SP2426 I Choose

SP2426 I Choose Reproducible Kit by Elizabeth Camozzi / downloadable pdf and audio files In the summer of 2024, my colleague Meg asked me to consider writing a song for our students’ AOSA performance, and the song came together in 24 hours. I resonated with the word “choose” and began to think of what choice means to children, and what I hope for all children. With Orff Schulwerk being grounded in singing, dancing and playing, it was easy to add those words. But in the face of an unknown future, I thought about what I hoped for all children; what I see in my own classroom, with my colleagues, with my family and children: to laugh out loud, to be ourselves and proud of our decisions, and together as a community, always inviting others. I am a cis-het white ally, a childhood cancer survivor, a musician and a dancer, and I write from all of those identities. When I woke from my childhood cancer surgery,I was given a new chance to dance and live brightly, sharing  a love for life that is never a guarantee. I grew up churched, and community was built through song. As a mother, I wish for my children a joyful, thoughtful and loving life. As I grew in my allyship, I saw a chance to build community through songs of hope and truly seeing each other. During the pandemic of 2020, I began to write songs focused on social-emotional health and since have produced two albums. The world can feel so incredibly overwhelming, but I find a bit of light when we create music together. The octave lift in the beginning of the song felt powerful, that a child’s voice can soar over the chaos around us and can declare their choice. There is something poignant in a child declaring themselves, with their innocence and gentle voice. It was an exciting moment when I could hear the chorus and verse partnering together, the declaration sung over the description of challenges facing us. I set it in the key of C in case we wanted to add barred instruments, and though that key brings a singer into their chest voice, it built a fire to the performance that was powerfully surprising. Elizabeth Camozzi (she/her) teaches elementary music and movement at Saint Paul Academy and Summit School in St. Paul, Minnesota. She holds her Master’s degree of Music Education through the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, with her certifications in Kodály and Orff Schulwerk. She enjoys combining pedagogies in her humanitarian compositions. She has released two albums under her stage name Composey.