{"id":12237,"date":"2017-09-12T23:20:22","date_gmt":"2017-09-13T03:20:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/?p=12237"},"modified":"2018-02-25T23:34:58","modified_gmt":"2018-02-26T04:34:58","slug":"elise-witt-using-song-in-all-the-best-ways-by-barbara-mcafee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/elise-witt-using-song-in-all-the-best-ways-by-barbara-mcafee\/","title":{"rendered":"Elise Witt \u2013 Using Song in All the Best\u00a0Ways<\/em> by Barbara McAfee"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Elise Witt \u2013 Using Song in All the Best\u00a0Ways<\/a><\/h2>\n
Posted on<\/span>\u00a0September 7, 2017\u00a0<\/span>by<\/span>\u00a0Barbara McAfee<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/h5>\n
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I met Elise Witt years ago when she came to Minneapolis to lead a singing workshop. In that afternoon together, I learned songs from her that I am still singing today. It was also the beginning of long, deep and inspiring friendship, fostered by my frequent visits to Atlanta. What a blessing that she lives in the same town as my brother and his family! We have sung a number of concerts together and always cherish the way our work \u2013 like our voices \u2013 intertwine.<\/p>\n

Elise is a remarkable person. For starters she speaks five languages fluently (German, French, Italian, Spanish and English). She writes lovely songs \u2013 ones that are as wide-ranging, clever, wise, snazzy and surprising as she is. Her faithfulness to her calling as an artist\/activist has spanned decades as she seeks ways to bring singing alive in her own life and in the lives of people around her.<\/p>\n

I am especially inspired by the work Elise is doing with The Global Village Project, a middle school in Decatur, Georgia for teenage refugee girls with interrupted educations.<\/p>\n

The forty girls who attend this school generally arrive having lived through war, displacement, trauma and loss. Most of them speak no English, although most arrive at the school speaking three to six languages. Elise uses singing to help them acquire English, but that is only the beginning. Elise believes that the singing is also crucial for them to build confidence in presenting themselves and fostering community.<\/p>\n

Elise co-creates songs with the girls and includes them in her own concerts and events. They created a song called \u201cBreak the Silence\u201d in honor of V-Day, an international call to end violence against women and girls that was first initiated by Eve Ensler. They performed their song for a large audience at the Atlanta V-Day event.<\/p>\n

They also contributed to one of Elise\u2019s songs called \u201cI See You With My Heart\u201d which incorporates words in Burmese, Karen, Pashto, Kirundi and English. You can see Elise perform it with several of her students\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She also teaches the girls songs from the traditional American folk songbook. When these girls sing \u201cThis Land is Your Land,\u201d it brings deeper meaning to the song, especially in this time of xenophobia and fear of immigrants. You can see some of her students singing the song along with Elise\u2019s commentary in\u00a0this piece<\/a>\u00a0from Georgia Public Broadcasting.<\/p>\n

Elise\u2019s work inspires me to ask new questions about where singing can be put to use in the world. This ancient practice that unites many into one, that creates harmony among strangers is more essential than ever in these fractured and frightening times. May her good work and brilliant vision awaken your own calling \u2013 to bring beauty and joy to the challenging work of healing the divisions among us.<\/p>\n

This\u00a0video<\/a>\u00a0was created about Elise and her work when she received the William L. Womack Creative Arts Award.<\/em><\/p>\n

And finally, you can purchase Elise\u2019s latest (and gorgeous!) recording, \u201cWe\u2019re All Born Singing,\u201d\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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About Barbara McAfee<\/a><\/h2>\n

\"\"Barbara is a voice coach, singer\/songwriter, keynote speaker, and author who merges lessons from 12 years in organization development with the transformational power of sound. Her book, Full Voice: The Art & Practice of Vocal Presence (Berrett-Koehler Publishers) was a #1 Amazon bestseller in Business Communication. The book is based on her 25 years as a voice coach, supporting people from many professions in learning how to access the full power and expression of the voice in service to their work and relationships. Barbara\u2019s musical keynotes blend practical content, sophisticated humor, and thought-provoking questions on topics including voice, leadership, and engagement. She was \u201cthe band\u201d for Margaret Wheatley\u2019s Women\u2019s Leadership Revival Tour, which visited 15 North American cities. She also appears with authors Parker Palmer and Peter Block. Barbara has produced seven CD’s of mostly original music and is founder of the Morning Star Singers, a volunteer hospice choir in the Twin Cities. She lives across the street from the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I met Elise Witt years ago when she came to Minneapolis to lead a singing workshop. In that afternoon together, I learned songs from her that I am still singing today. It was also the beginning of long, deep and inspiring friendship, fostered by my frequent visits to Atlanta. What a blessing that she lives in the same town as my brother and his family! We have sung a number of concerts together and always cherish the way our work \u2013 like our voices \u2013 intertwine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12242,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,369,177,129],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-blog","category-features","category-features-for-home-page","category-in-the-news","entry"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/BMcAffee-EliseBlog-02.png",1392,822,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/BMcAffee-EliseBlog-02.png",150,89,false],"medium":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/BMcAffee-EliseBlog-02.png",300,177,false],"medium_large":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/BMcAffee-EliseBlog-02.png",768,454,false],"large":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/BMcAffee-EliseBlog-02.png",1024,605,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/BMcAffee-EliseBlog-02.png",1392,822,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/BMcAffee-EliseBlog-02.png",1392,822,false],"square-entry-image":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/BMcAffee-EliseBlog-02.png",400,236,false],"vertical-entry-image":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/BMcAffee-EliseBlog-02.png",400,236,false],"horizontal-entry-image":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/BMcAffee-EliseBlog-02.png",820,484,false],"mailpoet_newsletter_max":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/BMcAffee-EliseBlog-02.png",1320,779,false],"woocommerce_thumbnail":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/BMcAffee-EliseBlog-02-500x500.png",500,500,true],"woocommerce_single":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/BMcAffee-EliseBlog-02-655x387.png",655,387,true],"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":["https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/BMcAffee-EliseBlog-02-100x100.png",100,100,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Jessica Lily","author_link":"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/author\/jessica\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"I met Elise Witt years ago when she came to Minneapolis to lead a singing workshop. In that afternoon together, I learned songs from her that I am still singing today. It was also the beginning of long, deep and inspiring friendship, fostered by my frequent visits to Atlanta. What a blessing that she lives…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elisewitt.com\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}