I have always been a part of traditional choirs and I love the repertoire we get to perform there, but I found Tonality to be unique in that it uses the platform of music to speak upon important matters in society today. We don't just perform beautiful music, we bring awareness to issues that affect many members of our society.
Social justice messaging is received in many ways and music just so happens to be a medium that a large majority of humans can relate to. Music affects us in ways that we are only beginning to understand and if we add the element of bringing awareness to certain issues then it makes for something beautiful.
This was from a concert in which I was brought on as a guest soloist for a piece a dear friend of mine wrote and it was a choral piece in the Western style that was heavily influenced by a form of Indian classical music. My favorite part about performing that piece was getting to share a bit of my musical background as well as culture with my fellow musicians and the audience members. Along with bringing awareness to certain issues, I think having that visible racial and cultural diversity in an organization like this is very important.
