Gigi Shadid is an educator, a Khouria, and a musician with two CDs of Orthodox children's music already to her credit. In this interview, Gigi talks about her background at Antiochian Village, her music, and how cheesy Protestant music motivated her to teach kids through song. As Gigi says, "If our kids are going to sing any song, why not sing songs that will teach them about our Orthodox faith?"

Why not indeed!

OB: Hello, Khouria. Could you tell us a little about your background and your background in the Orthodox Faith?

Gigi: I am a first generation Arab-American, born and raised Orthodox. Both of my parents are from the Holy Land. As a child, I would attend church fairly regularly, but it was primarily our Youth Director (now Bishop THOMAS Joseph) who reeled me into the life of the Church. My faith grew stronger as a teenager when I attended the Antiochian Village for the first time and fell in love! For several years, I continued to serve the Village and other Orthodox church camps throughout our archdiocese. From 1999-2002, I was blessed to serve as my home parish’s full-time Youth Director. Currently, I am married to Fr. James Shadid, Associate Pastor at St. George Antiochian Cathedral in Wichita, KS, and we have two lively (and lovely) children.

OB: How did you get into music?

Gigi: I don’t have degree in music – education was my major. Though I have always enjoyed singing and chanting, I consider myself more of a song writer than a “musician.” I play some chords on the guitar, but not enough to impress a real musician.

Making up rhymes and jingles seems to run in my family and it’s something I’ve always liked to do; my mother is especially good at it. I can recall making up my first song and dance routine when I was in second grade (in case you are curious, it’s called “Johnny, Johnny” and my older brother still knows it by heart!) It wasn’t until I was well into my twenties that I realized that this was my talent and that I should cultivate it by purposefully writing educational music. To me, it’s so fun and exciting to be inspired and to write songs that will teach, entertain, and hopefully help others grow closer to Christ.

OB: You have recorded two CD’s of Orthodox music geared mostly towards children. Could you tell us about them, and what inspired you to go in this direction musically?

Gigi: Vacation Bible School in Houston was a highlight in the summer, and I would have the pleasure of teaching the “Group Publishing” music to so many excited kids who would sing any song presented to them (good or bad)! What I mean by this is that some of the songs were scripturally sound and “meaty” while others were pretty cheesy and void of any theological substance. Regardless of the content, the kids loved to sing it. Year after year, I would find myself frustrated with some of the lyrics and songs that were provided by these Protestant VBS companies.

The one song that pushed me over the top went like this: “God is BIG, God is BIG, God is very, very, very, very, BIG!” I thought, “This is very, very, very, very, DUMB!” Ok, it’s harsh, but that’s when I realized that we as Orthodox need to do something about this. Do we have any children’s music teaching our kids about the Holy Orthodox Faith? Compared to the Protestants, practically none. Shame on us. We have the “True Faith” but hide it under a bushel, while others, who might not have our theology, richness and tradition, spread the Gospel the best they know how. I was inspired, in this context of youth ministry, to teach our Orthodox children the beauty and richness of our faith using simple lyrics and catchy rhymes. If our kids are going to sing any song, why not sing songs that will teach them about our Orthodox faith?

OB: From the perspective of an Orthodox musician, do you ever think about the possibility of ‘crossing-over’ into mainstream CCM with any of your songs?

Gigi: Not really. Personally, I am not interested in going into mainstream CCM with the Orthodox Children’s Music. I mean, if anyone else wants to hear music about our Orthodox faith, be my guest, by all means. But my main purpose or vision for this music is to teach our children and help them grow in their faith in Christ and their love for His Holy Church.

OB: A recent CD of yours uses music to teach math. The concept sounds intriguing. What got you interested in music as a teaching tool, and how effective is this style of teaching?

Gigi: I have been teaching middle school math for the past five years and love it. My first year teaching math, one of my struggling students (who was aware that I write music) asked me if I could write a song about Customary Units. It was like a light bulb came on in my head! SURE! What an idea! The next day, I printed and passed out a song sheet with all kinds of random facts teaching about inches, miles, pints and more – and my students were hooked.

They loved it and the songs kept coming year after year until a group of my students and I professionally recorded a “Middle School Math Music” CD last fall.

OB: What additional teaching CDs do you have planned?

Gigi: On a recent road trip, I found myself thinking about possible songs for a future Orthodox Children’s Music CD. I have a list of possible topics and themes, but nothing materialized yet. If God wills, perhaps there will be another CD… who knows when? The more work I do with our kids at church, the more I get inspired.

OB: What kind of live gigs do you play?

Gigi: That sounds funny to me. From time to time, I get invited by a parish to do a little concert for their kiddos and maybe youth activities or a parent workshop or retreat. I have been to Parish Life Conferences and entertained the children there with music and have also presented workshops to teachers on how to incorporate the music in their various church programs. Most of the live gigs I play are at my house with my kids (when they let me).

OB: One last question. It seems that Orthodox musicians are getting more exposure now than in the past. How would you assess the growth of the Orthodox music industry in the United States?

Gigi: I am so excited to see more and more upcoming Orthodox musicians out there producing good work for the glory of the Church, be it chanting or original Orthodox music.

If we are going to listen to music, it’s nice to have some more choices that are edifying and beneficial to our spiritual growth. I like the fact that there are Orthodox websites out there like ancientfaithradio.com that play Orthodox music 24/7. How cool is that? A great website that sells all kinds of music from Orthodox musicians is stromanosrecords.com. You can find our Orthodox Children's Music CD's there, too.

Thank you so much for allowing me to share this passion of teaching with music to your readers. If anyone would like to contact me about these educational music CD’s, please feel free to do so. My e-mail address is gigishadid@yahoo.com and God willing, our MusicLearn.org website will be up and running very soon. God bless OrthodoxBiz and the ministry that you provide to us!

Editors Note: Don't forget Orthodox Christian Network which runs two Orthodox music channels 24/7 as well! Most people associate OCN with the Come Receive the Light radio program, but OCN has its own Orthodox Internet Radio Channels!

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 [Interview with Gigi Shadid - Orthodox Musician and Educator]

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Music in Learning
written by Angel Athena-Tzouras Brock, July 15, 2009

Hi, Khouria Gigi,
I was intrigued by your interview/article! My sister, Dianne and I have an essential oil blog, ELEOS here on Orthodox Biz.
I had even mentioned in one of our blogs that, as a little girl, my mother would say to me, "If your homework were a song, you would know it!" I always loved to sing and at 17, taught myself guitar "by ear." I too was born and raised Orthodox. I took music in college but it was difficult for me as that was my first exposure to written music!
To make a long story short, I am a retired social worker and am now immersing myself in music, both sacred and secular. I am my church's new, interim choir director and I am the "psalti" when there is no choir. I too, have always written songs and have written one called "Be an Angel" about foster and adoptive parents, and one called "Christ is Born, Glorify Him." My Sunday school students sang that one year at our pageant. I have a folk/rock/Americana band (Angel and the Badmen) as well as a Greek and International band called Opa Cabana.
God bless you in your teaching and music ministries! We seem like kindred spirits!
Love,
Angel

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