"Where I’m From" is a poem written in 1993 by George Ella Lyon. She wrote this beautiful work to give a sensory description of all of the sights, smells, tastes, and feelings of home. In Summer 2019, NPR created a project around her poem to engage their listeners to create their own work. Where I’m From: A Crowdsourced Poem That Collects Your Memories of Home.
Inspired by this, ACG Director of Education and GuitarCurriculum.com author Travis Marcum created "Where I'm From" an ostinato based guitar ensemble composition intended to be performed with spoken-word poetry.
At our 2022 GuitarCurriculum.com Teacher Summit, participants were invited to use the original poem as a template to create their own poetry. The whole group then compiled different parts of each poem to build a collective image of home. These words were then read along with the instrumental performance by the group.
This performance can be seen in the video below.
Thank you to all the teachers who participated and brought this project to life.
I myself was lucky to be able to attend and participate in this unique experience. Seeing it take shape in only 3 days was breathtaking. The 2022 Teacher Summit was full of amazing workshops, lectures, and performances, but the feeling in the room when performing this work was truly something special.
If you are interested in doing this project with your school check out the "special projects" page in "materials".
As always, if you have questions about this project, or anything else, please reach out to joshua@austinclassicalguitar.org.