Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Heather Thorn. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Alright, Heather thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So, naming is such a challenge. How did you come up with the name of your brand?
I chose Vivacity as the name of my band and company because it means with passion, fire and forward motion; the quality of being attractively lively and animated. We play music from the Great American Songbook featuring hits of the early 20th century, so vivacity is the perfect word to describe our tune selection. Additionally, the xylophone has a very happy energy, lending itself well to the ragtime style that was so popular during that time.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I lived in Canada until I was 12 years old. I have been in love with music for as long as I can remember. There are photos of me sitting at my grandparent’s piano at one year old. I started to learn to read music when I was 5, and from then on it was my favorite thing to do when I’d visit my grandparents. They would send me to the front porch, where the piano was, to learn new music,.When I had something new learned, I’d call for them and the whole family would come to listen. I attribute much of my passion for music to my Grandpa, who would play the harmonica with me, and to my Uncle Barry, who challenged me to learn things like playing the accordion blindfolded and behind my back! When I was nine, I began visiting an elderly neighbor who had moved to the retirement home nearby. I would ride my bike there and one day showed her the songs I’d learned in piano lessons.
When I turned around, the room was full of residents requesting to hear more music. One woman gave me a book of hers to start learning the music they liked. I still play many of these songs today with my band. It was my first introduction to the great American Songbook. I joined the band in the 6th grade. I wanted to play the flute, but my band director had seen me play soccer that weekend and proclaimed I was ‘too ruthless for the flute, so I’m putting you in the percussion section.’ The xylophone was laid out the same as the piano, so I easily made the transition. I knew I wanted to play the xylophone professionally when i heard Bob Becker of the world-famous NEXUS percussion ensemble perform when I was 13. I went to Ithaca College, where I majored in Music Performance with a Minor in Theatre and studied with renowned marimba artist Gordon Stout. I also made frequent trips to Toronto to take lessons with Bob. After I graduated college, I was performing for a symphony benefit in Canada, where I met a jazz trio, and they invited me to do a mini-tour across Ontario with them that summer. This was my first introduction into the jazz world. That fall, I packed everything I owned in my car and drove to FL with no job, no money and no place to live. I just wanted to be in the sunshine state after many cold and gloomy years up north. I did several odd jobs while I built my teaching studio in Longwood and worked with theme park musical acts.
A few years later, I started my band and our first gigs were mostly for swing dances, so I started listening to more of the American Songbook and commissioned many arrangements. Soon after we began performing for community and private events as well. In 2016, with some personal obstacles out of the way, I began to pour my heart and soul into my music. We premiered a brand new stage show that I wrote called Nostalgia Radio Hour at the Timucua Arts White House that year. Soon after, we were invited to perform at other local venues, including the Blue Bamboo in Winter Park and for the New Smyrna Beach Jazz Festival, and also traveled to perform in New Orleans. As a result of our vigilance to grow and promote and passion for the music and working together, we were hired as the headline act for I Love Jazz Festival in Brazil in 2019 and again in 2022. The program for this 2019 festival inspired our newly released album Heather Thorn and Vivacity: Taking a Chance On Love. In 2021 we were featured guest artists for the Orlando Philharmonic Holiday Pops concert with the entire Orchestra accompanying the band, which was a lifelong dream come true for me!
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
During the Covid-19 pandemic, I had to pivot online with both my students and performances with the band. I was extremely fortunate that most of my students were willing to adapt to online lessons and the band’s loyal audience purchased tickets for livestream shows so the band could still make money and pay their bills during a time when it wasn’t safe for people to congregate. The silver lining is that I can now teach from anywhere in the world; when we toured to Brazil for Festival I Love Jazz in June 2022 I was able to teach remote while I traveled around South America for four weeks following the festival performance.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
My plan to be a performer and freelance teacher was met with alot of discouragement from the beginning. My own high school band director told me I was not smart for majoring in music performance with a minor in theatre, proclaiming that I wouldn’t be able to ‘put meat and potatoes on the table’. He insisted I needed a backup plan, to which I responded ‘if failure’s not an option, I guess I have no choice but to succeed’. When I graduated summa cum laude from a fantastic music school, it still hadn’t occurred to me to worry about how I was going to make money; even starting with nothing I was able to slowly build what is now Vivacity Music LLC- encompassing my teaching, performing and yoga instruction all under one umbrella. I’m very glad I didn’t listen to the naysayers and I think it shows alot of resilience that I was able to power through the ‘cannot/should nots’ of my career.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.vivacitymusic.com and www.xyloheather.com
- Instagram: @vivacitymusic
- Facebook: Vivacity Music
- Youtube: Vivacity Jazz and Swing Band
Image Credits
Lea Andrew Photography, BS Fotografias