Why Study Music?

"If I cannot fly, let me sing!" - taken from Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street

This is my favorite quote from any piece of musical theatre.  In the scene where we hear this quote, a woman is a captive of her overbearing guardian and expresses her wish for freedom to the birds that live near her bedroom window.  She is jealous of a bird's ability to take flight and travel where they wish when she is kept inside of her bedroom for most of her life.  Imploring the birds for inner strength, she proclaims that if they cannot help her physically escape from her imprisonment, at least teach her how to joyfully sing to mentally escape the lonely hours in her room.

To me, music is the purest form of freedom we can give ourselves.  It allows us to express ourselves fully without reservation or judgement.  How many times have we belted out our favorite song in the shower, or engaged in carpool karaoke?  In these moments, we allow ourselves true freedom of expression and usually feel good about ourselves.  In a chaotic world full of deadlines, stress, and social expectations, who wouldn't want to give themselves the gift of a few moments of self-expression each day?

 Green Finch and Linnet Bird - Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street