{"id":4573,"date":"2019-10-30T22:32:19","date_gmt":"2019-10-30T22:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/?p=4573"},"modified":"2021-03-18T06:22:53","modified_gmt":"2021-03-18T06:22:53","slug":"god-invented-music-a-conversation-with-dr-amber-james","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/2019\/10\/30\/god-invented-music-a-conversation-with-dr-amber-james\/","title":{"rendered":"“God Invented Music!”: A Conversation with Dr. Amber James"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dr. Amber James is an Assistant Professor of Music at Southern Wesleyan University. She has just announced the cast of this year\u2019s musical, Newsies<\/em>, but in the time of the interview, the show had not yet been announced. Last year\u2019s musical, Little Women<\/em>, was very well received, and people are very excited for what is coming up next. Dr. James casts and directs the musicals, as well as coordinating them and finding resources such as sound, lighting, and costumes for everyone involved. It is a big job, but she does it very well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this interview, I spoke to Dr. James about her experiences at SWU as a student and a teacher, about her directing musicals both this year and last year, about her exciting summer trip to Germany, her life working in New York City, and the importance of music in everyday life and her life specifically. Dr. James is brilliant, and Southern Wesleyan can see great success in her future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lyssa Henry: So, Dr.\nJames how did you first get to Southern Wesleyan, like when you went to school\nhere?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. James: I grew up as a\nWesleyan pastor’s kid, and I did a lot of music competitions. We had Teens and\nTalent, which is called Campus Challenge now. I would compete with other people\nfrom my church and we would always come to SWU for the regional competitions. I\njust always knew I wanted to come here, and I actually did not even apply to\nany other college, only this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

LH: What are the\nnoteworthy similarities and differences between going here and teaching here? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

DJ: One of the\nsimilarities would be how the faculty take an active role in students\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s obviously more students on campus now. When I was\nhere, I think we had 150 students on campus. We only had two residence halls:\nStu B and Childs. The girls were in Stu B. The boys were in Childs. That first\nyear I was here, they built the apartments. As a sophomore, I went into the\napartments when they were brand new. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are obvious building differences. We have Newton\nHobson now instead of Folger. I spent my entire college career in Folger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But as far as the feeling on campus, it is pretty similar.\nIt’s always had a really sweet and family atmosphere. There are professors still\nteaching that were teaching when I was here. So yeah, those are some\nsimilarities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it is different. We’re a lot bigger. We have a lot more\nspace. Our campus has expanded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LH: How was directing the\nmusical last year?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DJ: It was pretty\nexciting. The most interesting thing was watching the transformation of the\nstudents and how their characters impacted them, not only just during the time\nof the musical. They wrote these beautiful tributes on Facebook to each of\ntheir characters. They still talk about it, and people come up to them and talk\nabout the musical. I think it made a big impact and kind of changed people’s\nlives. Several have said it’s been their favorite production of their college\ncareer, and it was just really neat to be a part of it. It was a story that\ninvolved real people, real situations and serious, as well as funny, moments. It\nwas a lot of work, but it was a lot of fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LH: Are you excited for next year\u2019s production, too?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DJ: Yes, it’s going to be amazing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think [last year’s production Little Women<\/em>] made a big impact and kind of changed people’s lives. Several have said it’s been their favorite production of their college career, and it was just really neat to be a part of it. <\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

LH: What about your\nsummer was exciting? You went away, right? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

DJ: So I went to Germany on a teaching fellowship with the\nInternational Performing Arts Institute and had three students go with me. Two\nof them are SWU grads. They have a musical theater program and an opera program,\nand I worked mainly with the musical theater side. I did a little bit of\nteaching. I did a lot of observing of master teachers, professionals in the\nbusiness who have way more years of teaching experience than I do. I did some\nmusic directing. I did some performing. I just learned a lot and had a great\ntime. I also did some vacationing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LH: Rumor has it that you’re planning a recital that\ninvolves Emily Dickinson poems. You want to say anything about it? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

DJ: Yes. It’s not a rumor. It’s true!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On January 14th, Emily Service, a current student, and\nAshley Lamos, a SWU grad, and myself will be performing \u201cTwelve poems of Emily\nDickinson\u201d that were set to music by Aaron Copland. Lori Shelton will be\naccompanying us, and Dr. Britt Terry will be our lecturer, so it’s going to\nkind of be like a lecture and recital. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are beautiful pieces. I’ve always wanted to do them.\nI’ve performed some of these pieces\u2014four of them, I believe\u2014in my master’s\nrecital in 2010. And I thought it would be cool to have a current SWU student\nand a graduated SWU student along with myself to perform them in the Alive\nChapel in the Nicholson Mitchell Ministry Center on campus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LH: You taught lessons in\nNew York City, and you lived there. Is there something that you learned there\nthat you brought back here to SWU or anything you learned in Central that you\nwould take back there, like to your students that you’re teaching that are\nstill there now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DJ: I feel like New York\nCity, my three years there, kind of has split my life in two, meaning\neverything now is post-New York, and everything before it was pre-New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you move to a city like that with no job, not a ton of\nmoney, not a place to live\u2014you’re living with your best friend in her bedroom\nthat she shares with an apartment with four other people\u2014it can be very\nintimidating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I learned that you need to stay in your lane. I went to New\nYork City thinking, I’m going to sing, I’m going to get a temp job or some kind\nof office job, and I did try that at first and nobody wanted to hire me because\nI was overqualified, but underqualified because I had no experience in that\nbusiness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So being able to survive in a city like New York…taught me that there’s really nothing in my life I could ever come up against and not be able to conquer because that was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. <\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It took me about two weeks to think, \u201cWell, maybe I should\nstart my own teaching studio privately.\u201d And it took me about five months to\nbuild up to full time. In between that I did some temp work at MoMA, which was\nreally cool, and I substitute taught in private schools to make ends meet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So being able to survive in a city like New York where it\u2019s\nso expensive\u2014in a completely different culture than anything I’ve ever\nexperienced, especially moving from Mississippi to New York City\u2014taught me that\nthere’s really nothing in my life I could ever come up against and not be able\nto conquer because that was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaving the city was also very hard to come to SWU, but my\ntime there made me a much better teacher. Even since I’ve been here, the things\nI learn with you guys in lessons are so different. Every lesson I teach, I\nlearn something new, too. And I’m able to take that back to my New York City\nstudents. Everybody just benefits from being part of this culture that I’ve\ncreated for myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LH: So being at a\nWesleyan school, music is pretty new to the scene, I think. Do you think that\nthere is any problem of loving Jesus and loving musicals at the same time? Because\na lot of them are really controversial, and people might not think it’s okay to\nlisten to musicals or watch them or be in them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DJ: Yes. I mean, that’s a\ntough one. You know, I am a firm believer that you have your convictions, and\none person’s convictions may not necessarily be the same as someone else’s. And\nthat’s okay that we are different here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here at SWU, we choose to perform musicals that line up with\nour values and promote who we are as a university. I think that’s important.\nAnd I think, you know, keeping things kid friendly and reaching out to the\ncommunity, that’s definitely important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LH: Do you think there’s\nany link between being part of the arts and faith in Christianity?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DJ: Oh, absolutely. God\ninvented music! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I believe when we’re participating in music, making\nmusic, studying music, it’s such a spiritual act regardless of what it is. It\ndoesn’t have to be a praise and worship song or a hymn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God invented music! <\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s extremely personal. It’s very creative. I feel like\nit’s one of the things we’re able to do as humans that shows off our creativity\nthe most.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The song doesn\u2019t necessarily have to be Christ honoring. The\nperson performing maybe isn’t aware of it as that, but just the fact that\nthey’re given that gift and that talent? That’s a gift from God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LH: Are there any\nspiritual mentors who’ve inspired and influenced your art?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DJ: Yes, I grew up in a\nBaptist Christian school, and my choir director and music teacher all\nthroughout eight or nine years of being at that school, my piano teacher as\nwell, were just excellent examples to me. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My mom is my biggest mentor, biggest fan, biggest supporter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My grandmother prays for me every day, and I know one day\nwhen she’s not here anymore, somebody else is going to have to take up that\nchallenge. But those would be my mentors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And of course, there\u2019s the current SWU music faculty, not\nmyself included, because they trained me. They were here for me and helped mold\nme. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

LH: What’s the biggest misconception that people have about\nsinging? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

DJ: That there’s perfection to be found in singing, which I do\nnot agree with. What may be perfect to one person is not going to be perfect to\nsomeone else. I think another misconception would be the fear of putting\nyourself out there. That’s one thing I learned in New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were so many adults who had jobs as lawyers or worked\nfor hedge funds or in banking or in corporate jobs and would spend their hard-earned\nmoney in a city where it’s very expensive to live just to have a hobby. I saw\nthe change it made in them. At no point in my life had I ever experienced that as\na teacher because I’d mostly been working with kids. And it’s obvious why kids\nchoose music. It’s fun!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when adults really took the time to invest in it, it\nshowed me how important it was for people just to feel like they were able to\nconnect with someone else. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I think when students are happy and they’re able to be creative, it has a direct impact on the rest of their college experience in the classroom.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

LH: Is there one thing\nyou wish everybody knew about what you do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DJ: That’s a good question. I feel like what I do is pretty self-explanatory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I make a lot of sacrifices for what I do here. It\u2019s\nfortunate, you know, for me that I’m single and I’m able to serve and really\npour into the lives of the students. That’s what I care about. And I’m happiest\nknowing that you guys are learning, thriving, and that you’re feeling\nconfidence in yourselves and trying new things and that you’re progressing. That’s\nreally what I care about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have a dream and a vision for the university. There’s a\ngreat need for more of the arts and theater, and I think that it would be great\nfor us to go that direction. And this is why we’re going to two productions a\nyear. One is not enough. It doesn’t provide the outlet, you know, that people\nare craving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I think when students are happy and they’re able to be\ncreative, it has a direct impact on the rest of their college experience in the\nclassroom.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this interview, Lyssa Henry speaks to Dr. Amber James about her experiences at SWU as a student and a teacher, about her directing musicals both this year and last year, about her exciting summer trip to Germany, her life working in New York City, and the importance of music in everyday life and her life specifically. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":4576,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[343],"tags":[82,359,373],"class_list":["post-4573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-religious-studies","tag-conversations","tag-music","tag-swu-stories","clearfix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4573"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4578,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4573\/revisions\/4578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}