artsyhonker / Kathryn @artsyhonker@sonomu.club

Hey, sometime after I finish my PhD...

...would anyone be interested in being in a Fediverse Virtual Choir to sing some of my work so I can put recordings online?

Eric Whitacre did this (not on the Fediverse) and it worked super well. I... definitely don't have his resources, but I can probably film a conducting track that people can sing to.

I'm a choral composer; I like to release my music under free culture licences, usually CC by-SA.

I'm working on a PhD in contemporary sacred choral composition.

I'm neurodivergent, and I have multiple healthcrap issues. I'm a migrant. I'm Christian.

You can find my work at http://www.artsyhonker.net/ and fund it at http://www.artsyhonker.net/support

I also run Cecilia's List, a project to highlight Christian sacred music composed by people who are not men. That's very much on the back burner for the time being because of PhD stuff, though.

http://www.ceciliaslist.org

New rule:

You don't get to say "oh, you could sell that on Etsy/set up a Patreon/write an e-book and sell it/etc" unless you promise to buy stuff from the person you are saying it to, at a price that pays them a living wage for their time *after* material and admin costs.

I'd say "I don't make the rules" but I totally just made a rule, there, so.

I've not posted much recently but have a piece of music I wrote in 2012, suitable (I think) for Pentecost:

https://youtu.be/dXJLLV-Jtmw

My alternative approach, which I had already suggested, is to ask people something entirely different. "When did you start going to St John's?" is a good one in a church context, maybe. Like, any church context in which "where are you from?" might come up is that level of small talk.

Don't get me wrong, I am not perfect and I probably screw up.

But in a discussion about how "where are you from?" can quickly turn into a loaded question with considerable hostility behind it, "is it okay if I am just curious?" was kindof embarrassing.

(Answer: it will depend on the context and the relationship. Maybe don't use that form of words if you're talking to a stranger who may have heard it 30 times that day!)

But also I was the only white person there who actually said "I think this is something I could say, in a pastoral context, to not accidentally do a microagression". The only other white contributor was basically asking for permission because she means well, which... was corrected, graciously and patiently, by the session leader, but also kindof surprised me.

Zoom training on race and the church last night as part of continuing education for licensed Pastoral Assistants.

It was super good but also slightly weird. It was a racially diverse group and how I need to behave as a white lady to dismantle racism is different than how my colleagues do, and there wasn't nearly enough time to discuss and examine concrete actions we can take.

@considermycatjohn you are here! I am glad. I missed you; I probably owe you an e-mail. Hope all is well.

*bounces around happily*

The thing I miss from birbsite is basically CofE Twitter. I haven't found where the weird Anglo-Catholics hang out here.

PhD stuff: I got stuck again, not on the work but on the corrections etc.

Other composing: I haven't done any for a very long time.

I've been playing organ again though.

One of the bottlenecks seems to be around fluency. When thye ask for "examples from the literature" I never know if they mean, like, papers people have written, or pieces of music. I got some (probable) clarity on that for a few things though, which also helps.

Specifically, my supervisor was able to say "actually, no, people aren't using hymnody in the way that you do, and it *is* innovative"

I don't feel like it is? To me it's just... fun and interesting? But still, that helps.

Meeting with supervisor went decently, I am more on track than I thought.

My supervisor *does* believe my work is PhD-worthy.

I would like to get the PhD just to not give in, if that makes sense. So often when I'm metaphorically kicked I just roll over without defending myself, because when I was growing up that was the safest option.

I need to defend myself in order to not retraumatise myself by replicating the experience.

But I honestly don't see the "research" in my work that my external is looking for.

Struggling a lot with my corrections. I can see how my external examiner is trying to ask me "leading" questions to get me to the point he wants me to make, but...

...I don't think the point is there.

I don't think there is much that is objectively ground-breaking or new in my music, beyond "I wrote it and someone else didn't". And I'm fine with that as a composer, but a PhD has to be "research" which means substantial innovation of some kind.

Had a PhD supervision on Friday and I am finally sortof on track with corrections and so on.