Tag: concert

My First Semester in Women’s Glee Club

Elizabeth S 1 Comment

This past Sunday on November 17th, The University of Michigan Women’s Glee Club (WGC) presented “Be the Light Home,” a fall concert surrounding themes of compassion and circling back home. The community-driven concert was a great finish to my first semester in Women’s Glee Club. As such, I thought this week’s post would be a great opportunity to reflect on my experiences in the group so far.

Auditioning for the ensemble was initially nerve-wracking, but I am so, so glad I did. Since I was a child I have enjoyed singing, whether on my own or in church choirs. Throughout middle and high school I sang in my school’s choirs, my favorite being my high school’s smaller, auditioned choir. Before this year, however, I had never sang in an all-girls choir. While I had been a Soprano 2 for certain songs before, I had always been in an SATB choir comprised of soprano, alto, tenor, and bass vocal parts. Transitioning to SSAA—which has two distinct soprano sections and two distinct alto sections—was different but fun.

Founded in 1893, the Women’s Glee Club has a long, rich history, one that has impacted countless members of the university community. With hundreds of alumnae and around 80 current members, I’m ecstatic to have joined the ranks of such talented women. Women’s Glee Club features students with a variety of majors and interests, from voice performance to molecular biology. One of the great things about Women’s Glee Club is that it allows students to continue to sing in college while studying as a non-music major. Students from all backgrounds have the opportunity to sing in a collegiate choir through WGC, something I’ve enjoyed since being a member of RC Singers last year.

Women’s Glee Club is also a wonderful place to meet new people. I’ll admit, when I first heard the motto “Sisterhood, Song, and Strength,” I was a little skeptical. I was baffled by the concept of “Bigs/Littles” and “points.” Getting a sorority-esque vibe, I was perplexed by how a choir, especially one structured for academic credit, could achieve the same level of networking and bonding as a sorority or other organizations; however, I understood quickly WGC has so many events and aspects outside of the typical rehearsal. I’ve particularly enjoyed “Blues,” where WGC members go from tailgate to tailgate on game days and sing school spirit songs (Yellow and Blue, The Victors, etc.).

Overall, I’ve enjoyed my time in Women’s Glee Club so far and look forward to next semester!

 

Link to the official website for The University of Michigan Women’s Glee Club

Image design by Anna Sharp Chewter

Jouissanceful Goose Bumps

Taylor Leave a comment

There are many things I love about growing a beard / facial hair.
1) It looks damn good;
2) I look even older (sophisticated and sexy) than I already do and am mistaken for a grad student (since they’re all sophisticated and sexy #lol), even in my own classes (awkward);
3) My face has a built-in blanket for the cold, terrible winter months; and,
4) Face goosebumps are the best goosebumps.
However, these face goosebumps (not facial goosebumps because that sounds too weird) only happen in rare, beautiful occasions. “Rare” in that I don’t get myself to concerts that often and even then, only classical music gives me full body goosebumps where I feel like I have stopped living and am inhabiting transcendence itself. Aka that means nothing but I feel everything.
Last night I was able to attend the UM Symphony Band’s first seasonal concert at the majestic Hill Auditorium. Every time I step into Hill I forget that I pass it daily as I sprint, late, to class; I forget how I hate how big society is (although I do love cities . . .); I forget that I live 3 minutes down the road and that I can touch most ceilings with my hand if not head. Going to this venue is going-out in its finest sense–I dress up, cleanse my mind, and the seat I choose becomes my reason for living for 2-4 hours. I don’t have to worry about my thesis, I don’t have to think about my paper due tomorrow (now today), I don’t have to cope with dramatic boys, I don’t have to do a lot of things. The only thing I have and want to do is to sit and listen, absorb and reflect, and be in a state of becoming-child (#Deleuze).
Hill Auditorium is itself distracting when inside it. It’s so big. Every time I choose my seat I stare all around myself and I think that I need to update my glasses prescription. I think about how the space that I can’t discern is going to be filled with music and its mind-blowing. It’s overwhelming. It makes me . . . get goosebumps on my face. (First case, amazing buildings and space.)
Then I remember that this concert is free. (Second case, I love free things–face goosebumps follow realization.)
AND THEN I REMEMBER THEY ARE ABOUT TO PLAY MY FAVORITE PIECE, movement two from Bernstein’s Jeremiah Symphony, “Profanation.” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGVRaUj-YLk) GOOSEBUMPS GOOSEBUMPS GOOSEBUMPS.
Every (other) song the band performs is great. It’s rare that I listen to new (classical-ish) music and fall in love. There was so much love, however. And then, of course, they decide to play the Bernstein post-intermission and I feel as if I will simultaneously pee myself, vomit, and pass out all until the beginning notes of this masterpiece are played. Since I’ve heard this piece before live (and have studied the score . . .) I know which parts are difficult and every time the trumpets don’t frack a note my heart starts to soar higher. Every time everyone is syncopated at the same time I feel myself letting out an “AHHHHHH” and I fall deeper into my seat as if the earth is opening up just to save me from this moment of pure joy.
I never want it to end and for me it never will. This concert is everything I wanted. It acts as an escape from some parts of life and lets me relax and involve myself in music. Being in music is all I really ever want. And on these select nights, my dreams do come true.
[To think that my face goosebumps could be also called face goosepimples. I cannot.]