Avery Archives

Enharmonically Equivalent: Greetings from Kingston! — by Avery Waite

What a month is has been! It has been an absolute whirlwind of teaching, cultural discoveries, new friends, new landscapes and rainy October downpours. Despite the consuming teaching schedule, I've been able to absorb different aspects of Jamaica bit by bit. From the breathtaking views of mountainous junglescapes, to stunning sunsets, to torrential thunderstorms, the natural beauty is both staggeringly vivid and refreshingly wild. But, it's a place of extremes and contradictions. The downtown area in which I teach five days a week is definitely tough and worlds away from the well-guarded mansions that dot the mountain-sides above the city. One of the schools, St. Andrews Technical High School, is bordered by a maximum security prison and several violent ghettos. There is a constant turf war in these neighborhoods as rival gang-lords called "dons" [...]

By Avery Waite|2017-09-21T04:25:35-04:00October 22nd, 2013|Categories: Artistic Vision, Interpersonal Relationships, Performance, Self Discovery, Teaching|Tags: contradictions, cello, culture, El Sistema, music, Enharmonically Equivalent, students, balance, fruit, beauty, activities, gangs, safety, passion, healing, Travel, exploration, Jamaica, Kingston, challenges, Avery, neighborhoods, energy, Waite, violence, after-school music, Teaching, Community|

A Cellist in Kabul (Part 2) — by Avery Waite

After three months in Kabul I feel ready to write honestly about the challenges of teaching here. The thing is it’s almost impossible to separate everything about Afghanistan from my experience as a music teacher; it’s just such a complicated and bewildering place. And the weirdest thing is that the longer I’m here, the harder it is to write about my life. I suppose the overall experience itself is so consuming that I can’t properly distance myself enough to document it. But I will try my best to cover the challenges that I face on a daily basis. The most daunting challenge is teaching in a difficult foreign language. What I didn’t realize at first is that the language of music pedagogy is tremendously complex. It can be very simple [...]

By Avery Waite|2017-10-30T05:17:27-04:00November 24th, 2012|Categories: Beyond the Traditional, Interpersonal Relationships, Self Discovery, Teaching|Tags: culture, music, language, students, Experience, radio, discipline, imagination, Afghanistan, challenges, Avery, motivation, Kabul, Waite, talent, Teaching|

A Cellist in Kabul (Part 1) — by Avery Waite

On September 4th, I packed up my things, hopped in a taxi and drove to JFK airport. My destination, Kabul. My job, the new cello teacher at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music. When I first heard about the opportunity to teach in Kabul, I knew deep down that I had no choice but to go. Something drew me to it. I applied for the job without really thinking it through completely. But when I was actually offered the position, I had to really take a step back and give it some serious thought. In fact, it took me almost three months to fully accept the decision I had made to go. Some days I would be thrilled and excited, and other days I would be scared out of my [...]

By Avery Waite|2017-10-30T05:19:45-04:00September 21st, 2012|Categories: Beyond the Traditional, Interpersonal Relationships, Self Discovery, Teaching|Tags: students, learning, teacher, beauty, patience, intensity, success, Afghanistan, improvement, Avery, impact, Kabul, Teaching, language, traveling, cello, musical language, Waite, cellobello, adventure|