Page 21 - Providence Christian College - Fall 2018

MakinG MuSic With MeaninG
by mark Pomerville
when micAelA “KAylA” brown ’16 was only six years old, her parents encouraged her to play a musical instrument. She was allowed to choose any instrument she wanted to learn. The only catch? Once Brown made a choice, she would have to stick with it until she graduated from high school.
Brown chose the piano, and, for the next 17 years, she committed herself to endless practicing and performing at countless recitals. As Brown’s talent for music increased, so did her desire to further pursue her craft and write her own music.
In August 2012, Brown began to research different colleges where she could major in music. Brown’s father, Reverend Michael Brown of Christ United Reformed Church (URC) in Santee, California, delivered the inaugural chapel address at Providence Christian College’s first retreat in 2005, so she was fully aware of Providence but never considered attending as they didn’t offer a specific degree in music.
However, despite her initial reservations, Brown was intrigued by the idea of a broad, liberal arts education and enrolled. For the next four years, she continued taking piano lessons from Music Professor Dr. Lawrence Mumford and singing during chapel worship. Brown found that her understanding of music grew far beyond simply playing notes on a page, and was challenged to examine the true meaning and beauty of art itself in relation to a sovereign Creator.
“A liberal arts education affected how I construct my songwriting in ways I couldn’t have imagined,” says Brown. “One of the best classes I ever took was Philosophy of Art with Art Instructor Bernard
Chadwick. The entire course was a conversation in which I was asked the big questions such as: ‘What is art?’ and ‘What is its purpose?’ I realized that when I write music for the world to hear, I have to ask myself: ‘What am I striving for?’ Is this song that I’m writing reflecting God’s truth?’ I’m always striving to convey the philosophy of beauty that I learned.”
In May 2016, Brown graduated with her liberal arts degree with an emphasis in Humanities and Visual and Performing Arts. Today, Brown is a singer and pianist in an alternative-pop musical duo entitled, Merch Girl, aptly named after she met her music colleague while selling merchandise at a concert in the summer of 2016.
Her duo has written several songs, two of which are available on Spotify and iTunes: “Are You There” and “Darling”. Additionally, Brown teaches piano lessons to young students at her private home studio.
In both instructing youth and writing music, Brown utilizes her Providence education to compose and inspire future musicians to find deeper meaning and examine their faith within the art they create.
“The very process of making music is challenging and difficult,” says Brown. “It is this complicated process of creativity that leads to the expressive, transcendent experience in which the musician gains a deeper understanding
of God. The underlying theme to most of my songs is redemption. Liberal arts elevated my understanding of art as grace, and seeing that, no matter how tainted things are in a fallen world, God’s beauty can be found in every form of art, including the lyrics of a song.”
Deeper Learning for Greater Wisdom
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