About Sara Knapp
Sara Knapp was born in Connecticut, where she began playing the flute in fifth grade. After moving to Georgia in 2006, Ms. Knapp began discovering her deep love for music. She participated in numerous ensembles, including a church orchestra and praise band, honor bands throughout the Southeast, marching band, small ensembles, and the Macon-Mercer Symphony Youth Orchestra where she held the principal chair. Now in her fourth year of education at Kennesaw State University, Ms. Knapp is studying flute with Mr. Robert Cronin and participates in the Concert Band, Wind Ensemble, and various small ensembles. In addition to her studies at Kennesaw State University, Ms. Knapp actively teaches throughout the Atlanta area. She is a private flute instructor, is on staff with the Kell High School Marching Band, assists middle school directors around the county, and is interning with the Youth Bands of Atlanta. Ms. Knapp plans to teach middle school band upon graduating from Kennesaw State University in May 2016. |
About the Trip
I began playing the flute in 4th grade, and by the time I was in 7th grade, I knew I wanted to be involved with music for the rest of my life. My desire to teach music began during my freshman year of high school. The day following Barack Obama’s election into presidency, my band class suspended our work on the music for our next concert and instead sight-read various pieces written by American composers. Our band director ended class early to comment upon the fact that the result of the election was a tremendous mark in American history. He explained that this music and the results of the election shared many parallels; they both encountered great controversy when they premiered, but in time were accepted as crucial elements in our nation’s history. He encouraged us to put our personal opinions aside and reflect on what the election of an African American president meant for our country and its history.
That day has been forever ingrained in my mind, as it was the first time I understood band to be about more than making music. For so long, all I had cared about was being the first chair player or making sure I knew my part. I never comprehended that musicians are people who can not only portray the world from any perspective, but have the opportunity share it with everyone around them.
In an increasingly STEM focused world, my profession is often overlooked. In high school, I was involved in many leadership conferences and was salutatorian of my graduating class. However, my teachers remarked on a daily basis that I was “wasting my life and my talents” by aspiring to teach middle school band. They, like many others, did not believe that I should be striving to enter a profession that promised little money and job security when, instead, I could “change the world.”
This trend continued into college. I am in an honors program at Kennesaw State University called the President’s Emerging Global Scholars (PEGS). The 20 students in the program are among the top 1% of our class. The program is designed to create global leaders in a variety of fields; we talk in great depth about cultural competence and global issues. Despite the support of my peers and mentors, it has been difficult to make music seem relevant to discussions of political and global affairs.
For example, PEGS took a trip to Washington, D.C. to discover how all fields work together to create stability in our country. We visited the Department of State, the Capitol, USAID, and various non-profit organizations. Inspiring as this was, there were no connections made to music. Through this program I was also selected to introduce members of the House of Representatives lecturing at KSU. One representative asked the audience questions pertaining to our international political future and how we could use our fields of study to affect others. When the representative discovered I was a music major, she dismissed me, ignoring my insights into the issues.
Everything changed when our PEGS cohort took a ten-day trip to Brazil where we all experienced the power of music. During our trip, we ventured to a favela that was known to be the poorest in Salvador. We were told that children had once run around the area with very little clothing and that families of six or larger were packed into 20’x20’ rooms. This picture was different than what I observed; homes were the largest we had seen in comparison to other favelas, children wore nicer clothes than us, and there was even a school present. My peers and I asked what had made such a change, and their answer was simple: the Pacatum School of Music. The school had been founded by Carlinhos Brown, a local who became famous because of his musical talent and then sent the majority of his money back to the favela to provide the children with a better life. Through the creation of his school, music united all community members and gave them means to access greater experiences. There are scores of children now playing music around the world because of the skills they learned in Pacatum, and they all continue to give back.
Throughout the rest of our trip to Brazil, I witnessed music in an enlightening way. All people poured their hearts into every second of music they heard or played. Music crossed linguistic, socioeconomic, and religious barriers; it reached to the core of these individuals and served to unite them. The experience rejuvenated me and left me longing to bring that uniting quality back to the United States.
My goal as a music educator is not only to teach the fundamentals of music or how to play an instrument, but to use the opportunity of teaching music to inspire my students to reach for the impossible. Music can inspire and empower us all to achieve great goals and become confident, compassionate citizens. It is my dream to harness music’s power and share it with generations of students, whether they are in my middle school band room or on the other side of the world.
I am travelling to the Galapagos Islands, specifically San Cristobal, for eight weeks this summer. San Cristobal is one of the most developed and populated islands of the Galapagos. Music is already present in the classroom, as children are taught basics of music and have access to a limited number of instruments. I will be working a minimum of 30 hours per week, introducing wind instruments to the country, and therefore providing students with a way to experience a piece of Western culture without leaving their homeland. In addition, I will be taking lessons on indigenous instruments of the islands so that I can experience a great piece of their culture and incorporate it into my own understanding of music.