'A Voice to Our Emotions'

By WENDY LAW

I was recently invited to play at the memorial ceremony, "A Tribute to Our Fallen Colleagues" at the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York on September 19. U.N. staff and family members of those who lost their lives in the recent attack on the U.N. compound in Baghdad gathered for the occasion to mourn for their loved ones. It was a personal honor to perform—but most importantly, it was an honor to be needed as a musician and as an artist to take part in this healing process.

Wendy Law (Photo by Susan Wilson)

The experience was surreal in many ways. Some of the world's most important leaders have gathered at the U.N., and pivotal historic decisions have been made in that room. Just about half a year ago, we saw President Bush appearing at the General Assembly, attempting to convince the U.N. to approve a military operation against Iraq. Performing right next to the podium where many world leaders have spoken, in front of an audience of 3,000, was somewhat overwhelming, not to mention seeing Secretary General Kofi Annan himself sitting in the front row in the audience.

But I didn't let all that stuff get to me; I knew why I was there as an artist. I was there to help honor the people whose lives were cut short because of hatred and war. I was there to help the victims' families honor their loved ones in a meaningful way. The least I could do as a musician was to provide music to console, and to commiserate with some of their pain and suffering.

I played the Allemande from the Fifth Bach Cello Suite, with the A string tuned down to a G (as indicated by Bach), in both the cello version and a transcription of the original lute version by my former teacher, Laurence Lesser. The lute version is filled with ornamentation written by Bach himself, with unexpected but extremely beautiful harmonies. I played my heart out, as this particular Bach movement is one of my favorites.

We are living in a time of war, terrorism, and financial instability. As performing artists, we are constantly competing with all kinds of dynamic visual media (pop culture, TV, the Internet), fighting to be heard and to be acknowledged for the work that we do. Budget cuts in school arts programs and in arts institutions make our future look gloomy, and the careless attitude toward the arts in our culture make some of us question our roles as artists and our importance in society.

After performing for 3,000 people overcome with grief and sadness, feeling and seeing the effect music had on them, and receiving their heartfelt thanks after the ceremony, it dawned on me how vital artists are, how much we are needed.

I firmly believe that being an artist is about more than just performing. It is about bringing people together, making connections and sharing. We play many roles. We are storytellers, bringing fantasies, myths, and imagination to life. We are historians, tracing the legacies from Bach to Shakespeare, threading thousands of years of human knowledge, science, into fabrics of artistic forms. We are communicators, using our art to invoke emotions, to convey expressions, and to make political statements. We are healers, reaching out to people through our art, consoling, moving, and giving hope. We are entertainers, bringing joy to our audiences as we create and inspire.

We are healers, reaching out to people through our art, consoling, moving, and giving hope.

The experience of playing at the United Nations will always be unforgettable. It was made even more so by a letter that I received from the Secretary General a week later. He wrote, "Your cello gave a voice to our emotions at a time when words were simply not enough to express how deeply we mourn the loss of colleagues, friends and loved ones. Your performance was a vivid demonstration of the power of music to transcend language and culture and to bring people together."

The letter from the Secretary General means more to me than any praise I have received in my life, because of his recognition of the importance and power of art. I was moved to tears when I first read it, touched that he saw that art has the ability to heal, to communicate, and to unite. It reaffirms my belief that we as artists have special responsibilities in the world: to nurture the human spirit, to bring meaning to our lives, and to cultivate and celebrate creativity and expression. The experience gives me hope and encourages me to continue my work as an artist, and to continue to spread and advocate something that we all believe in so strongly: the arts.

Wendy Law is an artist diploma candidate in cello.