SFYSA student musicians – our Santa Fe kids – and wild geese

by Andrea Cassutt, Executive Director

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I quoted the first line of Mary Oliver’s poem, Wild Geese, in our staff meeting last week. “You do not have to be good.” I no longer remember the specific context, but I remember the feeling of the moment. We were talking about creativity and space to be, to learn, to unfold, to evolve. We were talking about our programs, about kids and music, about not being perfect, but of stepping all the way in to learn, participate and express.

This is one of my favorite poems and after the meeting I looked it up. I looked up pictures of wild geese too. They might look rather chaotic to the casual observer when they are taking off, before they are in that “V” formation. Once they are in that formation, their structure is dynamic and changing. They rotate leadership – flying at the front is the most exhausting – so their shifting positions assist the whole group. The geese fly and are aided by the updraft of the goose in front of them. They share the work and move forward together.

Our students then are much like wild geese. They can look – and sound – a little chaotic as they take flight, in the early stages, until they learn and find recognizable formations – the structures of music, instrumentation and ensemble playing. Once they do, they rely on each other, and can also be drawn up and forward by the student playing beside or in front of them. Together they share the effort, work and play together, finding their way forward.

While we like to think of youth as a carefree time, we know more and more that kids struggle with many aspects of school, community and growing up. Music supports students in many ways and often helps a person find what it is they love, and learn what it means to love it. From this knowledge and love, excellence and art begin to emerge. Music itself, our coaches, conductors, and fellow musicians, can help a student weather and navigate personal happenings, even as life and the world simply move on. 

And core to SFYSA’s mission is the last line of Mary Oliver’s poem:

Whoever you are, no matter how
lonely,
the world offers itself to your
imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese,
harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your
place
in the family of things.

We strive to make sure every student, every child interested in music, whether it be jazz, mariachi or orchestra, can find his, her or their place “in the family of things.”