Gillian Harwin worked her way up the AMIGOS Leadership Ladder from Volunteer to Associate Project Director and threaded the experience into her professional music career.  She now resides in New York City and works as a professional musician playing Classical, Jazz, African, R&B and Latin Music.  

 

AMIGOS: How did your involvement in AMIGOS impact your life?  

Gillian: AMIGOS had a huge impact on my life both personally and professionally.  It taught me about other cultures and how there are so many different ways we can all live and exist on the planet. Although we are all humans, we all have different ways of living and viewing the world yet we all coexist and share common threads through our life experiences.

Growing up in a middle class atmosphere can be a very closed experience and AMIGOS definitely opened my eyes and my mind to other cultures, people from my own country and put things in a global perspective that allowed me to prioritize my own life and truly define what was important to me in the world.

 

It also exposed me to a variety of music and  musical instruments from all over the world. Now I play bass (both upright and electric) guitar (bought my first one in Paraguay), ukulele, musical saw, charango, guitarron, cuatro, piano, kosika, djembe, cajon, bongo, conga, a wide variety of world percussion and of course, sing in about 12 different languages.

AMIGOS:What was your AMIGOS experience like?  What did you learn? 

Gillian:I learned so many valuable things from participating in AMIGOS.  AMIGOS helped me to open my mind, heart and soul to the world and gave me the chance to experience Latin America in a very unique and intimate way.

 

AMIGOS also taught me how to be a leader, gave me self-confidence and taught me how to work efficiently in a group situation consisting of different ideas and cultures from a wide array of individuals. 

It taught me amazing communication skills that have stayed with me throughout my life. It taught me how to accept myself and the people around me, no matter how different our ideas and thoughts were. 

It taught me how to handle trauma, language and cultural barriers, the importance of knowing the rules, how to work in a group, how to deal with myself, how to find happiness and beauty in the world and in all people, how to build strong bonds with friends of all different backgrounds and how to help others and allow others to help me. It taught me how to care and pay attention to the each other and the world. It taught me how to be nice to myself, to others and to the planet on which we live. It was also some of the most fun I have ever had in my life!

 

AMIGOS: What is your favorite AMIGOS memory?  

Gillian: I have so many fond memories of AMIGOS, it is hard to pick one… There was the time one of my Volunteers called home and found out her grandpa died and started to hyperventilate and had to be taken in an ambulance to a clinic where I refused to let them give her a huge shot so the doctor yelled at me and left the room. I soon began to sing to her and she eventually calmed down. 

 

Or the time when I went to give a shot in Paraguay and the needle bounced off the thick skin of the child and flew into the air… or the time I had to walk 20km across the muddy plains to get to my Volunteers because the bus was stuck in the two feet of mud… or the time we had to chase the family of rats out of our stove… or the times I laughed so hard with my partners and staff that we cried… or the time I had to leave my host family that gave me so much acceptance and love. There are so many, I could never possibly list them all.

 

AMIGOS: What is your family like?  

Gillian: I am single and have a 15 –year-old Amazon parrot named Bird Tird who sings opera and speaks three languages.  As for my birth family, they are all in California.  My middle sister Ashleigh (AMIGOS Dominican Republic Volunteer ‘88) has a family, my oldest sister Hilary is a successful property manager in Santa Barbara as well as founder of Re:Cycle, a program that sends bicycles to remote African communities in need.  My parents have been married 42 years and own a pet store in my hometown of Los Gatos, California. I have one grandparent left, Gram, who is turning 94 this year.

 

AMIGOS: What project are you currently working on?  

Gillian: I currently play and tour with my own group, The Gotham Groovers and we play a mix of originals, reggae, R&B, Latin, Jazz, Blues and African music.

 

I have one CD out named Whiskey Sandwich and this fall will be releasing my second CD, Gillian Harwin and The Gotham Groovers: Live at Kuumbwa.  I also play with Movimiento, a Latin Jazz fusion group led by myself and the lovely and talented Mireya Ramos.  We have played at prestigious venues all over New York City such as The Blue Note, BAM and The Highline Ballroom. 

 

We have dates for Ethiopia and The Dominican Republic on the books for this year and continue to progress in the Latin and Jazz  Music scene.  We are also heading an all female Mariachi Group in NYC and playing many shows for all the Mexican Holidays and events.  I also teach private music lessons, collaborate with dancers and theater groups for performances, do stand up comedy and work as a crew member and teacher at the highly acclaimed Jazz Camp West in California. 

 

AMIGOS: Are you passionate about Latin American affairs or the Spanish language? 

Gillian: I am very passionate about world affairs, environmental, political and social and now speak five languages fluently.  I continue to travel and live in communities all over the world.  I spent three years living on a sailboat and traveling and performing all over the globe and have also worked as a translator, language tutor and tour manager among other trades.

 

AMIGOS: What advice would you give to someone entering into the music field?  

Gillian: Do it because you love it and want to spread love and emotion through music.  Do it because you want to open your mind and soul to the beauty of the language of music.  The word musician comes from the words music and physician combined, so technically we are “doctors of music” and we are out to heal the world through the language, soul and sound of music.

 

AMIGOS: Who is your biggest role model in your industry?  

Gillian: There are so many wonderful musicians that I get to experience living in New York City and being a member of the Bay Area music scene. The biggest role models for me are those that play music because they love it and play it with a humble down to earth vibe that welcomes listeners and the band to really be a part of the music and walk away having had some kind of emotional experience. 

The musicians who leave their egos at the door and bring an open mind to the stage and the room they are playing are the ones who influence me the most and inspire me to continue on my own musical path.