Heart of Vancity 2K
A lot of people would say Paris is the City of Light. With this beautiful time lapse video of downtown core, I think Vancouver can give Paris a run for its money.
Made by the talented Joel Schat.
Lessons Learned From an Opera
Or more to the point, lessons I learned from playing an opera.
If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that in the past, playing in the orchestra has majorly stressed me out, made me feel intimidated and incapable, and my fear of ensemble playing even drove me to a panic attack this January. However, with the help of mindfulness classes and gaining experience playing the opera, I’ve learned a lot. I just finished playing another orchestra concert last Friday and the whole process was much smoother, less nerve-wracking, and actually fun.
The first thing I realized was that everybody is here to learn. Not everyone is going to hit every note at the first rehearsal, and there’s a decent chance no one will even notice if you mess up. And there is a definite chance that no one is going to hate your guts if you mess up. We’re all students – making mistakes is part of learning! If you do make a mistake, it’s your job to figure out why and fix it for next time, but beating yourself up over it is totally uncalled for.
Another thing I learned somewhere along the way is to not take criticism personally. If the conductor tells you you’ve done something wrong, it’s simply because you need to fix it for the sake of making the ensemble sound the best that it can. It doesn’t mean that the conductor hates you, or that you’re a horrible person. The key word in “constructive criticism” is constructive.
Feeling intimidated still? Don’t! The next thing I learned was to play confidently. Playing confidently, even though it seems scary, actually helps you play better. And being too scared to play loud enough isn’t a way around your fear of someone hearing you play something wrong; you’re actually not doing your job if you can’t be heard when you need to be. Breathe in, say you yourself, “I can do this! Anything can go right!” and let the music flow. It’ll come right out.
And finally, don’t be afraid to ask questions. I sat in on a Vancouver Symphony Orchestra rehearsal this Sunday, and they just pipe up with any questions they may have right away. It’s better for everyone if you can clear up any confusion from the moment it arises. If you’re not sure if you should ask the conductor, you can always start with your section leader. (Story time! During the last orchestra concert, I was having trouble hearing from where the harps were set on stage. I emailed the conductor and talked to the stage manager and it got cleared up! Problem solving for the win!)
Basically, it gets better with more experience, and also with a more objective attitude. Stay calm and believe in your capabilities and you’ll be fine. After all, what’s the best that could happen?
UBC Symphony Orchestra Concert Friday
If anyone wants to come see me (and the rest of the UBC Symphony Orchestra) play, there is a concert this Friday that I am playing in! Here are the details:
Date: Friday, March 15, 2013
Time: 8 pm
Location: The Chan Centre
Works by Vaughan Williams, Beethoven, and Elgar
I’m playing in the Vaughan Williams piece, Serenade to Music. It is an absolutely gorgeous piece and the choir sings in it too! You should definitely come check it out 🙂
Maenam: modernized Thai food
Magnesiumm and I are starting this Foodie Tuesdays thing. We both have this crazy 4 hour break every Tuesdays so we go out to eat for lunch around the UBC area. We went to Maenam back in February because we really wanted to try out Thai food. It was a good choice.
We decided to opt for the set menu. It was $25 per person and we can choose one starter, one salad, one curry, and one stir fry. They were all in good portions and we were very full after the meal.
served with nahm jim sauce
Steamed Mussels with Lemongrass and Thai Basil
- authentic herbs and spices
- came with a nice accompanying chili sauce. Not overly spicy, but great kick to the flavor
- broth was very light and flavorful, not heavy with the herbs at all and soaked the mussel flavor
- something Magnesiumm said and I have to agree: the mussels didn’t seem that fresh and had a weird “sea” aftertaste
longons, fresh herbs on top of tender pork cheeks in light broth
Braised Pork Cheek Salad
- it was a little underwhelming. I really like pork cheek but it didn’t really fit with this dish in my opinion
- it’s a warm salad. More of a personal thing, it was alright
- chili and the lime added good flavor to it, but the pork was very rich and didn’t really add to it well. I thought it would have been better separated
- pork was tender, but not as tender as I would have liked
fresh rice noodles, tamarind, peanuts, tofu, egg, sustainable prawns
Pad Thai (RECOMMENDED)
- this is my favorite pad thai so far in Vancouver, but then again I only tried 2 other places for pad thai… If there’s somewhere better I will update this
- very tangy and sweet, it certainly has a unique flavour profile and really stands out!
- noodles were cooked perfectly
- I do find the sauce just slightly overwhelming; I definitely don’t think I could eat the entire thing on its own. But still very very good nonetheless.
tender pork belly and shoulder, braised lotus roots, peanuts, Burmese style curry
Chiang Mai style heritage pork curry
- very interesting, didn’t seem as rich as other typical curries
- had a good amount of spice
- there were 2 main things that stood out in this dish: the pork belly and the lotus root. Much to my surprise, I liked the lotus root better. It was nice and firm, not mushy at all. Its taste went really well with the curry and a bowl of rice.
- kind of salty
I thought this place was great! Good portions and great choice of ingredients. Would come again for sure.
I’ll be a MUG Leader Next Year!
I opened my email Friday afternoon, saw the subject line pop up in my inbox and hurriedly scrolled down the message to see
“Congratulations!
We believe that you would be an excellent addition to our program this year, and we would like to offer you the position of:
Music MUG Leader”
Yay!
In two weeks I’ll get to attend a “March Welcome Event” and meet my fellow MUG Leaders, and I’m sure it’ll be one of those fun and spirited days that become one of your UBC experiences you’ll always remember. I’m looking forward to it!
I’m super pumped for next year’s Imagine Day already. This past year, I wasn’t a MUG Leader, so I kind of wandered around campus, feeling the energy of the day but not directly being a part of it, and I kind of regretted not applying to be a MUG Leader last spring. But next year will be different! I’m already excited to meet new music students and get to know them a bit and be a part of their first year (first day, even) at UBC.
I remember Imagine Day as being incredibly energized and inspiring, and the first day that I really felt as though I belonged on this campus. If I can be part of that again, and also create that experience for someone else, you can count me in!
That Sweet Feeling of a Performance Gone Well
Earlier today I had the pleasure of performing at the Dodson Series Concert (these are concerts held once a month in the Dodson Room in Irving K. Barber Learning Centre), and I’m happy to report that all of the performances (all by UBC Music students) went very well!
Like pretty much anyone ever, I get a bit nervous before I play. I used to get a lot more nervous than I do now, but with every performance I gain better control over my adrenalin. As I sat down at the harp, I took a deep breath in, imagined the first few bars as I wanted them to sound, and then began to play. I knew that I had that piece down cold. I’d practiced well, and I had just played it in the dress rehearsal, and nothing was going to go wrong. One of the most important things I think I did today was keep breathing while I played – it’s easy to forget when you’re nervous, and not breathing makes it very easy to get tense and tired which can sabotage your playing.
I finished the piece, and I don’t even remember playing a wrong note. I stood up, smiled, and bowed, letting the applause wash over me. After pouring all that energy out into the audience, it felt so good to feel all the appreciative energy of the audience come back to me. A few people came up to me afterwards to congratulate me on my performance and let me know how much they enjoyed it. I think those people who come up afterwards are my favourite part of performing; knowing I’ve played in a way I’m proud of makes me feel great, but knowing that I’ve been able to connect with and inspire another person so much that they want to come up and thank me for it makes me feel amazing.
No Global
A few weeks ago when everyone’s confirmations for Go Global came out, I cried a little bit inside. I have a number of friends going on exchange next year, and their mixers and advising sessions are coming up and it’s all very exciting – except for me, because I will be staying home.
A year ago, I was determined to do an exchange no matter how much red tape I had to cut through. Now, well… the picture has changed somewhat.
Because I’m in music, that already limits my choice in universities somewhat. Well, fine. I emailed a music faculty member to talk about exchange though, and that was where things got complicated. Apparently, most exchange universities won’t give you private lessons because it costs extra. A year without lessons? Yeah, I don’t think so. I also don’t know how affordable it would be to find another teacher and pay for it myself. Then there would be the problem of finding a harp to practice on. It’s not an instrument you can just take on a plane like you would a flute or a trumpet. So finding a harp I could use (hopefully at low cost) would be something of an issue. Then you take into account the way the music degree is structured (ie. full year ensemble courses, third and fourth year recitals), and going on exchange would mean that I’d have to take an extra year in my degree no matter what. (A lot of people take extra years after exchange anyway, but it isn’t really something I’m willing to do.)
Thus, my Go Global story ended before it started. I was disappointed before, but now that everyone is talking about their plans to go abroad it just makes me depressed. That was an experience I really, really wanted. I’m trying to find ways around it; I’m thinking about backpacking through Europe after graduation, taking a learn-German-in-Germany summer program, going to Australia for the next World Harp Congress in 2014. (Hopefully I’ll have the cash to do all that..) It won’t be quite the same as studying in a different country, but guess at least I’ll have the chance to travel.
Phantom of the Puccini
So I was going for a clever pun, but it didn’t really work out that way. What I’m trying to say is that I think I’ve come up with a topic for my history paper! Apparently the song “The Music of the Night” from Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Phantom of the Opera was accused of plagiarizing an opera by Puccini written in 1910, and his estate tried to sue for it but it didn’t go through. But, I thought it would be interesting to look into the similarities between the two pieces and in doing that look at similarities between musicals and opera.
This is, of course, if my prof approves the topic. I’m hoping that he does. 😛
Why is Picking a Paper Topic So Hard?
On this rainy Friday night I’m taking a break from Pretty Little Liars (I have become addicted, for which I can thank my room mate) and trying to figure out what I want to write about for the paper I have to write for my music history class. I don’t have to write the proposal until the twentieth, but I have no idea where I want to go with my topic.
The prof said we can write on any music after 1900 in the genres of classical music, jazz, and pop. I doubt it could be any broader. There are so many interesting artists and composers but I have no idea what to pick! Florence and the Machine, Debussy, Carlos Salzedo, Elton John, Miles Davis, Muzak, Disney, Broadway? Any of those would be interesting to write on. But, I think my main problem is finding a narrow enough topic.
“Okay, so you want to write on Florence and the Machine. What about them?”
“Uhh.. Well I think they have a harpist in their band.”
“Right, so what do you want to say about that?”
Yeah and that’s about where all of my ideas stop. How am I supposed to come up with a relevant topic that isn’t just a description of something and also fill up eight to ten pages about it? I feel like actually finding the topic is the most difficult part of doing a research paper.
I’m sure there’s an art kid out there somewhere going, wow, what a complainer, you can’t even pick an essay TOPIC? This is why I’m in music, not general arts. Let me play my harp and I’ll be happy. In the mean time I’ll stop stalling and try to brainstorm something…
Update with UBC Orientations
Group interview processes are underway! In fact, tomorrow is the last day we will hold interviews for MUG Leader applicants, but we may have to open up some more this Friday and Saturday.
This year we had a record of over 1177 applications to be Orientations leaders! That is quite astounding. We will have a lot of data management and interview results to go over, but with the help of the squad leaders that shouldn’t be too difficult. As per usual, science had the most and arts had the second most. At this point we are no longer accepting applications for Science MUG Leader applicants but we are accepting applications for other faculties and programs.
The group interview process is much like a carousel interview where as an applicant you get into groups and go off into multiple stations to show us what kind of person you are. We are looking for students who are passionate about making the first day for the next generation of students easygoing and fun but at the same time fill the mentor role that you will have with these new students. After all, many of them will not have a direct connection to UBC coming in.