50% of the front page was a feature article on our beloved facilities, *ahem* or lack thereof *ahem*...
Even the Editorial Cartoonist was inspired.
To top it all off, a send off by the editor herself.All-in-all, a good day; three articles for the interview price of one (unless you count the three additional visits I made to their office to help out with various things). The music administration was fairly happy with it, the faculty were ecstatic, and the students were super excited that the music faculty was mentioned in the Gazette, let alone featured (we are the smallest faculty on campus despite having the second largest music programme in Canada, so alas, we are not mentioned too much). 'Twas good fun to be a celebrity for a day. An article with Western News is also in the works... I should know more about that in a few days; one reporter in particular seemed very interested :)
On a separate note, in September you often hear people say that such and such a subject or piece is going to *kill* them this year. Well this year I'm jumping on that train because for me, the Histoire du Soldat by Stravinsky shall be taking that honour; I listened to the majority of it with my part in front of me today and just about keeled over. My part seems to be way out of my league, i.e. it was the most difficult piece of music I have ever heard performed on bassoon. Honestly. Thankfully I have six months to learn it, but if I can sound like that recording in six months, I think I should be leaving my university career behind and head straight for orchestral auditions :S Gah. These first few weeks worth of rehearsals certainly are going to require a lot of patience...
Well I'm off to the wonderful land of dishes and then off to bed to catch up on the sleep I lost last night due to the wonderful land of my Finance textbook. Unfortunately those readings did not pay off today as we're taking up the exercises in next class. We got to talking about the Central Bank is raising interest rates next week and the lecture agenda went downhill from there. If you ever want me to explain to you what the Central Bank raising interest rates means for you, just let me know; I'm not even going to waste precious Internet space on it. It is not worthy enough of a topic.
4 comments:
central bank raising interest rates is a VERY important topic.
LOL! That last comment is really funny... is that person Truly anonymous, or do you think you know who it is? Apparently you stepped on a subject that is very dear to their heart, whoever they are! =)
Been reading your blog the past few days.. good job! =)
Dear impromptus:
Not only is a Central bank raising interest rates FAR more important than L'Histoire du Soldat, I hope that if you're ever administering to an arts organization with which I'm involved, you clearly understand the implications of a quarter percent raise in prime interest rates. For example, say you're an operations manager of an orchestra, say Orchestra London, and the Bank of Canada announces a quarter percent interest rate hike. Any credit extended to the orchestra including endowments from sponsors (which are usually invested and the orchestra gets the returns)just lost value since your regular payments on behalf of the orchestra will now be more expensive. An example may be the mortgage or rental costs of performance or rehearsal venues. You will also feel the hit personally as your own line of credit, mortgage, investments, student loans etc, will all be worth less - not worthless - worth less. Add to that the fact that all employees of the Orchestra, of the box office, of Centennial Hall and the AUDIENCE, will all have less disposable cash at month's end because THEIR mortgages, lines of credit, and big ticket purchases just got inherently more expensive. That would include cars, big screen TVs, musical instruments and so on. So, look out on contract negotiations day because that seemingly insignificant second violinist is going to go on strike if he or she doesn't get a raise comensurate with the increased interest rate he or she is now paying on their mortgage and student loans. And the rest of the orchestra is going with them.
When interest rates go up, the cost of essentials goes up to make up for the decreased volume. Inflation as a whole slows because less people can afford to buy big ticket items, but things like instrument insurance premiums suffer a marginal increase.
As for L'histoire du soldat, pay particular attention to la musique de la 2e scène and the solo at rehearsal #26 in the ragtime. La danse du diable is fast, but easily performable. The trick to all of Strawinsky's music is to always be counting the eighth note. forget the barlines and just truck along with the lowest subdivide beat (eighth, sixteenth).
If you need six months to get this part up to performance worthy in fourth year performance, better stay awake in the finance classes, because the music world need people who can play parts like this, not learn parts like this. Basson part to L'histoire should take no more than a week to be under the fingers for someone who diligently practices their scales every single day of their life.
Want to be humbled? Look at the Jolivet concerto - that takes six months.
I am already humbled by someone who has a greater knowledge of central bank interest rates *and* L'histoire than me...... who are you & please tell me you're at least 10 years my senior :P
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