About the Author

Elizabeth Nolan is a music teacher in Burlington, Vermont and the author of the New Neighbors Music Project curriculum.  

“When I was fifteen years old, I went to a conference in Washington state where I had the great privilege of participating in a week long ‘power singing’ workshop with song leader and ethnomusicologist Nick Page. Nick introduced our rag-tag group of apathetic Unitarian teens (this was 1990) to a world of folk music that pulled at our heartstrings and united us in the solidarity of song. This was the seed that eventually developed into my career as a music educator. My passion for world music and the power of music to communicate across cultures was born in that week and has continued to develop as I have taught for sixteen years in Chittenden County, Vermont.

I studied music at Keene State College in New Hampshire where I had great experiences performing with everything from a Collegium Musicum that specialized in Medieval and Renaissance vocal music to a Latin American music ensemble. I began my career teaching elementary music but soon found my niche as a middle level choral and general music teacher, first at Colchester Middle School, then at Browns River in Jericho, VT and currently, for the past nine years, at Edmunds Middle School in Burlington. My transition to the Burlington School system was greatly due to the diverse demographics in the city. I was excited about the opportunity to work with refugee students from different corners of the world and use music as a level playing field for exploring cultural differences and similarities.

When I was approached by the Vermont Folklife Center to help develop curriculum to utilize the vast library of music they were recording from our new American communities, I jumped at the chance. The challenge was to create an interdisciplinary unit of study that utilized the musical resources while creating space for students to explore different aspects of culture and identity. I wanted every student to feel that their personal story is rich in culture and value. The depth of emotional and cultural content in the music samples created a variety of access points for students at different developmental levels. Elementary, middle, and high school students can find connections to this music both in its musical elements and its content and function in society. The ability for students to practice discussing music beyond their personal emotional reactions lays the groundwork for students to begin to share their personal cultural experiences through the lens of music in a safe and accepting environment.

Nick Page’s power songs launched me on my current path of personal and cultural exploration when I was an emerging adult. I hope that humanities and music teachers alike will find this curriculum useful as a tool for students to begin the lifelong journey of developing understanding and acceptance of one’s own culture and the cultures of the world.”

– Elizabeth Nolan