Youth Performers Impress at Totem Star Open Mic
Last Wednesday, June 25th, I attended the Totem Star Open Mic Solstice Celebration, not really sure what to expect of the evening. I work at Youngstown during the day, and had heard snippets of students’ rehearsals, but had no idea what the performances would be like. As it turned out, the variety of genres was much greater than I would have guessed. The audience was entertained and engaged throughout the evening by everything from spoken word poetry and free style rap, to pop-song covers, electronica and original songs.
I was delightfully surprised to find that all of the performers were not only talented musicians and vocalists, but also behaved with a high degree of professionalism. After all, part of Totem Star’s purpose at Youngstown is to prepare students for careers in the recording industry, which includes teaching about professionalism on the job and in performance. In true open-mic fashion, audience members were encouraged to sign up to perform. Totem Star instructors, Thaddeus Turner and Daniel Pak, made sure to include everyone in the learning process. At the start of the show, they addressed the audience and students, speaking about what it means to behave professionally, and the steps each performer should go through to ensure a positive and problem-free performance. As a non-performing audience member, it was great to get this insider look at how the program prepares students with valuable job skills.
An exciting last-minute addition to the program was the Youth Speaks Seattle team from Arts Corps. Since 2003, Youth Speaks Seattle has been the city’s premier collective for youth spoken word poetry. The Seattle team joined the Totem Star Open Mic to present original works they’ve been preparing for Brave New Voices, a nation-wide youth poetry event they’ll be attending in Philadelphia this July. If the Open Mic performance was any indication, Philadelphia is going to be blown away by the talent of Seattle’s five member team.
As was the intent, the Totem Star Open Mic served to provide a collaborative space in which artists of all ages and backgrounds could come together to share their passions and talents. And it truly was a supportive environment: at one point in the evening, while waiting for the next act to set up, a student in the audience requested a moment with the microphone, and proceeded to offer his praise and respect to several previous acts. It was inspiring to watch the participants share such a positive experience and offer each other words of encouragement and support.
I am so glad I took the time to attend this event and show support for these hard-working youth. If you were unable to attend the show, keep an eye out for future opportunities to see these students thrive. Totem Star will be back at Youngstown in the fall, continuing to offer music and recording classes to any interested youth. Thanks Totem Star!