Category: Teachers

I am so excited by the three albums featured here. Each album is written and performed by a dynamic female artist, sharing messages that will encourage and empower listeners of all ages. In a world that can often feel very heavy, all of the music below will bring a smile to your face and put a spring in your step.

Together performed by Heather Feather

It’s not often that I get to be in the room when a song is born, but that is exactly what happened at the 2024 Children’s Music Network conference when Heather Feather and friends took the stage and performed the beginning seeds of what would become, “Party,” the opening track on Together, Heather’s second album for families. Filled with energy, great beats, and a message about inclusion, “Party” is the perfect song to kick things off. Based in Montreal, Heather is a bilingual performer whose experience as an educator and performer (she has just started a new endeavor as a teaching artist for Prologue Arts) is evident in the social emotional concepts skillfully woven throughout the ten songs in this collection. Each song tells its own story while employing a variety of musical genres. Heather touches on messages of kindness, sharing, caring, and acceptance while emphasizing the ways to deal with different emotions as in “Fill Your Bucket,” about finding happiness, and “The Angry Song” which explores ways to deal with anger. Additional themes include it’s ok to not be a winner as long as you tried your best, the importance of encouraging those around you, as well as the fact that everyone needs to feel important and included. Holding a PhD in music theory, Heather is a gifted songwriter who artfully creates music that engages, while also allowing her beautiful soprano voice to shine. A perfect example of this is the final song on the album, “A Fishy Tale,” a jazzy cumulative tune that would be a fantastic addition to storytimes. Never didactic and always entertaining, Together is an album to be enjoyed by the whole family.

Wonder FULL performed by Dana

Dana is the personification of sunshine. She fills every room she enters with love and joy and does the same thing with her music. Her latest album, Wonder FULL is no exception. Inspired by the seemingly never ending questions that children come up with, each track tackles a different question word (who, what, when, how) and gives some answers. First up is “WHY WHAT WHERE WHO? (30th Anniversary Version)” proving the evergreen nature of the inquisitive minds of the young. From there, Dana channels her inner rock goddess for the electric guitar and drum driven “WHICH (One Will I Choose)” about the struggle to select green vegetables at the grocery store before switching gears and flowing into the flute laden, “WHO (Are My People),” a celebration of family and the ones we love. Also included are songs about having to wait, helping the environment, and the seasons. After asking all the questions, the album concludes with the song, “ANSWERS (Will Come)” a beautiful tune that reassures listeners that they don’t have to have all the answers now, and that learning and discovering is an ongoing part of life. Dana’s versatile voice conveys lyrics that young listeners can relate to while a cadre of talented musicians elevate the sophisticated melodies into songs that adults will want to turn up the volume and jam to.

Herstory performed by Flor Bromley

Known for her bilingual music for families, Flor Bromley takes a different approach to her latest collection, Herstory, a concept album that celebrates women from every continent. The title track anthem sets the tone with a chorus of female voices of all ages proclaiming, “Herstory, herstory, I want to hear her story/Herstory herstory, I want to hear our story.” From there, listeners are treated to songs about brave, talented, smart, incredible women; some who are well known and some that they might be meeting for the first time. Included in the collection are astronaut Emily Calandrelli (North America), author Isabel Allende (South America), Olympic marathon champion Fatuma Roba (Africa), singer Gloria Estefan (Central America), environmental activist Greta Thunberg (Europe), inventor Sahithi Pingali (Asia), explorers Clare Ballantyne, Mairi Hilton, Natalie Corbett and Lucy Bruzzone (Antarctica -penguins!), and politician Louisa Wall (Oceania). The beauty of the album isn’t just in the variety of women that are highlighted, but in the fact that Bromley chose musical genres and styles for each song that matched not just the woman, but the land that she is from. Space pop, salsa, punk rock, African drums, soaring cello, it’s all here, allowing the music to flow from one track to the next connected by the common theme of empowerment. The closing song, “Trailblazing” perfectly bookends the album, leaving listeners with a gentle call to action, imploring them that it is “time to create your story.” Herstory is our story and needs to be shared in the classroom, in the car, at home, and with family and friends.