Story-to-Song (STS) is the culmination of research conducted by Marieke Slovin Lewis and Malcolm Brooks, who worked together closely for several years, studying and exploring the connections between songwriting and sustainability during their time as doctoral students in the Sustainability Education PhD program at Prescott College.

It was through a dialogic, iterative research process that Marieke and Malcolm transformed an initial idea for composing music from a story into a fully formed method called Story-to-Song. This research became the basis for each of their individual dissertations.

STS was designed to be accessible to anyone wishing to write a song from a story. There is no experience required to write your own song. It is a participatory method of songwriting.

To learn about how to write a song using the Story-to-Song method, visit: Write a Story-to-Song

Story-to-Song Timeline

2010

Malcolm Brooks shares an idea for using story as creative fodder for overcoming creative blocks in music composition. He calls this idea “Autoethnographic Songwriting” and talks about writing a song from a story with a student at the Prescott College PhD Colloquium in May.

At the October Cohort Colloquium, Malcolm invites Marieke to share a story and write a song as part of a research presentation.

2011

Malcolm and Marieke begin to work together to study songwriting and determine if the process of writing a song from a story can be replicated in front of an audience. Together, they offer a songwriting demonstration presentation at the May Colloquium at Prescott College. From there, they begin joint research into the process of writing a song from a spoken story. They complete an IRB, which is approved by Prescott College, and work in tandem through a collaborative, iterative process to delineate specific steps that can be followed to write song. The process is determined to be a method. Marieke suggests the name “Story-to-Song,” which she suggests may be more accessible and easy to understand.

2012 

Marieke presents the method at multiple venues in Massachusetts and begins to offer songwriting workshops for children and adults at Lowell National Historical Park

2013

Marieke and Malcolm publish dissertations on the topic of sustainability and songwriting.

Marieke and Malcolm publish an article on the process of writing a song using the Story-to-Song method.

2014

Marieke is chosen to develop the idea of creating a business model for Story-to-Song through the Merrimack Valley Sandbox entrepreneur accelerator program (now known as EforAll/Entrepreneurship for All).

Marieke and Malcolm present the Story-to-Song method in Montreal at Concordia University for the Conference “Deindustrialization & Its Aftermath.”

2012-2014

Marieke and Malcolm complete several projects, writing music from oral histories at Lowell National Historical Park and New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park

2015

Marieke moves to Arizona, where she continues to employ the Story-to-Song method. She works with a wife and her husband, who has Alzheimer’s, to write a song about his life as a pilot.

Marieke and Malcolm begin to develop a possible business model for Story-to-Song,m but they have different ideas and goals for how to further develop the method and business. Malcom creates the non-profit DocSong, training people in the Story-to-Song method and using the term Documentary Songwriting in place of Story-to-Song. Marieke continues her work with the method as Story-to-Song through her own organization, Guiding Song.

2016

Marieke presents a workshop at the Peregrine Book Company and speaks at a Toastmasters public speaking event in Prescott, Arizona.

Marieke offers a songwriting demonstration at the Limmud Conference in Phoenix, Arizona.

2017

Marieke moves to Brussels, Belgium and begins the “Migration Songs” project at the Fedasil Arrival Centre (Petit Chateau, Klein-Kasteeljte)

Marieke and Sarah share their work at the Europeana History Museum as part of the “Migration Collection Day”

Story-to-Song is highlighted in an article and podcast

2020

Marieke and Sarah offer a songwriting workshop at Fedasil Arrival Centre as part of a city-wide literature event called Interlitratour

Marieke and Sarah present the Story-to-Song method and the “Migration Songs” project at the Catholic University of Lille student-led migration colloquium, Crossing Perspectives on Transnational Migration: An Interdisciplinary Approach

The “Migration Songs” project is included in a permanent display about music in the refugee community in Brussels at the Migratie Migration Museum presentation and exhibit and podcast

Marieke and Sarah publish “On the Move: Poems and Songs of Migration,” a book about the Migration Songs project that highlights 27 finished songs written with asylum seekers from 18 different countries in 11 languages

2021 

Marieke is invited to join in a global online group for Japanese speakers learning English. Marieke presents the Story-to-Song method, shares songs from the migration songs project, and leads a songwriting demonstration with the group host, Mayuko Yoshida.

The “Migration Songs” project is shortlisted for the Amateo Award for Arts Participation projects in Europe

Marieke and Sarah share their work at the Amateo Conference in Milan, Italy and offer several children’s workshops in Brussels, Belgium at the Fedasil Arrival Centre and Romania House

2022