About this art: The previous submission was a video of someone dancing to a Frank Sinatra song that referenced sailing. I decided to go with composing, even though my skills are rusty! At the time, I was teaching my 11th graders about Romantic Era German Lied, and the idea of a poem text set to piano accompaniment was stuck in my mind. I wrote a piano part that felt wave-like, with undulating arpeggiated chords. I searched online for poems about sailing that I liked, and this one resonated with my mood that day. I haven't composed since my undergraduate classes, and even that was just a few phrases at a time to illustrate something in the style of a specific composer, so this was a fun "stretching" exercise for some very unused musical skills.
About Nichole Mayes: Nichole Mayes has been teaching at International Academy East for 10 years, and currently teaches all the choir and orchestra ensembles, as well as the 11th grade class of Diploma Program Music. She attended Eastern Michigan University for a Bachelor of Music in Instrumental Music Education, and Oakland University for a Master of Music in Music Education. She is currently working on her PhD in Music Education at Oakland University. Mrs. Mayes has worked many summers as a chamber music and sectional coach for the MASTA summer camps. She is a frequent guest clinician and sectional coach for other orchestra programs in Southeast Michigan. Mrs. Mayes is the Music Department Chair for all three campuses of the IA. She is also a student of the Alexander Technique, an educational method that combines meditation with the study of anatomy to improve posture-related issues in music performance. She is a member of the American String Teachers Association, as well as MSBOA and MSVMA.