If we’re tap water, Angie Shyr is fizzing and sparkling, with notes of fresh berries and lime zest. She seems to have an infinitely joyous and empathetic nature that energizes her students as well as her fellow faculty members and staff! If we could all harness Shyr Energy, the world would certainly be a more colorful place. Last week I sat down to talk to her about her work and philosophy around music, and I’m content to announce that, if you’re reading this message, you’re closer to this power than you know! As Angie shared:

Music is our collective soul’s keeper… out of it springs that which is the aliveness of spirit – it’s endless. I like to ask my new students, “How many notes are there?” to which they have varying answers. And then I’ll ask, “And how much music is there?” and watch as their eyes begin to widen, before following with “How much music will there be?”

At this point, Angie’s students usually go into shock and start foaming at the mouth as their minds begin to comprehend the magnificence of humanity’s capacity for creativity. I’m joking of course, but Angie’s ability to hold these big questions in her heart is a serious inspiration.

So how did this radiant being find her way to NCMC? The short answer: a Google search. The long answer is a winding one. Angie has traveled in loops and zig-zags around the globe as a student, band member, quartet collaborator, and artist, “effulgently broadcasting” her music across venues, genres, and schools. From Brookline, MA, to Santa Monica, CA, Angie has been introducing children to the joys of music through private and public institutions for years and years. Her time at NCMC since early 2023 has brought her her first adult students, most of whom are revisiting their instruments after decades, and need emotional support as much as technical instruction as they regain their connection to playing. She says that her favorite part of teaching at NCMC is the diversity of the environment; from the ages of her students to the colorful individuality of her fellow faculty & staff, or the Ujima Singers and Pride Chorus. Each person that inhabits NCMC carries theirself differently, but we have a “shared vision of what music is about; that it’s bigger than ourselves,” and that allows us to turn this building into an avenue for necessary conversations, exciting musical challenges, and major growth.

I asked Angie what she’s looking forward to this year, and she provided her answer in personal, professional, and cosmic tiers. She’s excited about the cobwebs and dust shifting on the planet. Amid grief of our martyrs, we are seeing a “paradigm shift in humanity,” and that is something to remain hopeful for. On a tangible scale, Angie is collaborating with colleagues at NCMC to perform an arrangement of her educational song “Flow Chart,” composed of vocals, bass trombone, trumpet, piano, and some strings, which she hopes will culminate in a music video! Keep an eye out for that as the year wears on... 🎶✨