three-time Grammy-nominated group known for interactive concert formats in up-close atmospheres. The group will perform at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Stetson Chapel. 

The performance will spotlight nine new works: a string quartet composed by Bernard Rands, plus a series of short pieces written by Chicago Composers’ Consortium (C3) members in response to Bernard’s new work. C3 composers include Larry Axelrod, Kyong Mee Choi, Timothy Dwight Edwards, Kathleen Ginther, Martha Horst, Timothy Ernest Johnson, Laura Schwendinger and Elizabeth Start. 

Attendees can purchase tickets on the Connecting Chords Music Festival website and at the door by paying what they can with suggested pricing of $20 for adults, $15 for seniors and $5 for ages 25 and younger. All seats are general admission.  

Masks and proof of vaccination will be required for admittance to both performances. For more information, email Susan.Lawrence@kzoo.edu or call 269.337.7070.