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The Mill Creek High School Chorus performing their final number as an ensemble in the Spring Show of
2011- Picture by Chase Lakhani
Maria Smart
11:15 FYE1410.P
Paper #1- Culture
A Musicians Take on Culture
A Definition
The fifth definition of culture in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary states the customary
beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group; also : the
characteristic features of everyday existence (as diversions or a way of life} shared by people in
a place or time. This is the most accurate representation of the way I have always defined
culture in my life. When I define culture, or explain it to people, I always say that culture is what
defines you as a person. What has influenced your life in the biggest way, the things that make
you the person you are. Culture is the person you are when you are being yourself. You could be
a football fanatic or a comic book nerd, whatever it is some part of culture has influenced you to
adopt that into your life, making that the culture of you.
The Impact on a Musician
I grew up in a very diverse family. My moms side is very much an Italian family from
New Jersey and very proud of it, while my dads side is very much a good old southern family,
so because of that I grew up listening to many different genres of music. While I was a baby my
mom could only get me to sleep by playing music from the Broadway or Disney genre. As I
grew up so did my taste in music, while I went through a few years where I only wanted to listen
to what was taken as cool music, I learned to appreciate every genre for the fact that these
people have talent in what they love. Because of this I am here today a double major in Choral
Music Education and Vocal Performance.
On the one hand I got to hear my grandfather on my dads side (my Poppy) write and
perform his own folksy blues compositions; he was always singing or playing piano while he
was alive. He was a member of the Shriners and would sing to the children quite often. His wife
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The Mill Creek High School Chorus performing their final number as an ensemble in the Spring Show of
2011- Picture by Chase Lakhani
Martha (my Nana) was a music lover and appreciator; however she only dabbled in music, never
really got serious about it. My Nana and Poppy passed on when I was still in elementary school,
too young to really appreciate them but they are the biggest reason I am a Music Major. When I
would go to my dads house and see their urns or something that they used to own I felt like
there was a spark set in me by my Poppy at an early age to make a difference with music the way
he did. I know that while they arent with me now, they are smiling down on me as I break into
this world of music and try to define my life by the culture I was brought up in.
My grandparents on my mothers side grew up with the classics like Frank Sinatra and
Dean Martin, so naturally while living with them I picked up on the music. Throughout my
childhood I always had an appreciation for all things rat pack and Broadway style because of
them. While they never actually were musicians they bought me my first piano and helped pay
for my lessons. I was always influenced by their appreciation of music even though they lacked
talent. Now as they are approaching eighty they finally get to hear the voice that I have inside, a
truly operatic voice that makes them so very proud, and it is because of them that I listened and
decided to become an opera focus.

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The Mill Creek High School Chorus performing their final number as an ensemble in the Spring Show of
2011- Picture by Chase Lakhani
My favorite part of the culture of being a music major is the ensembles. With being in an
ensemble you gain a second family, a place you can call home away from home. Your ensemble
becomes your life, your love, and your breath. While I have had my ups and downs with
choruses I can say that I truly had my best experiences in high school in chorus. We had so much
fun choreographing and performing numbers. In the picture we were performing a medley of
different beach themed songs and had gathered together for the ballad Surfer Girl by The
Beach Boys. I am proud to say that culture has had the biggest influence on my life and who I
am.

Works Cited
"culture." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, 2012.
Web. 1 September 2012.

Mill Creek High School Advanced Choral Spring Show, Hoschton, Ga. 20. May. 2011.
Photograph by Chase Lakhani. JPEG file.