This week I was asked to play at a Masterclass, which will be on Oct. 2nd. There is a pianist coming from Germany, and as well as giving a masterclass, she will be giving a concert in Convocation Hall. I'm glad I was asked to do this because it gives me a chance to perform a piece I just started. It is always interesting to discover new facts about our personal musicianship, such as how short a time one can truly learn a piece in and still give its first public delivery a satisfying stab.
One of my most favorite parts of the week is the opera class that I'm taking. In this class, I accompany the opera workshop, which the singer majors participate in. We're doing a number of operas. I've always been very interested in operas, but I've never really had a chance to get to know them well. This week I was asked to accompany a singer for her lesson each week. (I suppose that what I will make shall pay for half of my eating a week. Not bad!) I can't justly explain why, but I love collaborating with vocalists. There is such a joy found in singing, and especially in singing the music of these composers!
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Open House
Great to see such activity at the music desk - the instruments, the friendly and accessible style displayed by those present. Many thanks to Angela, Andy, Michael, Aiyana, Megan, Craig, Nita, Christa, Deb and Alexandra. Lots of interested students- lots of ideas to do it better next year!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
New experiences
This week of school was more intense. I have been assigned around 9 pieces on piano, and so I never catch a 'dull' moment. I love practicing and learning pieces. However, sometimes it's hard to practice at the university because everyone else also wants to practice their new (and old) pieces. Sometimes I practice later at night when the demand for rooms is not as high. (And I find that as the weeks go by, pianists die off. Not altogether of course! They still love to practice I'm sure; they just don't practice ALL day long anymore.)
The more familiar with university I get, the more excited I become to attend each day. Although I have been spending 9-13 hours at university everyday, I find that after I've had a good rest, I'm ready to do it all over again. I'm in love with music, and have been anxiously awaiting my turn to live in its environment. I've already made many friends, and we help each other out a lot when we don't understand a particular assignment or question.
I'm also happy with the closeness of relationship between first years and students who have been attending for many years. I thought that 3rd and 4th year undergrads, and masters students would distance themselves from first years, just because of seniority, but there is none of that here. Sure, every now and then someone needs to be told to come back to earth, but even they mean well. I'm already friends with 2 piano doctorate students, both of which teach me two of my courses.
Tomorrow is our first concert, held at Convocation hall, which is right next to the music building. The orchestra, wind ensemble and one more group will be performing. I'm very excited for it.
The more familiar with university I get, the more excited I become to attend each day. Although I have been spending 9-13 hours at university everyday, I find that after I've had a good rest, I'm ready to do it all over again. I'm in love with music, and have been anxiously awaiting my turn to live in its environment. I've already made many friends, and we help each other out a lot when we don't understand a particular assignment or question.
I'm also happy with the closeness of relationship between first years and students who have been attending for many years. I thought that 3rd and 4th year undergrads, and masters students would distance themselves from first years, just because of seniority, but there is none of that here. Sure, every now and then someone needs to be told to come back to earth, but even they mean well. I'm already friends with 2 piano doctorate students, both of which teach me two of my courses.
Tomorrow is our first concert, held at Convocation hall, which is right next to the music building. The orchestra, wind ensemble and one more group will be performing. I'm very excited for it.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
First weeks of school
Hey! My name is Maria Fuller. I have agreed to write blogs every now and then to let you all know what I think of the U of A and what my experiences have been, whether positive or negative. I'm a first year undergraduate, and am taking a bachelor of music in piano performance.
I enjoyed the first two weeks of university. The first week of class was a basic 'welcome-to-class-and here's-what-you're-going-to-be-doing,' type of thing, and the second week kind of eased into things. I'm taking six classes this year, all of which are required classes for my degree. They are: aural skills, theory, music history, English, piano lessons, and a large ensemble. The ensemble I chose to be in was the Wind Ensemble. There are also other groups students can be in such as a jazz group, orchestra, big band, and others that I'm still finding out about. (If you're a piano major and don't play another instrument, it is OK, because you can go into the choir.) Actually, I was invited to a supper party in the park that the choir put on. Although only 5 people showed up, it was a lot of fun. We ended up jamming, and receiving a lot of funny comments from runners passing by. Our instrumentation included an accordion, guitar, and drum. The folks in the park knew we were music students and thought we were practicing. (We were not practicing though, we were taking a break from our real instruments!)
To end this blog, let me tell you that I'm very glad to have figured out the bus system. Coming right off the farm, some things are always going to be new, and many times in a not so exciting manner. The bus proved to be one of these things. After waiting at the bus stop for nearly an hour one day, I realized that if the bus wasn't in a hurry, I shouldn't be either. This was a valuable lesson because it prevented me from a multitude of uneasiness. The first time the bus didn't show up, I had a good time thinking of what I would tell my professors if this happened on a school day. Anyway, to make a long story short, I was at school an HOUR AND A HALF early the first day of class . This wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't been an 8:00AM class.
Thanks guys! Comments are always welcome.
Maria
I enjoyed the first two weeks of university. The first week of class was a basic 'welcome-to-class-and here's-what-you're-going-to-be-doing,' type of thing, and the second week kind of eased into things. I'm taking six classes this year, all of which are required classes for my degree. They are: aural skills, theory, music history, English, piano lessons, and a large ensemble. The ensemble I chose to be in was the Wind Ensemble. There are also other groups students can be in such as a jazz group, orchestra, big band, and others that I'm still finding out about. (If you're a piano major and don't play another instrument, it is OK, because you can go into the choir.) Actually, I was invited to a supper party in the park that the choir put on. Although only 5 people showed up, it was a lot of fun. We ended up jamming, and receiving a lot of funny comments from runners passing by. Our instrumentation included an accordion, guitar, and drum. The folks in the park knew we were music students and thought we were practicing. (We were not practicing though, we were taking a break from our real instruments!)
To end this blog, let me tell you that I'm very glad to have figured out the bus system. Coming right off the farm, some things are always going to be new, and many times in a not so exciting manner. The bus proved to be one of these things. After waiting at the bus stop for nearly an hour one day, I realized that if the bus wasn't in a hurry, I shouldn't be either. This was a valuable lesson because it prevented me from a multitude of uneasiness. The first time the bus didn't show up, I had a good time thinking of what I would tell my professors if this happened on a school day. Anyway, to make a long story short, I was at school an HOUR AND A HALF early the first day of class . This wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't been an 8:00AM class.
Thanks guys! Comments are always welcome.
Maria
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