Middle School Music: Matt Swanson

Since 1974, the George Taylor Grant Travel Program has allowed up to ten teachers each year to receive funds toward refreshing and enlightening travel experiences, thanks to the E.E Ford Foundation. This rewarding sabbatical was named in honor of former Dean of Faculty and English teacher, George Taylor, who emphasized the importance of pursuing passions through travel, study, and reflection. The Bush School now awards up to $50,000 per year to fund travel grant opportunities so faculty and staff can bring new experiences and perspectives back to students after enjoying a period of rejuvenation and reflection.

“During graduate school at the University of Washington, my colleague Karen was always talking about the time she spent in Ghana; she’d been going there since ‘97,” Matt shared. “She had connected to this village called Dagbamete, and spent many summers studying there with the Master Drummer Kwasi Dunyo. I saw videos of her playing lead drum with these Ewe musicians, and I was completely blown away.”

After hearing that Karen was organizing a summer trip of music teachers and scholars, Matt decided to use his travel grant funds to join the trip to the Dagbamete Village, located in the Akatsi South district of the Volta Region. Matt most looked forward to traveling to a continent he’s never visited before alongside like-minded musicians with a passion for Ghanaian music.

“All the friends who attended this group trip are choir directors, music teachers, and music professors—everyone is a musician, going to Ghana to study music with Kwasi in this village,” Matt said.

While visiting the Dagbamete Village during summer music school, Matt made several strong connections with the Ghanaian community, other musicians, and the drumming instructor, Kwasi.

“Kwasi is now a professor in Toronto who runs the summer music programs in his home village,” Matt said. “He was a very impactful teacher. His presence, his way of getting us to be able to do things that we didn’t think we could do musically—he’s truly a master teacher. I was learning as much about pedagogy and the craft of teaching as much as the music itself.”
 

Matt also interacted with the villagers and enjoyed playing with the kids, who hadn’t yet returned to school. The children of the Dagbamete Village were a wonderful part of Matt’s music journey.

“I brought a frisbee along, which I ended up leaving with the kids,” Matt shared. “We would play frisbee, juggle soccer balls, open coconuts with machetes. The kids were very present during our music lessons, playing everything better than us. During free time, we got to hang out and play together, and that was a very special experience.”

Playing music with the Dagbamete villagers was liberating for Matt, who prefers hands-on learning instead of traditional. He loved the immersive method of learning music, which required the students to play, sing, and dance simultaneously.

“A lot of music teachers are traditionally trained,” Matt said. “But learning in this experience was based on immersive listening and observation, and I loved that we were expected to sing and dance while learning a song. You learn three times better that way—your body, hands, and voice remember because you activate more parts of your brain when you’re learning.”

Matt’s travels to West Africa served as an opportunity for him to explore music in a different environment and in a new way. He learned about the varied perspectives and experiences in Ghanaian culture, drumming, and music, and now feels more confident as a music instructor since his visit. His summer in Ghana gave him the chance to be part of a holistic and welcoming community which puts music at its center.

“I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed a community that was so supportive and intertwined,” Matt said. “Their community was based around these drumming groups, which weren’t only for playing music—they were support networks which encouraged everyone to participate.”

Since returning to Bush, Matt has formed a West African Drumming class of his own, which now practices Monday, Thursday, and Friday as part of the Bush Middle School E-lective program. Through these immersive E-lectives, students build strong new connections with each other through a shared love of music. Like the villagers of Dagbamete, Bush students build on the power of friendship, support, and connection; they show up for each other and work together to achieve great things.