The Last Blog!

Last week I attended an event in the student center about Jesuits in music. I wasn’t sure at all what to expect; I didn’t even know what “Jesuits in music” meant. Father Linnane introduced the event as being the last of the Catholic Studies lectures, “Jesuits Making Music: The City or the Culture.” He spoke very highly of the lecturer, Father T. Frank Kennedy, a music director at Boston College.

I immediately liked Father Kennedy. He had a very warm demeanor about him, was an excellent speaker, and exuded great passion about music. He began with showing us a clip from the movie The Mission, which I watched last semester for my Cultural Anthropology class. He showed us a particular scene depicting the effect of music on the indigenous peoples by the Jesuit priest. He continued to discuss the role music in the Jesuits’ history and showed us clips from several different operas.

Father Kennedy said, “Music is not just a score or sounds, it defines who we are and what we do.” Although I may not be thinking of the same music as Father Kennedy, I strongly agree with this statement. Everyone listens to music; therefore it has an incredible influence on listeners. The combination of human voices and musical instruments has the power to soothe, to excite, to anger, and to provoke many other types of feelings. I definitely have certain songs or singers I listen to when I need something specific. If I need to calm down, I listen to The Fray. If I need to get pumped up while working out, I listen to something with a good dance beat. If I need to just let my anger out, I listen to Fall Out Boy. I believe music is an important part—but certainly not the only part—of one’s personality; you can tell a lot about a person by the kind of music they listen to.

Father Kennedy also said, “Music links us to the past and bridges gaps because there doesn’t have to be any literal interpretations of it.” One song can mean something to one person and something completely different to another, either way it has significance in people’s lives. One of the things he said that I agreed with most was that “performances have the power to unify.” People can be of all different ages and ethnicities, male or female, yet still come together as one to enjoy a specific concert or performance.

This speech about music made me think of an event I attended in February. The Best of Baltimore program for freshmen at Loyola organized a trip to the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. That night there was a Mardi Gras themed performance by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra along with guest performers, which included a female jazz singer and an all male jazz quartet. We were without a doubt the youngest group in attendance, but that didn’t matter. Once the music started, the entire audience was standing up, clapping, and dancing to New Orleans style music. My friends and I have never been to New Orleans, nor were we known jazz fans, but the atmosphere of the event and the energy from the performers made it incredibly enjoyable. The music unified us.

“Best of Baltimore” is actually a great way to get students more involved in the city. Other activities this year have been baseball games, shows, restaurants, and more, but it doesn’t provide the same service opportunities as Year of the City. If promoted better, this program, paired with the Year of the City initiative, would be an excellent opportunity for students to see the good in Baltimore.