For Good Measure, by Ensemble for These Times (E4TT) Episode 31: Dawn Norfleet (part 6)
Looking for a way to listen to diverse creators and to support equity in the arts? Tune in weekly to For Good Measure!
In this week’s episode, we talk to Dawn Norfleet about how she became a youth mentor and how teaching youth has helped her grow as an artist. If you enjoyed today’s conversation and want to know more about Dawn Norfleet, check her out here: music.columbia.edu/bios/dawn-norfleet . Parts of this episode originally premiered on January 2022, found on Youtube, click here.
This podcast is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Council and generous donors, like you. Want to support For Good Measure and E4TT? Make a tax-deductible donation or sign up for our newsletter, and subscribe to the podcast!
Intro music: “Trifolium” by Gabriela Ortiz, performed by E4TT (Ilana Blumberg, violin; Abigail Monroe, cello; Margaret Halbig, piano), as part of “Below the Surface: Music by Women Composers,” January 29, 2022 Outro music: “Lake Turkana” by Marcus Norris, performed by E4TT (Margaret Halbig, piano), as part of “Alchemy,” October 15, 2021
Transcription courtesy of Otter.ai.
Producer, Host, and E4TT co-founder: Nanette McGuinness Audio Engineer: Stephanie M. Neumann Podcast Cover Art: Brennan Stokes Interns: Roziht Edwards and Merve Tokar
[INTRO MUSIC] Welcome to For Good Measure, an interview series celebrating diverse composers and other creative artists sponsored by grant from the California Arts Council. I'm Nanette McGuinness, artistic executive director of Ensemble For These Times. In this week's episode, we continue our conversation with Dawn Norfleet, who we spoke to in January 2022[INTRO MUSIC ENDS]. You're a wonderful advocate for quality youth arts programs, can you tell us about what you've been doing and how you got involved?
Dawn Norfleet:
Well, I guess as an artistic person, sometimes we're we're very intuitive and very sensitive, or at least that's my excuse, and you get so self absorbed. And as you know, wallowing in self pity, and there have been moments where I was just like, blah, you know, I'm not famous yet and blah, and you know, this isn't going my way. And, and the message that I kept getting back to me was, well, if you're so stuck in yourself, why don't you come out of yourself and volunteer, do something, all right, do something to help someone else. And so finally, that opportunity came when, when I started working as a, as a, working with the NANCPs XL program, it stands for Afro academic, tech, cultural, technological and scientific Olympics. And it's actually a program that started in the 1970s. And it was created to give high school students, African American specifically, but not exclusively, you know, a chance to excel and be mentored and to network with others. And, and I started doing that in, oh, maybe 2009. And I'm still doing it. Every time sorry. I said, Okay. I'm just, I'm just so busy, I can't do it. And then I keep doing it.
Nanette McGuinness:
Make room because
Dawn Norfleet:
I make room and, and, you know, the students, they give me life. They give me you know, inspiration, and I learn from them. I always learn from them. And I'm in touch with with a lot of the students still, I was working at, at a middle school as like directing music programs. And some of those people are now in their late 20s. And a lot of them are still doing music. And again, I'm in touch with them. And and it's, it's, it's just a beautiful thing. Mentorship is something I didn't have growing up. I had to figure out a lot of things, even in college and in grad school. I found mentors after that experience for the most part. So for that reason, I guess that was I guess, not having had mentorship and seeing the importance of mentorship. I wanted to offer that to students. And so So I do see myself as a mentor. And I think it is very, very important.
Nanette McGuinness:
[OUTRO MUSIC] Thank you for listening to For Good Measure, and a special thank you to our guest, Dawn Norfleet for joining us today. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to our podcast by clicking on the subscribe button and support us by sharing it with your friends, posting about it on social media and leaving us a rating and a review. To learn more about E4TT Our concert season online and in the Bay Area where to make a tax deductible donation, please visit us at www.E4TT.org. This podcast is made possible in part by a grant from the California Arts Council and generous donors like you. "For Good Measure" is produced by Nanette McGuinness and Ensemble for These Times, and designed by Brennan Stokes. With special thanks to audio engineer extraordinaire Stephanie Neumann. Remember to keep supporting equity in the arts and tune in next week "for good measure." [OUTRO MUSIC ENDS]