New York Composer Works With Students To Write, Record New Song

From North Shore Country Day School:

What started as a blank sheet of music on a Monday morning transformed into a soon-to-be published choral song by Thursday afternoon. “There’s something magical for a child to look at a blank paper and turn it into a song,” said award winning New York City based composer Jim Papoulis, who spent the week at North Shore Country Day School in Winnetka working with the Lower School chorus to write an original song.

“It’s empowering for them to come up with a concept and then do it,” Papoulis continued. “They’re expressing their spirits, souls and imagination.”

Beginning November 18, Papoulis spent about two hours each day with the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade singers. They learned about each other as they worked hard toward their mutual goal of creating a song. “On day one, I just want to get to know them,” he explained. “I want them to feel comfortable. I want to get up to their level.”

Once they found some common ground, Papoulis started asking questions of the students to understand what was on their minds. “I ask them what they would do if they could change the world,” he said. “I ask them what gives them joy. What are the qualities of a good person and what are the important parts of life.”

From their answers, a song started to evolve. “The lyrics to this year’s song are pretty special,” Papoulis said.

Titled “All You Need,” the lyrics revolve around the idea of finding common ground to make the world a better place. “What can we do? What do we need to bring the world together,” the song asks. “All you need is love. All you need is respect. Let’s all lift our voices and turn this world around,” the song continues.

“It’s a beautiful message, especially in this day,” Papoulis said.

Lower School music teacher Linda Kiracibasi agreed. “I still sit there in amazement. Our Lower School kids never lack ideas,” she said.

“Usually they pick a word,” Kiracibasi explained. “This year I believe it was love—and they just go from there. The song truly is all their words.”

The morning of November 21, Papoulis and the choir traveled to VSOP studio with their creation in hand to record it in a professional environment. Later that evening, they performed it live in a concert at NSCD.

This is Papoulis’s ninth time since 2002 working with students at the School.

“Usually I only work with a place once,” he explained. “But there’s something special about this community—the spirit here—that struck me; the social consciousness [of the community].”

This release was produced by North Shore Country Day School. The views expressed here are the author's own.