Oh Yeah...School

With my first week of classes behind me, I find that I have been shaken back into the reality of why I have come to the Land Down Undah. After three weeks of getting settled into Brisbane and getting used to the laid-back, take-it-as-it-comes lifestyle, I am now hearing phrases like "cognitive thinking" and "assignments". And I think that perhaps I haven't pondered those phrases in nearly 10 years (OK, I have many logical thinkers laughing at me now)!

It was about 10 years ago that I was at college, trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, and really longing for more musical training, that a prof of mine said, "I think you need to go somewhere where you can live and breathe music for a year or two." And although at the time I chose to stick it out and finish my degree, I have often thought about how wonderful that would be.

And that is the first thing I have realized this week. This school is a MUSIC school. You don't study anything else. And everyone else here had to audition to get in, which means they are GOOD. I am walking down hallways of tubas, drums and violins, opera singers, jazz vocalists and everything in between. I am hearing conversations of various weekend gigs that have either been attended or performed at. I am hearing the inevitable tension between the two "main" styles of music as a jazz student stated earlier this week that in order to cross the hallway into the classical side, you need to "remove your shoes".

I am completely immersed in music. And I love it.

For those who care to know, here are the courses I am taking this term:

• Pedagogy 1 (the text book is 3 volumes and I just read a detailed account of how sound is created. Pedagogy means "the art of teaching"...it also means a lot of scientific understanding of the voice...this will be a heavy course!)
• Pedagogy in Practice (basically voice lessons, but there are 2 of us in the class. We each get a 30 min. lesson and then observe the other lesson from a pedagogy perspective)
• Contemporary Performance Project (from what I can tell so far, we get put into groups and have to create a 45 min. gig off-campus at the end of term)
• Choral Conducting (what it sounds like!)
• Postgraduate Ensemble (I am singing in two ensembles: a Vocal Jazz group and a Chamber Choir (classical) Lots of singing and performing this term!)

This term will be a lot of practical study as most of my program requirements will be met next year (a lot of vocal stuff isn't offered this term due to a prof being away), so I am getting some electives out of the way.

And so it begins! Some of these students have been at the Con for 5 years and are continuing into their masters. They are quite familiar with how things are run and I believe I will be kept on my toes as I try to keep up. But it's exciting and I'm ready for it!

I even assembled a desk, which I am proud enough to post a photo. A whopping $59!

And I was a total nerd and asked my new voice teacher for a photo. I really like her and all that she stands for. I am looking forward to gleaning from this remarkable woman!