What is Music?
Rouddy Kimpioka
Music is the best friend for life. It stay with us regardless of any circumstance. It brings joy to people who already gave up. Music brings people together. Music is life.
John Coltrane
“My music is the spiritual expression of what I am – my faith, my knowledge, my being … When you begin to see the possibilities of music, your desire to do something really good for people, to help humanity free itself from its hangups … I want to speak to their souls.”
Stevie Wonder
“Music is a world within itself. It’s a language we all understand.”
How does music help us?
Music has a powerful influence on human beings. It can boost memory, build task endurance, lighten your mood, reduce anxiety and depression, stave off fatigue, improve your response to pain, and help you work out more effectively.
Music helps people survive anything; we can’t live without it. Everything we do in our lives involves music, and even animals and other creatures respond to sounds (animals, birds, plants).
Even people who do not play an instrument can still listen to music and sing songs. Even newborns listen to music. We love music because it is the only thing that accompanies us daily in this world, from the day we are born until our death.
Music is the easiest language to exist because anyone can understand and speak it.
Music actually helps our brain in different ways. In its structure, including the lyrics, melody, rhythm, tempo, and the way you sing, it affects your breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure. An example of this is slower music, which tends to have a relaxing effect on your body.
Our Music Activities
Guitar lesson 2023
Music remains our primary goal, even after completing the first semesters of our guitar course. Our volunteer, Babis, a Greek musician, continues to support Rad with guitar lessons, involving different students and people from diverse backgrounds, all connected through with universal language. With great passion, our guitar teachers come twice a week to give the lessons.
After a few months, in March, our friend Phoenix Maria from Croatia joined to support with guitar lessons. Both of them managed the guitar lessons, which turned out to be a great success, despite the decrease in the number of students towards the end due to the movement of refugees to the mainland. Nevertheless, the remaining students succeeded in their lessons until the last session. We extend our gratitude to both teachers, At he gave all the student the gift of guitar. Babis and Phoenix!
After our fifth-anniversary event at Rad Music International, many of our teachers left. Esther J came to the island to pursue her passion for music and began volunteering at Rad. She offered guitar lessons, both in theory and practice. In 2023, Rad achieved numerous accomplishments, attracting over 100 students to our guitar lessons. However, a challenge we faced was the departure of many students due to transfer movements. Additionally, we struggled to provide our students with their own guitars, hindering their ability to learn effectively.
Guitar lesson 2022
Since we are in our new space in the heart of Mytilini, we continue with all our music activities. Many people are coming to learn music, especially guitar lessons. Despite the difficulties we face every single day, we are very happy with our volunteer teacher, Mohamed, from Afghanistan, who takes care of the guitar class students.
Guitar lesson 2021
As we know, music can lower your heart rate and blood pressure. Learning new things keeps your brain sharp and can improve your memory and alertness. It can also help relieve chronic pain. Playing the guitar develops discipline and patience. Rad is offering guitar lessons to displaced people, to keep their minds strong and to fight for their rights. Music is our weapon. Join us to learn guitar! (1st)
Piano Lesson
Piano Class
Our piano classes continue to thrive as the piano is a beloved instrument that people enjoy playing with passion. Rad is committed to providing the refugee community with improved piano classes through dedicated volunteer teachers from the host community. Despite facing significant challenges in obtaining instruments, we strive to make the best use of what we have. We are actively seeking more pianos for both teachers and students, aiming to enhance the quality of our piano lessons. These music activities play a crucial role in helping individuals within the camp to utilize their time constructively, bringing them hope and mental resilience in the face of challenging life situations as refugees. Any contributions of pianos are greatly welcomed! 2023
Piano Class
We have talked about guitar, but we also recognize that the keyboard can greatly help students improve their mental health. Many people and students have been asking about piano classes, but we couldn’t offer that class initially due to the lack of keyboards. However, thanks to our partner, Human Riddim Care, who generously supported us with four keyboards, we were able to launch the piano class to meet the needs of the people on the move.
Today, we are delighted to offer keyboard lessons, all thanks to our friend, Greek musician Alex, who started the keyboard class. Currently, the classes are being conducted by our volunteer musician and singer from the USA. However, we still need more keyboards to accommodate a larger number of students. If you wish to contribute and donate a keyboard, you are welcome to contact us.
Join us if you want to be a part of RAD music members and learn the keyboard. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Human Riddim Care for their support in making Rad Music International possible.
Singing Lesson
Singing is one of the healing methods that many of our beneficiaries use to address their problems, especially the founder of Rad, who loves to sing. We have taught numerous people came to sing peaceful songs, and many students have shown interest in learning this skill. After producing an amazing song, we performed it at a festival, where everyone was delighted to sing and enjoy the performance.
Singing lesson
Singing has a lot of meaning in our lives. When you sing, you communicate with yourself, and singing hopeful songs can positively impact your life situation. By learning to sing, you develop your musical ear and start to listen to yourself and other singers with a greater level of appreciation and understanding. You learn to hear more nuance and subtlety in vocal performances and in music itself.
After performing in different places, many people joined to sing with Rad, and some of them needed training. That is the reason why we started our singing class. Singing yourself can make you feel better. If you want to learn different kinds of music, join Rad Music International; together, we can become the best singers. We sing in various languages, including English, Greek, Lingala, French, Farsi, and Arabic.
Rad is a place where people are facing the challenges of being refugees. We are trying to bring smiles, happiness, hope, activities, and knowledge to others. It’s about solidarity, interaction, and connection.
Rad is an amazing family.
Thank you, The Change Weavers, for visiting us and spending a day with us, singing, dancing, and enjoying food from all over the world.
Rad Music International uses music to bring hope and solidarity to people.
Rad received a visit from students from France who came to visit Lesvos. They had the opportunity to meet Rouddy Kimpioka, the Founder of Rad, and listened to him talk about the refugee situation on the island. They also heard some songs from “Human Life,” our first album that is coming soon. We had a good discussion and talked about our solidarity, unity, and actions for humanity.
As we stand together, people from around the world continue to come and visit Rad on Lesvos. Together, we aim to travel with Rad worldwide, which is not an easy task, but one day, we will achieve it!