On Monday, our Upper School students enjoyed a presentation by Dr. Timothy Amukele, a St. Louis physician who is also an accomplished composer and arranger, for this year’s Bond Lecture. Dr. Amukele’s opera Kandake was staged earlier this month by Opera Theater of Saint Louis. He began his remarks to us by playing divergent renditions of popular songs—different takes of For Once In My Life by Stevie Wonder and Frank Sinatra, for example, and of Billie Jean by Michael Jackson and Chris Cornell—and then asking the audience to reflect on each arrangement’s emotional impact. Afterwards, I emailed students to ask for their own favorite cover versions of songs, and I received a wide range of responses.
On the basis of their input, I have created a playlist of 14 original songs paired with 14 creative covers that I am happy to share with you here (Apple Music / Spotify). Many thanks to Dalton Costick (11th grade), Cam Cozad (10th grade), Daniel Damon (10th grade), Tommy Goodman (11th grade), Justin Karam (10th grade), Logan Niemeier (9th grade), Nina Schuerer (12th grade), Alexandra Smith (10th grade), and numerous other students who contributed their suggestions. Ultimately, to keep the length of the playlist within reason, I limited song selections to those that inspired notably distinctive reinterpretations of the original recordings. I was sorry not to include everyone’s favorites!
After listening to the playlist, if you would like to weigh in with your own reactions to different arrangements of the same songs, feel free to complete this follow-up survey—in part or in whole—that I have also shared with our Upper School students. The submission confirmation page includes a “See previous responses” option to let you compare your opinions to those of others.
How fortunate we were that Dr. Amukele, a medical doctor, chose to spend most of his time with us extolling the power of music. No individual should be understood exclusively—or should limit their self-understanding exclusively—to a single talent, trait, passion, or purpose. If we believe in anything at MICDS, we believe in the vastness of human potential.
Always reason, always compassion, always courage. My best wishes to you and your families for a joyful long weekend.
Jay Rainey
Head of School
This week’s addition to the “Refrains for Rams” playlist: For Once In My Life by Stevie Wonder (Apple Music / Spotify)