Bronwen Fair, a Nashville-based singer/songwriter and friend of Tyrone High School Choral Director Gabriella Petrarca, recently hosted a songwriting workshop for students at Tyrone Area High School.
Fair grew up in the Pocono region of Pennsylvania and attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where she met and became close friends with Petrarca.
Fair grew up in a musical family and became a big fan of Disney movie soundtracks as a child.
“There is a very clear Disney kid to musical theater adult pipeline, and I am a victim of the pipeline,” Fair said. So it wasn’t long before she was writing her own music and lyrics.
“I’ve often used songs to process emotions when it seemed like a situation was too big for me to handle. I would write about it, and it would sort of put it into this compact little box that was manageable,” Fair said.
Petrarca considers herself more of a performer and vocal teacher than a songwriter, which is why she wanted to bring her college friend in to help her students develop their own songwriting voice.
The workshop attracted 20 students, including several students from outside the music program.
Fair brought her guitar and her wisdom to the classroom. She presented many of her original songs to the students along with the thought process behind each song. All of her songs held special meaning that she shared.
Freshman Melina Corrigan attended the workshop not as a vocal student, but as a student from the band who plays the clarinet.
“I learned from the workshop that making music isn’t something to be ashamed of but rather something to be proud of, and the wonderful experiences that come with it,” Corrigan said. “My favorite part of the workshop was writing my own song, and being able to put melodies behind it, even if it was a few cords it gave me something to work with, and to even finish on my own one day.”
After the presentation, students had the opportunity to work one-on-one with Fair to develop lyrics and chord progressions that resonated personally with each of them.
Fair inspired several students to begin writing their own songs that same morning.
Senior Braylinne Shaw was one of the many students who wrote a song as a result of the workshop.
Fair emphasized the importance of writing about things you are passionate about. Shaw used that advice to write a heartfelt tune dedicated to her mom, Nicole Shaw.
“I knew there was something amazing in my life to write about, and it just so happened to be my beautiful mama,” Shaw said. “She is an amazing person and has helped me through so much. I wanted to dedicate ‘No matter what, No matter where’ to her as a tribute to how amazing our relationship is.”
All in all, the songwriting workshop was a very useful experience for the students involved in the music program, as well as the students outside of the music program.
“I thought it went very well! All of the students seemed to take a lot away from what Bronwen had to offer, and I enjoyed getting to know more students in the building that were visiting for the workshop,” Petrarca said. “I was impressed by the quality of work that was achieved in such a short amount of time.”
