The outskirts of Santa Fe, as seen from a 15 passenger van on route 25
Hello from sunny and beautiful Santa Fe! I’m here with colleagues as part of the annual Berklee Gracenotes service trip.
Though I’ve been looking forward to this week for a while, I don’t think I was prepared for how downright expansive this journey would be. The wide open landscapes, the breadth of history culture and art of this area, the community impact through our volunteer work– it all has a far-reaching feel to it.
I’ve been riding this marvelous de ja vu since arriving here in New Orleans two days ago with our 2015 sponsorship group. Five years ago I stepped off a plane with six Berklee colleagues and strangers as a participant in the 2010 group. This year I feel fortunate to come back with seven new colleagues to lead the group and share all the wonders of this beautiful city.
Ain’t Misbehavin on the Mississippi banks performed by Sue Buzzard
Ashley Macchia (faculty development), Jessica Halton (Institutional Advancement), Andrew Crawford (IT), Sue Buzzard (Berklee Online), Ruthie Ristich (Ear Training, faculty), Jordan Lockaby (Admissions), Julia Polanco (IT) and I landed in NOLA on Monday afternoon, and settled into the Best Western French Quarter hotel. First few items on our agenda? Immerse and explore! I’m happy to say we have accomplished both with incredible Nawlins’ style dinners at Oceana in the French Quarter (Monday) and Jacques-Imo’s (Tuesday). We strolled through beautiful Jackson Square, gorged ourselves on coffee and beignet’s at Cafe du Monde and strolled along the Mississippi. Sue took out her violin and entertained us with her rendition “Ain’t Misbehavin’ while we tried to catch a breeze from the water. The humidity in NOLA is no joke and we found ourselves taking a quick “shower” in the fountains outside the Aquarium of the Americas.
Jordan, Ashly, Julia, Andrew, Sue and Laurie
Laurie, Andrew, Jordan fresh from the fountains Today will be our first day on the construction site with Habitat for Humanity. I’m looking forward to reporting back!
Our worksite is in the 7th ward of New Orleans. We started building from the ground up, so the progress at the end of the day is impressive and really measurable. Here’s a quick tour: Tour Worksite
We begin with this...
End of day 1
End of day 2
Monday brings a new team of Berklee faculty and staff to New Orleans. The goal: to build homes with Habitat for Humanity and rebuild the birthplace of jazz.
While other institutions may have suffered “Katrina fatigue” and moved on, Berklee’s 2011 team noted how much New Orleans still needs help. Since the Big Easy has such historical significance to Berklee in light of the rich musical output, we want to offer continued support to bring culture back to the city, as many musicians and residents can only return if they have a place to call home. There’s still a waitlist. And next week, the college’s 6th team will be representing Berklee to build homes and bring the city–and the music–back.
On Monday, we landed in New Orleans. Some of us have made this journey before, others have not. While we are all here for a common purpose, each of us will take away something unique in addition to the shared experiences. In addition to sharing our stories, this blog will help us reflect on what we see, feel, and do.
Copyright © 2023 Berklee College of Music