The impending doom of finals...

I am a very busy and stressed person at the moment! So apologies for my sparse updates. The conservatory is busier than ever lately, as people practice for our upcoming Juries (with a capital J, to emphasize its importance).

On the bright side, the end of my first year of classes has brought with it some fantastic recitals. Not only were the performances spectacular, but so were the receptions! The chocolate fountain was my favourite. Although attending every one really eats up a lot of time, it was a huge amount of fun, and really inspiring to see what some of the graduates and upper year students have accomplished in their time at Mount A.

Another highlight of the week was the grad shaft. Apparently it is an annual tradition that the grad class shafts the conservatory at the end of the year. I went in early (disgustingly early - 7 am in fact!) to practice, and was mildly suprised to find two balls of hay and the door of the conservatory covered in newspaper. Stranger things have happened, though - especially in residence. So I went in without expecting too much. And I found that the graduating class had fashioned a makeshift pen in the foyer of the conservatory, covered it with hay, and put a chicken inside - a real, live chicken. The statue of patron Marjorie Young Bell which graces the conservatory was also now wearing a straw hat. Completing the picture was a sign saying "Elliot's Corral", a play on Mount Allison's Elliot Chorale. Apparently the chicken's name was Elliot. I really wish I had brought a camera to school that day - but I was not expecting this. In fact, it wasn't until I went down to the lobby and hour and a half later to get ready for class after practicing that I believed I had actually seen a chicken in the conservatory and I hadn't just been really tired and starting to see things.

The conserv was definitely starting to smell by the end of the day - but it was worth it to watch the double-takes and hear the shocked exclamations as people entered the building. Seriously, is there any other music department with as wonderful a sense of humour as Mount Allison? I don't think so. I have a lot of friends in music at other universities, but none of them have fun stories about finding a chicken in the lobby. It was one of those days where I was extraordinarily happy to have chosen MTA.

Cheers!

The Highlight of Sackville Life...

...Is definitely the bowling alley, which I have recently discovered. Why did I only dicover it recently? Well...As you can see the function of the bowling alley is not nearly as important as the fact that it is sponsored by Coke. I never really noticed that part about "Sackville Bowling" and always wondered why there was a gigantic "Coke" sign hanging off of that building.
The inside of the bowling alley... and yes... this is the whole bowling alley! For us city girls it was a bit suprising! But it was fantastic because we took up the entire alley. And the biggest shock definitely came for Danielle, who is from Toronto. She discovered that everywhere else - we had representatives from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland, and various Maritimes places - people get to bowl three balls each turn. Apparently in Toronto it is only two! She felt very cheated.
Me showing off our musical selection of the night.... Backstreet Boys. We are sooooo classy... not... but that's ok, because last night we went to Jazz at Jennings, which was definitely the classiest way to spend Friday night ever.
And here we are - the bowling lanes in their full glory, complete with a disco ball and what looked like Christmas lights for decoration! We found this hilarious, and awesome. These are the small joys of small-town life.

Samahra displays the diverse shoe selection of Sackville Bowling.

Into our third round, Danielle and I got tired of bowling normally... so here is an example of one of our many creative approaches. The picture is dark and hard to see, but we are bowling under one leg.
And Hannah started dancing. Definitely a fun night. Which is why everyone needs the experience of going to the Sackville bowling alley! I definitely plan on going as often as possible.

Before I close off this entry, I need to express my excitement for tomorrow, when Choral Society will be performing Faure's Requiem at the Chapel! And, Elliot Chorale will be performing the Requiem of fantastic Canadian composer Eleanor Daley. Two of my favourite composers ever! The Requiem is a whole lot of fun to sing, and should be a lot of fun to hear as well, so I am pumped.

Birthdays

One fun event of last week was my friend Michelle's 19th birthday... celebrated in style at Joey's restaurant and later at the pub. I skipped out on the pub to go to the piano concert I mentioned last entry, but the restaurant was a fun time... I have never seen so many people stuffed into Joey's at once! So to commemorate the invident here are some photos;

yeah........ I wasn't exaggerating, we really took up most of the restaurant.

This was Michelle's pseudo-birthday cake! the cupcakes were really yummy. And we sang happy birthday in about 5 keys at once.

Since there were so many of us at one table, it was reaaaally hard to get out. So when you had to go to bathroom... table ducking was what you had to do. Here is my friend Danielle caught in the act. I am looking on and laughing at her like the supportive friend I am.

concerts and other fun stuff

Wow... I don't even know where to start after all the fantastic things I've seen since my last entry! I suppose I will start from the most recent and work my way back.

Sunday - the Student Composition Recital, which was an exciting chance to see what the composition students here have come up with. I was very impressed with the variety of music that was played - piano pieces, electronic music, a horn duet, choral music... it was a neat chance to look into what composition students have been doing.

Saturday - a concert of piano duets played by the piano faculty of Mount A, and it was absolutely fantastic! One piece I particularly enjoyed a two-piano arrangement of La Valse by Ravel, which was an apocalyptic view of wartime Vienna. All in all it was a wonderful night!

Friday - Every year students from Mount Allison put on a showing of the Vagina Monologues, and having never seen them before I had a real treat Friday night. I will definitely make a point to go every year.

In addition, last week Ballet Jorgen visited Sackville with their production of Romeo and Juliet's Prokofiev. It never ceases to amaze me how lucky the people of this town are - I can't imagine anywhere else with a population of 4000 where professional ballets are put on.

february break

Hope everyone had a wonderful break - I know I did. Some people had trouble with delayed flights out of Toronto, but we're all safely here now! And I had a wonderful break at home in Saskatoon.

Today, March 1, marks the start of a inter-house energy reducing competition with the prize of a big screen TV (ironically). So right now I'm living without the conveniences of a fridge... or lights... which is fun, albeit challenging. The only thing I refuse to go without is television. Sometimes the only thing that keeps me going on Mondays is the prospect of a new Heroes episode...

This weekend is shaping up to be a big one concert-wise. Tonight is "Music and Verse" presented by the Music as a Cure society - proceeds go to the MS Society of Atlantic Canada. Tomorrow there is an organ recital and a master class by Kevin Birch, and Saturday is Ballet Jorgen's production of Romeo and Juliet. So this is a very exciting weekend! And on Monday, the student recitals are kicking off. I will definitely be getting around to as many of these as humanly possible.

I need to get out and take some pictures to put up here - I've been slacking off lately! I will do this soon.

Today is VERY WINDY!

The most exciting news I have of late is that myself and 4 friends have all signed leases on a house for next year. As a word of warning - if you want to live off-campus, do not leave it until as late as we did. We are incredibly lucky to have found a beautiful place that only just went on the market, because the current landlords just bought it a couple weeks ago. All the other places left were... not so great.

Sackville's size is both a blessing and a curse when finding a house - it does mean that housing is limited, so you have to get started on finding a place much sooner than universities in big cities. But it means that there are fewer houses and landlords to choose from. I recommend joining the Mount A facebook group "Rate my Landlord", which helps you avoid landlords with a less than ideal reputation (if you are thinking about coming to university without a facebook account.... don't do it. Just don't. It is an essential). My friends living in big cities - especially the Torontonians - have so many options available that they have no clue where to start. Not a problem here. Just go to the SAC's housing website, put your requirements (price, size, etc) in and start phoning landlords. Also, Sackville's small size means that you have really decent chance of being close to campus.... since... you can't really get too far from campus in the whole town... no matter how hard you try.

The house we got is gorgeous - it is recently renovated with five big, bright bedrooms, a living room, a rec room, laundry facilities, storage places, a nice big kitchen, a fireplace, a porch, and even a back deck! I am terribly excited. I would put pictures up, but it doesn't belong to us until May 1, so right now that would be a bad idea... since we don't own it. And the rent is verrrrrry decent. Housing in Sackville is very cheap. Compared to some places (aka Saskatoon, the only other place I've ever lived). It is also about 20 seconds away from the only cafe and the only movie theatre in Sackville... we are going to be living a sweet, sweet life next year.

Don't get me wrong, residence life is wonderful. I will miss it. But I have a couple gigantic problems with it.... ok, mostly one, which is that I have to withhold the urge to burst into song whenever I please, because you are sharing a living space with so many other people. This has proven to be a huuuuuuge trial for me. Apparently, I can't survive it. But in a house with 4 friends - all of whom are aware of and willing to put up with my songful tendencies - I can start belting out Rent or Wicked whenever I please. Well, not *whenever* I please. I suppose that at 3 a.m. on a school night in the middle of midterms, my version of "Take me or Leave me", however stunning, would probably not be appreciated. But it's a step up.

I also like to take (usually disasterous) forays into the world of cooking. It will be fun.

In non-house related news, Windsor Theatre's production of Running Far Back was a great success, as were the series of vocal workshops, concerts, and seminars held last weekend. I particularly enjoyed the seminar on vocal health. Lots of good stuff was learned there.

Til next entry.

whooooaaaa

.....life is crazy!!!!! Mid-terms are going on and I am singing in Collegium tomorrow, and I haven't practiced piano or voice even close to enough, and I have projects due tomorrow and Friday neither of which I have started! So that is why I haven't been updating, and also why I have exactly 14 minutes to write this entry before I leave for a rehearsal.

Most importantly... I hope anyone from Mount A reading this checked out the fabulous Opera Workshop performances on Monday and Sunday. I had the honour of being a stagehand for this fantastic production... and it really was fantastic! I know at least a few people who went both nights because they enjoyed it so much the first time. It was hysterically funny at times, and heart-melting at others. I am so lucky to be a part of a music department that has produced such amazing singers (and actors!).

A one-act opera called The Game of Chance by Seymour Barab was performed, and selections from Douglas Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe, Menotti's The Maid and the Thief, and Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky.

Well, it turns out my 14 minutes are waaaay up... Goodbye for now.