Music in Place

By Dario Ré

Geographers have begun to conceptualize music, recognizing that it is not just a cultural product, but perhaps more importantly, it is a medium of experience and a way of understanding the world.1

I stumbled into the stone rooted church and had a seat in the café. Rain had beaded on my jacket and I felt the weight of change settle into my lap—a mere four months ago I immigrated from Spokane, Washington to Montréal, and have a since welcomed our second boy into the world and begun graduate studies at Concordia. It was lunch hour and a patron offered the rest of her salad to the room. No one accepted and it was heading for the trash. I offered to eat it and like dominos en route, every volunteer on lunch break passed their salads to me. I received a heaping pile of fresh lettuce, dressing and a dozen warm smiles. I ate my lunch in tears.

This is Share the Warmth, a community group in Pointe-Saint-Charles working to provide food security, job training, music lessons, and general support to neighborhood residents and beyond. I have been fortunate enough to meet and talk with several of the staff members and regulars as well as open this wonderful space to my own family. I have felt the warmth, which has in turn inspired me to engage directly with this space and community through music. Join me every Thursday from 12:00-13:00 for live music at Share the Warmth: 625 rue Fortune, Pointe-Saint-Charles, Montréal.

1 Wood, Nichola. “Putting Emotion in Geographies of Music.” Subjectivities, Knowledges, and Feminist Geographies. Lanham MD: Rowman and LittleField, pg. 59.