MAGNUM OPUS (means “finest work produced by one artist or author”)

Written by Erica Van Drunen

As young as I could remember, I asked God to give me perfect hearing—to get rid of this hearing disability.  He told me no.  He told me that He gave it to me for a reason and that He makes no mistakes in His creation.

I was born in Summerland (British Columbia, Canada) and was discovered with severe bilateral hearing loss around the age of 3.  The God-given gift and opportunity of music followed through my journey in Canada, Senegal (Africa), and now the UK.

For the “autistic children and other patients whose disabilities make it difficult for them to communicate with their fellows verbally, music can be a life-saver, preventing regression into the hell of total isolation.” (Music Therapy in Health and Education, Heal and Wigram, p.x)

This was the case for me at the start of a musical journey. A statement of one’s disability to hear to create abilities to express through music, led to an advantage of distinctiveness. Carrying no pure orthodox of repertoire within music and being mostly self-taught at piano, my style carries grooves and an “etching-on-your-mind” melodies within the hard sweet of rock and traces of influential elements of jazz and folk music.  I have been told my voice carries an edge with mingles of Dolores O’Riordan (the lead singer in the Cranberries) and Alanis Morissette.

It was 2004 when the Lord called me to go to Senegal while I was starting to get a stable life of living in a city after moving countless times.  I was hopelessly in love with a man I wanted to share my future with.  When I heard the calling, I was thinking, “This is only for 3 months.”  No—He wanted me to go for a year.  Through a not-so-pleasant journey alone to Senegal, I had no idea what to expect.  Trust me, He said.  As it turned out, the MK boarding school needed a music teacher to teach in English.  That one year of working with the children and music was an amazing blessing, and the positive impact it had on my life and the lives of others led me to the next level.

When I returned to Canada, hoping to return to a stable life and the man of my dreams, those hopes were shattered and I wondered why God never prepared me for this.  I told God, “I wouldn’t have come back here if I’d known!”  Trust me, my child.  I stayed in the city, and found out about a highly-respected music school that works on genres such as jazz, rock/pop, and Latin music.  I went to the audition which they saw of my disability (as rare as I do this, I had my hair up which displayed my hearing aids) and were astounded that I could even sing a note on pitch.  The 2 year program was brutally tough, but the outcome of my high grades surprised me more than my professors.

In the past and present, I have often struggled with school because of my disability.  I would have daily headaches and frustrations because my brain needed to process harder than the average person.  Thanks to God, I have been improving.

The 2 year program in Canada led me to audition for a degree program in music.  God wanted me to audition for a school in Liverpool, UK.  My response: ”Uh, God?  I’ve got no money.”  The audition was around the terrible time of when my recital for my music performance was going to be.  I told God that I could not audition with the insane stress level I was at.  Then I was informed by the school that my recital had been moved 20 days later which left me with no excuse.  The audition went well and now, I am living in Liverpool attending the well-known Sir Paul McCartney’s school.

The story still goes on and I only shared a small part of it!  The Lord does not lie when He states a great purpose for those who love Him.  He never promised an easy life, but a blessed one.  I shake my head in wonder and amazement.  In the world’s eye, I may be just a grain of sand on the floor, but in God’s eye, I’m His “Magnum Opus.”