Interview with Sador Bereketab
Interview by: Hadeel Alhadi
Sador Bereketab is a first-year medical student at the University of Toronto and a singer-songwriter, violinist, and pianist. She started playing the violin and piano at the age of four and then started singing around eleven. For high school, she went to a performing arts high school, where she got to focus on both my artistic and academic pursuits without having to prioritize one over the other. After starting her undergraduate studies, she was worried that this might change until she was encouraged by her mentors to use her high school years as an example of what is possible. Thereafter, she joined the Ottawa Pops Orchestra as a violinist and went back to teaching violin and piano. During this time, she also started exploring the boundaries of how music can intersect with science and medicine in research. She is also inspired by my family and the Eritrean community. Many of her interests within medicine are greatly motivated by gaps she had seen growing up, saying that the hypervisibility of being a Black classical musician has been a driving force for much of her advocacy work in classical music education for Black youth.
Q: Your debut song, Proud, is famously about your journey to medical school. Can you tell us a little bit about how the song came to be and what it means to you now as you navigate your medical training?
I released my very first single, Proud when initially starting medical school at the end of August since the sentiments of the song aligned really well with this period of my life. While many think I wrote Proud around that time, the insider scoop is that I actually wrote it in the summer of 2021 during what felt like a difficult time in the world and my personal life. I wrote this song as a reminder to be proud of how far we have come even if there is a long road ahead. Two years later, as I entered medical school, this message felt as relevant as ever. We all deal with self-doubt and the pressures of what it means to be a medical student. This song was very much a reminder to myself to be proud of how far I’ve come and for simply doing my best no matter the outcome. A line that I personally love is “for every three steps forward, there’s only one step back” since it reminds me to stay focused on the big picture growth and goals rather than the minor setbacks.
It’s funny. I actually had no intention of releasing Proud initially, it was a way for me to work through my feelings and express myself in the way I knew best, through music. However, I had shared a small clip of the song with some friends earlier that year and noticed how they really resonated with the lyrics as well. It was in this moment that I understood how the original I was writing to “get things off my chest” could actually have a bigger impact than I thought. Sharing vulnerabilities through my music could help someone else who is navigating similar struggles.
Q: It’s amazing to be able to share that experience with your classmates and other listeners! How do you hope those listeners, especially those facing their own challenges, will connect with Proud?
As I said before, I hadn’t really thought about this when writing Proud because I didn’t intend on releasing it. But now that it’s out, I think a lot about what it could mean to listeners. My originals all felt so personal when writing them. Still, as I shared Proud with those around me, it was very clear that you didn’t need to experience the same life events as me to resonate with the feelings and sentiment of the song since everyone has their own interpretation. I released Proud on August 20th after which I was flooded with such beautiful messages from friends, colleagues, and strangers about how much the song meant to them. To this day, I get listeners reaching out after big life moments to say that they are listening to Proud and feel like they can really understand what I was singing about. It just feels so incredible to be a part of someone’s happiest life events through my music.
There is also an added layer to this being in medicine. I think it’s been normalized for us to hide our vulnerabilities and the challenges of the journey and profession. My music is so personal and so intertwined with my journey as a medical trainee. Sure these vulnerabilities can be uncomfortable, but they make us stronger and more compassionate as future practitioners. Whether in medicine or not, I hope that my listeners continue to use Proud as a reminder to celebrate all that they’ve overcome and accomplished no matter how they feel in the moment.
Q: I can definitely relate to this experience in medicine. It’s quite amazing to hear about the story behind Proud, can you walk us through your creative process in general? What inspires you to create music?
I only started exploring songwriting in the last few years. In 2020, I found myself feeling very heavy seeing the impacts of the pandemic, the re-emergence of police brutality in the news, as well as some difficult experiences in my personal life. So I essentially started songwriting as a means of processing my thoughts and frustrations. Prior to songwriting, I was mostly a classically trained musician where my training was more technical and structured. Even though I love playing classical repertoire to this day, songwriting allowed me to explore another avenue in music that involved more artistic freedom and creative expression.
I actually find it quite challenging to describe my creative process since there isn’t really a system that I follow. Oftentimes, the burst of creativity will randomly hit and I have to be motivated enough to write the song in that moment. This almost always is at 2 am, in my room, with my mic and keyboard. This self-produced version of my songs often sits on my phone and might get modified every so often. When deciding to release Proud, I collaborated with a music engineer who helped bring my song to life.
Yes for sure. High school was the transformative backdrop where I began to truly grow into myself and take art more seriously. Like most people in highschool, I felt somewhat pressured to fit into certain “boxes” or social dynamics, and didn’t always feel comfortable being my authentic self.
In my final years of highschool, I created a piece called, “The individual” which was the first abstract composition piece and the second abstract painting I had ever produced in my life. It holds a special place in my heart because it was also the first piece of art that I ever publicly presented and it represents me stepping into my identity both as an artist and as a unique individual, quirks and all. This painting is really a celebration of me being honest, raw, and authentically me.
Q: It’s really interesting to hear about the process behind your music! You touched on it briefly before, but can you expand on how art and medicine intersect in your life?
Music has always been a part of my life from a very young age. Even in my earlier years, having music parallel with my other life commitments helped me stay grounded in challenging life experiences. Medicine is in no way an exception. As I think about the risks of burnout in medicine, the emotionally difficult patient encounters, and the frustrations of a suboptimal healthcare system, I hope that I can continue to use music in navigating these concerns.
I have also seen how music can be immensely beneficial for patients and community members as they navigate personal well-being and health struggles. A few years ago, I had the opportunity to explore the intersection of music and medicine through a research project where I was looking at how violin and piano education improve the quality of life of children with hearing loss. I was also taking a few specialized music and health courses such as musician wellness and music education for youth with intellectual disabilities. I found that these experiences helped me realize the real implications of music in medicine and how I want to incorporate it into my future practice. In addition to addressing the medical concerns of my future patients, I also want to humanize their patient experiences and prioritize their quality of life. I think music in healthcare can be that added touch to patient interactions.
Even though the research I was doing was very valuable in exposing me to the role of music in health, I have always been fueled by community work. At the time, I was volunteering with LiveWorkPlay an Ottawa organization that aims to improve the social integration of community members with intellectual disability. I was organizing a bunch of social activities for our members, which helped me see that I could mobilize the theoretical knowledge I've acquired through my research into the community. So I developed a series of interactive music activities for community members with intellectual disabilities to foster a sense of community and improved quality of life through music exploration. I have a strong appreciation for the role of music and art therapists in the clinical setting and hope to empower my future patients to seek out such services.
Q: It’s great to see the various impacts that music has on your life and the lives of those around you! You also mentioned that you dedicate a lot of effort to music accessibility. Can you tell us more about that?
As I mentioned earlier, I am also a classical violinist and pianist. After starting music at the age of four, I pursued private music lessons along with weekend orchestra rehearsals. For high school, I actually went to a performing arts high school where I specialized in Violin performance. While I absolutely loved studying classical music, I was always hyper-aware of how I was the only Black musician in my orchestras and recitals. I am also very integrated into my Eritrean-Canadian community and the fact that I was a classical musician was always met with a very similar response. They would ask if there were other Black musicians in my orchestras or music schools. And they would often respond with “I could never” when I mentioned that I was often the only one. They didn’t mean that they could never explore classical music, but rather that they could not be the only Black person in a particular space. It was more a question about the dissonance between the spaces you’re occupying and your social identity. I collaborated with my sister, who is also a classical violinist and pianist, to reach out to different music schools and educational associations to better understand the gaps and barriers to pursuing classical music for Black youth. We created workshops for music educators across North America and wrote an article for the American Suzuki Journal for music pedagogy on improving classical music accessibility for Black youth. It’s always nice to see what improvements come from these efforts. In our case, some music programs adjusted their music history teaching to better represent the Afro and Black influences on classical and jazz music based on the content of our workshops, and increased representation and exposure to Black excellence in classical music. Other programs started putting more funding into subsidized music programs. It’s also great seeing how in creating this impact, I have also learned many transferable skills that I am now able to bring to improve the accessibility of medical education for aspiring physicians and health literacy in the community.
Q: It’s wonderful to see the positive impact that your work has on the community! You seem to be very dedicated to your work in music, and starting medical school and going through the training can be quite exhausting and a lot of us start to abandon other interests or passions. How do you balance medicine and music and what advice do you have to other medical trainees who want to maintain their passion for their art?
I think my decision to make time for both is largely because I know that I need both. I used to think that music was something that I do separately from other “more important” things in my life, but now I realize that being a musician is helping me be a better medical student and future physician. I think it’s common to feel a sense of guilt if we see our other passions outside of medicine as a distraction. My mindset is that my music actually helps me stay grounded and be more intentional or even focused during my time in medicine. I also briefly touched on the stigma in medicine associated with showing our vulnerabilities. I think that immersing myself in art has been very helpful for me since I’m able to break through these stigmas in a way that feels comfortable to me. Music has helped me bond with my colleagues and mentors and has helped me process life experiences. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I find it hard to give this advice since it’s definitely something I’m still figuring out myself. I would say it is important to be extremely intentional with your time and to be as genuine and authentic as possible to your values and passions. I know it’s hard, but resist any urge to feed into the external pressure of what others deem as a “good medical student or physician”.
Q: Lastly, what are the next steps for you? Can you tell us about any upcoming projects?
As you know, I released my first original, Proud, last summer and I'm planning on releasing another single this summer, so keep an eye on my social media and streaming platforms for that (listed below). I have also been performing a lot this year and I actually just had my first solo concert in Ottawa where I got to play some unreleased originals and connect with the community I’ve created through my music. It was a very surreal moment for me to be with people who really wanted to hear me perform and were there to support me. Sharing music live is something that I've always enjoyed and I plan on having more performances soon, some of which will be fundraisers for causes that I really care about so stay tuned! Another exciting update is that now I’ve started accepting violin or vocal performance invites for weddings and other events so feel free to reach out!
Q: So, where can we find you?
Instagram: @sadorbmusic
TikTok: @sadorbmusic
Music Streaming Services (ex. Spotify): Sador B
For bookings: email at sadorbmusic@gmail.com
