Growing up, the predominant topic around my family’s dining table was “Vocation.” The idea of vocational service has formed most of my life’s choices, including many surrounding my work in the arts. From the beginning of my unexpected career I have sought out ways to bring the transformative, healing power of music to as many people as I can – whether on stage, in prisons, refugee camps, or the classroom.
I spoke about this in my 2014 Commencement address for The Juilliard School:
“The truth is, you have signed up for a life of service by going into the Arts.
You are here to serve the words, the composer, the melody,
the author, the chord progression, the choreographer ~
but above all and most fundamentally,
with every breath taken, step forged, and stroke of the keyboard,
you are here to serve Humanity.
You are servants to the ear that needs quiet solace and the eye that needs the consolation of beauty,
servants to the mind that needs desperate repose or pointed inquiry,
to the heart that needs invitation to fight or silent understanding,
and to the soul that needs safe landing or fearless, relentless enlightenment.”
I know music can save lives, heal deep wounds, unify communities, and can bring real hope and comfort in the darkest hour. This is why I am an activist.
Young artists have a lot to offer the world through their artistry. Their respective journeys, beliefs, and passions all inform the direction their career will take. They need guidance and encouragement, and through master classes and other in-depth educational opportunities these artists are offered the chance to explore their creative potential in a collaborative environment.
Emotional expression through the arts is often a foreign concept for inmates in prisons, yet music has the ability to dramatically change their outlook on life and their respective futures. Through partnerships between arts organizations and prisons, Joyce collaborates with inmates on original compositions and performances, giving a voice to their struggles and hopes.
Carnegie Hall’s Lullaby Project pairs pregnant women and new parents with professional artists to write and sing personal lullabies for their babies, supporting maternal health, aiding child development, and to strengthen the bond between parent and child. The project reaches parents in hospitals, homeless shelters, schools, and at Rikers Island Correctional Facility.
Joyce has joined forces with the acclaimed music education program El Sistema Greece to bring hope and inspiration to thousands of refugee children. El Sistema, or “the system," has brought positive social change to more than 700,000 children in Venezuela, and the model is being applied to build a cultural revolution in Greece, through music education and community building.
Joyce is the Global Ambassador for World Voice, an organization which enhances children's learning around the world through the act of singing, and empowers and trains teachers to integrate songs into the classroom, broadening awareness of other cultures by learning songs from other countries.
In July 2021, a nine-year-old Syrian refugee girl called Little Amal began her 8,000 km journey from the Syria-Turkey border across Europe to the UK. What made her walk so visible? Just the simple fact that Amal is a giant (3,5 m tall) puppet child refugee designed by Handspring Puppet Company.