Joan Griffing: Music for Peace Making & Reconciliation - Creative Strings Podcast Ep. 34

Creative Strings with Violinist Christian Howes

When I was growing up people used to say that you should go into music only if you feel you don't have a choice. For those of us that made that choice to go into music, we were inspired by this feeling that we must do it. We had a passion, that kept us awake at night, kept us in the practice room, kept us developing new skills... That's why we went into music. The thing is, when people get out of college and they get into the real life of being a musician the drudgery often sets in. So how do we keep that passion alive? How do we re-articulate why we play music as it looks different through different phases of our life or career? The reason could change. Music could become less or more important to us, for different reasons. I think it's really important for us to ask those questions because ultimately we want to feel fulfilled by whatever we do. Any music in our life can be integrated with our own personal development and with whatever contribution we're trying to make to our communities Getting to the heart of these types of questions and telling stories about how different musicians grapple with this is what motivates me to want to bring this podcast out. This episode's guest is an amazing example of someone who has done this. Dr. Joan Griffing is a classical violinist and has taught at the private collegiate level for many years, with her current position as the Tim and Gail Buchanan Endowed Chair of the Fine Arts Division at Friends University. She's been a freelance orchestral chamber player and soloist for many years. Part of what I think is so interesting about her story is that she chose at this point in her career to take a sabbatical and make a journey to uncover deeper meanings for what it is to be a musician. You'll hear in this interview how she went to New Zealand and how she learned there about ways in which music is being used for peace and reconciliation. Prison reforms and to create healing between individuals in conflict and between cultures in conflict. It's a really fascinating story. Check out the full blog post here: https://christianhowes.com/2019/01/07/dr-joan-griffing-on-music-in-peace-conflict-creative-strings-podcast-ep-34/