Around the World Adventure
My name is Courtney Takahashi, and I am the 2018 Summer ArtBeat Radio Intern at Therapeutic Arts Program (TAP II). I am a rising junior at New York University where I study Music Education. My passion for traveling and adventures brought me to New York City, but I am so glad to be back home in sunny California for the summer. During my free time, I enjoy relaxing, ranging from enjoying a cup of coffee from local cafes to hopping on the Metro to explore everything Los Angeles has to offer. But no matter where I go or where I am, music is always with me. Music has inspired me throughout my life and has shaped me into who I am today. It has given me safe space to be myself, and I strive to spark the same flame within in individuals as music once did for me 10 years ago. I have always had one thing in mind: impact. I wanted to reach, inspire, and help as many people as I could through music. So, when I saw the listing and the description for The ArtBeat Radio Intern on the LA County Arts Commission Website, I knew I just had to apply.
To be completely transparent, on my first day here I was a little overwhelmed. There was so much happening (in a good way!) that I didn’t know how I would fit in. Prior to this internship, I have worked with individuals with physical impairment but never with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In addition, I am very familiar working with children and not with adults, so I was not sure how my abilities with younger kids would transfer. I was so scared that I did not have enough prior experience to be successful. But here I am, 5 weeks later and I can honestly say that I was so wrong. I realized that all I needed was patience and an open mind to succeed and that wouldn't be achieved if I was nervous. The passion and drive for music is contagious at TAP II. Just watching the artists be so engaged and excited about music pushed me to work harder and try my best to provide quality musical material for their benefit. By the third week, I was able to stand in front of five or six artists and sing a welcome song and write an original song. My nerves disappeared as quickly as they came and slowly transitioned into confidence. Everyone, not only the artists, but also the staff have been so inviting and encouraging. Every day I learn something new and have been given so much creative freedom. There has not been a day that’s gone by where I haven’t learned something valuable.
Some other projects that I was able to take part in were the Community Jam Session with Devyn Rush, Music Technology Ableton PUSH Workshop, Los Angeles County Arts Commission Intern Summit and the "You are a Song: Discovery of the Self Through Song" with Lisa Jackert and Stan DeWitt. All three projects have opened my eyes to the endless possibilities that music and working with people with disabilities has to offer. I am learning a wide range of skills from how to integrate music technology in the classroom to songwriting with my artists. Also, I have learned a lot about how crucial and important mistakes are. Working with and observing professional Music Therapists has shed light on my attitude towards missteps. A lot of the times, things don’t go as planned, but as long as the artists are being productive and are getting their ideas and wants across, then that is the best possible outcome.
My ArtBeat Radio artists have been working tremendously hard for the past 5 weeks! Everyday, I get the wonderful opportunity to create alongside THEIR ideas and THEIR wants to make THEIR voices heard. When I first started, something I had to adapt to was putting less of my ideas in and more of what the artists wanted. Thus, on the behalf of my artists, I am thrilled to announce that title of our next upcoming podcast will be: Around the World Adventure! This idea blossomed from a conversation about summer. One of my artists said the word "travel" and from that one word, our creativity thrived. My artists began talking about their summer plans to travel and the exciting places they were going/ have been in the past. They shared storied from traveling to Tijuana to listening to music and eating food with family. Things are moving along very quickly as we also have finished writing an original song, "Happy World Travel" and have already began recording it. We worked together to create every aspect of this song from the chord progression, to lyrics, to instrumentation and finally, recording. It will be premiered on our podcast release celebration on August 3rd, alongside some other fun surprises. We are excited to share everything we’ve been working on with the Able ARTS Work community and I am eager to see what else this internship has in store!
Courtney Takahashi
ArtBeat Radio Intern 2018
ArtBeat Radio internship is supported in part by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Arts Commission’s Arts Internship program. Go 2018 Arts Interns!
Around the World Adventure Update: The podcast is now live here!!