Today I wrote my first university exam for MUSC 105! I think it went okay, and now I just have three more to go! Woo!
Anyway, in the spirit of more course evaluations, today I will be doing a review for MUSC 120 (History of Music I). Continue reading
Filed under Academics, School of Music
Just a reminder to everybody, course evaluations are due tomorrow night. These are important, because your input will help make the course better in the future. It’s always nice to know your opinion matters :) Anyway, in the spirit of course evaluations, I am going to give an overview of my courses for anybody who might be taking those courses and stumble upon this in the future. Continue reading
Filed under Academics, School of Music
A few days ago while I was having a class in the Music Building a few people in my class received an email on their phones saying that there was a burnt smell in the basement and would everyone please evacuate the building. A couple of minutes later, another email was sent saying it was no longer necessary to evacuate and we should disregard the email.
Although nothing ended up happening, I was left feeling disconcerted. What if there was a seriously dangerous situation and everyone really needed to be evacuated? It is unreasonable to assume that everyone has a smartphone, or that they check their email 24/7. I know people who only check their email every couple of days. And even if the few people with smartphones that got the email told people around them they need to evacuate, what of the students locked up in a practice room, ignoring their phone and focusing on their music? If the situation a few days ago had been more serious, there would be people who did not receive the message and they could have gotten hurt.
I feel that the Music Office needs a more effective way of sending urgent information to occupants of the building to avoid possible injury in the future.
Filed under School of Music
I haven’t really posted in the last three weeks for a very good reason: I’ve had tendinitis in my wrists and hands. As a musician, this was a huge road block, and to make sure I healed up in a timely fashion, I had to forego the computer for all but homework. However, my hands are getting better now! I’ve increased my practice time to thirty minutes per day, up from twenty, and I’m hoping that by the end of December I’ll be able to play for an hour at a time.
I can’t really explain to you how good it feels to be able to play the harp again if you aren’t a musician or actor or artist yourself; playing the harp is not just something I do, or a hobby I enjoy. It is a part of who I am, my reason for being here at UBC, and what brings me joy on a daily basis. To have that taken away… was hard. The important thing is though, I’m getting better and get back to doing what I love! I like to think that it’s a good thing that I got hurt now, at the beginning of my first year, so that I can learn to take care of myself and not get hurt again later, like in third year and having a big recital coming up.
I honestly am not entirely sure where I went wrong when practicing. I warmed up, stretched, took breaks, all that stuff. What I think it must come down to is that I increased my practice time too much too fast when I arrived in September, and I must also have been playing too tensely. I’ve learned my lesson and I’m increasing my playing time very gradually and spend my time working on relaxed technique!
Filed under School of Music, Wellness
Previously I made a post about how to prevent injuries in musicians. However, clearly I don’t really know what I’m talking about because shortly after that I got tendinitis. It’s been kinda sucky, but I’ve seen a doctor and physiotherapist, and I’m on my way back to being able to play for hours every day. It means I won’t be able to play with the orchestra in December which is kind of disappointing, but no concert is worth a serious injury.
For those who would like information on preventing musician’s injuries, I strongly reccommend reading Playing (less) Hurt by Janet Horvath, and The Musician’s Survival Manual: A Guide to Preventing and Treating Injuries in Instrumentalists by Richard Norris, M.D. (this one is out of print but you can get it on amazon or in e-book form).
Filed under School of Music, Wellness
Well, clearly I’m terrible at taking my own advice or it wasn’t very good advice in the first place. My hands have been hurting recently, and my teacher tells me that it’s tendonitis. I’ve caught it early, and I’m young, so my teacher says I should heal up quite quickly if I take it easy. Of course, that also means no texting or using the computer for a little while as well. So, no posts for a while. I wanted to write about what I did for Halloween, so suffice it to say for now that I went to a parade and went trick or treating (like the legit going to houses kind).
And yeah, I’m only a tiny bit panicked.
Filed under School of Music, Wellness
Today was the reception for Major Entrance Scholars (ie. people who won Major Entrance Scholarships), and uh, yeah, I won one… Anyway, there were a lot of amazing people! I got to meet the chancellor and president of UBC and the director of the school of music (all of whom are really really nice people). I also met other students, and I think I can really connect with them. I also got the first hug I’ve had since I got here, which is AWESOME because I am a very huggy person. There was also really good food, so, you know, that’s a plus too… :P
Also in regards to the Winter Harp, it turns out that the harpist they wanted in the first place could make the shows, so I won’t be needed. Still, I’m really happy – the fact that they contacted me at all is awesome, and I think with the extra rehearsals and stuff I’d get really stressed out.
That’s all for today :) -Samantha
Filed under Campus Life, School of Music
I’ve told this story about a million times now, but I’ll try not to be boring while telling it again.
Last week, I got an email from my FAVOURITE group of harp performers, the Winter Harp (seriously, check them out – www.winterharp.com). The person who sent me the email, the creator of Winter Harp, is friends with my harp teacher (who gave her my name) and said that they are looking for a second harpist for a few shows later this year, and along with a few other people, would like to know if I was interested in playing with them. Well of course, these people being my favourite people EVER, I immediately said yes and was jumping around in my dorm room practically crying because I was so happy.
On Sunday, I took transit all the way to New Westminster (I am very proud of myself for that), and played for them. I think I did pretty well, but I think I may not get it because there are other people trying for it who have more experience than me, and I’m actually perfectly okay with that. Getting to do the Winter Harp gigs would be an amazing experience, but it would also be really stressful, and either way I’m just really honoured to be able to meet some of my favourite performers.
Also on the way back I went to Metrotown, and if you’re craving some shopping you should go check it out :P
Later – Samantha
Filed under School of Music
Okay, I think I’ve finally got ensembles figured out.
In terms of large ensemble, ie. symphony orchestra, the four harpists will share parts, but the other first year will get probably the majority of parts and the hardest ones, since she’s actually been playing the longest. The orchestra won’t be having any harp in it until October, so I get a few weeks with free nights, which is nice.
For small ensemble, I’ll be doing harp duets with a third year harpist who has the same teacher as me. (And in case I haven’t mentioned this, my harp teacher is SO NICE.) This will work nicely, since we have group lessons every other week, so I won’t have to fit another rehearsal into my schedule somewhere. I had kind of hoped to be in a string quartet sort of thing so I could meet some more people, but this is good too.
P.S. I discovered The Honor Roll – a great sushi place in the basement of the SUB. You can get a California Roll for $3.50, and they take UBCCard, too! Made my day.
Peace – Samantha.
Filed under Academics, School of Music
Today I had my audition for ensembles, and it was a bit of a gong show.
My audition was at 1:15, so I started packing up the harp to go down to the basement around 1:10, and just as I was going out the door, my harp teacher phoned saying we’re supposed to start in two minutes. I kind of panicked a little, but I wheeled the harp over to the elevator, which took about TEN FREAKING MINUTES to get there! Seriously! And then when it finally came, I was so relieved that I got off on the first floor it stopped at, and by the time I realized it was only the third floor, the doors had already closed. Then I had to wait some MORE. When I finally reached the basement, it was 1:25. Sigh. But I played, and it went as good as I really expected it to, and I’ll get the results at some point.
I don’t expect to get into the orchestra this year, as there are a few harpists at a higher year lever than me, but that’s okay. A small ensemble will be assigned to me and that will be fine for now :)
Filed under Academics, School of Music
That's me! I'm a fourth year, introverted, Winnipeg-hailing, blog-writing, cookie-eating, harp-playing, yoga-doing, blanket-knitting music student at UBC. I'm always trekking around campus in my Pumas and massive black backpack, and if you spot me, come say hi! It would be nice to know someone actually reads these things!
