I have an issue with folx.
I know it’s supposed to be more inclusive, but “folks” is not not-inclusive.
And peeps is weird and seems self-conscious. And don’t get me started on “dawg.” Please.
Kids/Kiddos – maybe if I’m talking to my students, but it seems awfully casual.
But “Peep-a-doodles” tickles me.
I also like “Change Makers.” Because I feel like we do make change, as performers (and not just at the restaurant or retail jobs that support us as we are starting out).
Arthur O’Shaughnessy’s poem Music and Moonlight (1874) is known primarily for its opening stanza:
We are the music makers,
And we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers,
And sitting by desolate streams;—
World-losers and world-forsakers,
On whom the pale moon gleams:
Yet we are the movers and shakers
Of the world for ever, it seems.
The poem has been set to music by a variety of composers, most notably Sir Edward Elgar in his work, The Music Makers for mezzo-soprano and orchestra (why don’t I know/haven’t sung this??). But how we know it best is from this more contemporary classic:
So perhaps this week I will greet you with:
- “Hello, dreamer of dreams!”
- “Good day, music maker!”
- “Hey, peep-a-doodles!”
It’ll all depend on my mood. Wait and see.
Don’t forget about studio class this Wednesday! More on that (and the following ones) to come!