Student Profiles
Deanna Boychuck
It was a perfect match – made online. No, not with eHarmony, but the WorkInCulture site. Deanna Boychuck, a fourth-year vocal performance major, saw a posting on the job board that was exactly what she wanted – administration with the Niagara Grape & Wine Festival. “I saw it the day it was posted, I applied and was called for an interview the next day,” she said. Both sides knew a good thing when they saw it.
It was a perfect match – made online. No, not with eHarmony, but the WorkInCulture site. Deanna Boychuck, a fourth-year vocal performance major, saw a posting on the job board that was exactly what she wanted – administration with the Niagara Grape & Wine Festival. “I saw it the day it was posted, I applied and was called for an interview the next day,” she said. Both sides knew a good thing when they saw it.
Deanna, who comes from St. Catherine’s and could live at home for the summer, wanted something that would hone her administrative skills. “A lot of singers want to perform but not everyone can. I want to be the person that helps them. I want to help develop the culture sector.”
During her third year at Western, Deanna contemplated her future after graduation. “I wanted a more stable profession than the stage. I have strong skills in arts administration and most singers don’t. I have a passion for it.”
However, her background in performance helped cope with the days when all the planning went out the window. “Any number of things could go wrong. You had to be flexible, stay calm and remember everything has a solution.”
Her first day demanded all those skills. An outdoor event was on the agenda but the forecast changed suddenly to rain. An available inside location had to be found on a moment’s notice. “I got approval to use a greenhouse. Then we had to cart all the plants and tables outside, scrape algae off the floor so no high heels would slip, add the decorations and make everything perfect. We had to be there before 8 a.m. In the midst of all this, the Food Network was taping a show and we had to tiptoe around them. Thankfully my background in performance helped me survive. That was my introduction to the festival.”
It was a taste of what was to come. “I did everything under the sun. The first few weeks they were in the middle of the New Vintages Festival so I was thrown into it. When they found I could roll with the punches, I was given more responsibility. I started doing more with the entertainment. I love writing contracts and working with agents.”
Deanna took a Music Administrative Studies course last year and was introduced to the policy side of the business by Dr. Norma Coates. The knowledge was an asset during the summer as she booked entertainers of all kinds. One large project was the planning of an event after the grand parade Sept. 27. “I had to write proposals and I’d never written one before,” she said. She was given approval to proceed and started calling top agencies to provide entertainers from belly dancers to magicians and acrobats.
“I tried to find as many local artists as possible. One is a chalk artist who created a cover for the Philosopher Kings, who are on the main stage for the opening.” Another local artist included fellow Western student Kayla Krasnor, a master’s trumpet student. Deanna contracted an exhibit from the Metis Council and the Golden Hummers, a group of singers under age 12 who do cover songs. She also wrote media releases to announce the artists.
The Niagara Grape & Wine Festival is one of the largest in the country. “I had to quickly grasp the scope of things that had to be done for a festival of this size – ordering fencing, gaters to move things, street closures, permits, police, etc. People think the parade is all they do, but it’s actually three festivals over the year. It’s constant. Because of that, you have to make sure the residents and the vendors are all happy. There is so much work.”
Despite the amount of work, Deanna found it exciting and fulfilling and was still bubbling with enthusiasm back at school. She can’t wait to go back. She doesn’t have to wait long to return for the Sept. 27 event she planned and will do some work on contract throughout the school year.
“It’s exactly what I want to do. Ideally I’d like to be a general manager.”
Lucy-Ana Gaston
Lucy-Ana Gaston was living her dream last summer. Invited to return to the Vienna Philharmonic’s summer program, she was the only Canadian in a group of 20 violinists. The year before, she had auditioned for the program and was also the only Canadian.
“I was invited back, which was a real honour because it showed I made a good impression last year. I didn’t even have to audition this time,” said Lucy-Ana.
She did have to audition for placement, and landed a first violin position. Auditions were conducted in front of all the string players, a daunting proposition at best. “I see it as a really good challenge,” said Lucy-Ana. “It is much harder to perform in front of your colleagues than a panel. But I don’t find them too bad. Luckily, I’ve had a lot of practice.”
That practice has been earned in competitions for the London Music Scholarship, which she has won twice and the Faculty of Music’s concerto competition. Lucy-Ana placed first in it last year, and as a result will be the featured soloist Oct. 19 at 3 p.m. in Alumni Hall. Lucy-Ana is concertmaster of the orchestra. She also does a lot of solo work outside Western and plays with other orchestras in the area.
In the music world, competition is a controversial subject. “I think you can’t avoid it in this business,” said Lucy-Ana. “If you want to play with any type of ensemble, there is some kind of competition involved. There are so many string players. I don’t think the competition aspect is a bad thing. It gives you a lot of incentive and motivation. I enjoy that aspect.”
Preparing for musical competitions is similar to an athlete gearing up. “I do mental practice as well,” said Lucy-Ana. “A lot of it is being in control of the situation mentally. I’ve had situations when I realized something was starting to go wrong and I had to step back and take control. It’s learning not to be overcome by negative thoughts while you’re performing. You have to focus on the moment, not think about something that might happen or just did.”
Being in the first violin section with members of the Vienna Philharmonic was an amazing experience. The first part of the program focused on Romantic music with a Mass by Bruckner. They also worked on a Mozart symphony. Then Jordi Savall, renowned Baroque conductor, arrived to work with the Vienna Philharmonic players and the students.
“We had to change from a big Romantic group to early Baroque sound,” said Lucy-Ana. “We worked on the style effects with his guidance, even though we were using modern instruments. It was a learning experience for all of us. We got to see the Vienna orchestra perform several times which was always inspiring.”
Lucy-Ana’s colleagues came from around the world, students at the Paris Conservatoire and Juilliard for example. “We were all playing at the same level. We weren’t different once we were there. I realized I can go anywhere and aim to play with a great orchestra.”
Does she dream of playing with the Vienna Philharmonic as a professional? “I think it’s everyone’s dream,” said Lucy-Ana. But after the last two summers, she doesn’t think it’s an impossible dream. “You realize if you work hard and you want to get there, it’s possible. Playing with the top orchestra in the world, it inspires you to have really big goals.”
The Vienna orchestra has had a reputation for promoting from within, hiring related musicians, and not favoring women in the past. “It’s definitely changing,” said Lucy-Ana. “It used to be only Viennese or Austrian. Now there are a lot of younger players from different countries and different backgrounds. There are a lot of women. They have their first female concertmaster who won by audition a few months ago. It’s an orchestra with such a great tradition and strong mentorship. We worked closely with these players and learned the Viennese style.”
At the end of the summer, Lucy-Ana was invited to participate in the solo program next summer in Vienna. Instead of orchestral playing, the program focuses on preparing for audition with major orchestras and working on concertos with the Vienna Philharmonic.
“It’s motivation for me. Sometimes you don’t realize you’re capable of standing at that level for those auditions. To get that recognition from people in those positions was motivation. Now I’ve been given the opportunity, I will take advantage of it. It motivates me to always play my best and do auditions and see where it takes me from here.”
Don’t be surprised if it takes Lucy-Ana to the realization of her dream to play in the Vienna Philharmonic.
Nathan Lucas
When you can mention Los Angeles, Donald Sutherland and Dirty Sexy Money in your answer to what did you do for the summer, you know it was a good break. When those things were all experienced up close and personal as part of your summer job, suddenly it’s ramped up to a fantastic time.
Nathan Lucas, a music voice major, can claim all of that. He went to L.A. for a job in the wardrobe department where is uncle works. When an opening in the music department popped up, he e-mailed for a job description. It was perfect – music supervisor, choosing the selections and artists to play in the background of several television shows.
“I opened the mail every morning and listened to every CD that came into the office,” he said. “It was my decision if it was used for one of four shows – Army Wives, Dirty Sexy Money, the Ex List and Samantha Who. There was a bin for each show and if I heard a CD that would fit one of them, I put it in that bin. We received a lot of rap that wouldn’t fit those shows, but if I heard a really good one, I’d put it aside for possible use in a film or something else.”
Nathan’s boss was only 25 and a graduate of Berkely. “It made me realize that this is possible. I was all ready to quit and just stay there. But she urged me to complete my degree. As a Canadian, you have to have a degree to be hired by Fox, ABC or Warner Brothers. But she also said she would give me a reference.”
So Nathan is back in London, Ont. finishing that degree and California dreaming. “If I can get into a big company, it is easy to move up. What I realized about L.A. is people work really, really hard in their 20s and 30s and then ease off. It’s too fast paced. There is too much traffic. It took me an hour each way to and from work, unless I left after 8 and then it only took 15 minutes.”
As well as learning to cope with the traffic and amount of work, Nathan received an education in how the industry works. “We’d get the shot of the show from the network with indications of where they wanted music. We’d pick music to suit the scene. For example, often it was singer/songwriter types for Army Wives. I put that type of music in the Army Wives bin when I listened so I could find it easily when the shots arrived. Then we’d put five or six pieces of what best suited it on the web and pitch to the network. They’d respond with what they wanted. It they didn’t like any of it, I kept a couple of others ready so I could go back with something else for them. Some days were more stressful.”
Some of the stress also came from producers who would say they needed high-price artists, beyond the budget. “Money was nothing to them,” said Nathan. “Sometimes we would try to find a sound-alike. For example if they wanted Rihanna, who might cost $50,000, we’d try to find someone who sounded like her, for less money. It’s amazing how quickly some artists move up. They can start at $1,000 and in a few months be really popular and demanding $15,000.”
Going back to renegotiate after contracts were signed was always a challenge.
“You have to be really careful with paperwork.”
The paperwork involved licensing – both for the master and synchronization of elements such as lyrics.
But it wasn’t all hard work. Showcases and parties were on the agenda. “At a showcase, you’d have 20 music supervisors like myself and a group playing live. Once you hear them play, you know if they can work in a show or not. Calling an artist and saying you’re putting them on an episode of Dirty Sexy Money, giving them a start, is pretty satisfying.
“The best part was when artists came into the office and played. I got to meet really cool artists.”
He also met Donald Sutherland who stars in Dirty Sexy Money and Billy Baldwin. Donald Sutherland isn’t usually known for being Mr. Nice Guy, but Nathan was invited to his trailer because he was a fellow Canadian. “Billy Baldwin really is a nice guy.”
Nathan met many of the who’s who in the television industry in L.A. “I just got lucky. My boss invited me everywhere. My uncle works in wardrobe so he took me to lots of boutique openings. In L.A. if you are not in the industry, it’s not a really fun place. It’s fast paced and everyone is rude. But in the industry, everyone was so nice. They knew we were the people that could give their artists a break. To a manager, I was an important person.”
Back at Western, Nathan may not be big man on campus, but he is applying some of what he learned during the summer. “I learned to never give up, always keep on trying. I heard some CDs that were really terrible. But those groups took the time and effort to make them, and they’d call and be persistent. People who are not really great still get opportunities. You think breaking into that world would be really hard. It’s just knowing about the opportunities.”
Nathan’s boss also listened to his music he recorded on the web. She encouraged him to record it professional and send it to her. “So now I just have to get stuff on CD and send it.
“I matured a lot over the summer. California is way different than any place I’ve lived,” said Nathan, who grew up in Lindsay, Ont. “Everyone works really hard. If I want to achieve something, I need to work hard.”
He admits his first two years at the music faculty weren’t spent working really hard. “Now I need two credits to get my degree. I realize now that music is my passion. I want to be in the entertainment business. If I can’t be a singer, music supervisor is an option. It’s fulfilling giving someone a start.
“I learned a lot. I now listen to television and commercials and think ‘That song sucked’ or ‘That is so perfect.’ I also listen to see if it’s cut well.”
While his friends here may be listening to those tv shows and the music Nathan chose, you’ll probably find him practising, working hard to make his California dream come true.
Kevin Morse
Kevin Morse may be one of Western’s most talented doctoral students, invited to participate in Tapestry New Opera’s Opera To Go at Harbourfronts’ World Stage 08. He just finished writing a string piece for the Canadian Contemporary Music Workshop and is working on a piece for percussion and choir.
But for the past seven summers, Kevin has put his composing aside, headed to Baltimore and worked at Johns Hopkins University Centre for Talented Youth Summer Program. For the last four of those years, he has been the site director, co-ordinating a staff of 70 and 250 students.
“I started as a residence assistant when I was an undergrad.” said Kevin. “It seemed like a fun thing to do, so I applied. I loved it and have gone back ever since. I like site director because I like taking the big picture, being able to be equally involved in all aspects of the programs, from facilities management to sitting in on classes or being part of the activities program. I had a good team of people to work with so it was always fun.”
The program attracts the top three per cent intellectual students from around the world in grades 5 to 10. They come for enrichment in topics such as biotechnology, psychology, archaeology, oceanography, robotics and existentialism. They did a model United Nations this past summer. Students work at a challenging pace, explore topics in depth, and study subjects not often available to their age. They share the experience with other kids of exceptional abilities, so the social aspect is as important as the academic rigor.
“The residential program is a chance for kids with abilities to be exposed to a university campus and be in an environment where it is ok to be smart,” said Kevin. “There is also a great outreach program, funded by scholarships, that allows kids who may be the first in their family to go to university. It’s life changing and a lot of fun. They participated in social activities and sports too.”
For Kevin, it’s a great change from his routine. At the same time, he’s gaining skills for his own long-term goals to be an administrator. “It’s great administrative experience, learning to manage a really large team of professors and academics. It hones my critical thinking and crisis management skills – when you have to rush a child to emergency or a professor leaves because they’ve received a Fulbright scholarship and need to be replaced. It keeps me on my toes.”
Kevin also believes the change of environment for six weeks is healthy. “I think it shapes who I am as a person. So as a composer, anything that exposes me to new things is useful. The diversity of perspectives is also useful. All the bright, intelligent people – they know jazz music, history, science, books, so the conversations at dinner could be over art of science. Being with people who are not in the music bubble is healthy for any musician.”
Jonathan Pinkus
Fourth-year Music Administrative Studies student Jonathan Pinkus spent the summer in a type of boot camp for guerilla marketing. He was an intern with Universal Music’s rock marketing team, promoting recording artists by handing out posters on Toronto streets and items at concert venues.
“A lot of what I did was at the street level,” said Jonathan. “We were going on the street with boxes of posters and plastering them everywhere. It’s a cheap and effective way to market. Volunteers sign up for free stuff, such as tickets to events. In exchange, they put up posters or hand out things like loot bags and water bottles. It’s literally marketing on the street.”
Jonathan began in the rock department at Universal as a representative in London. He recruited fellow students and became involved in online promotions. In Toronto for the summer, he promoted records at concerts.
His first experience introduced him to the reality of business. “Shortly after I arrived, the department was restructured and people were let go, including my boss. Everything changed. The rock and urban departments were merged. So my job changed. There were more budget cuts and downsizing and they also hired new people.”
Before the sudden shift, Jonathan surveyed national concert and event listings for promotional opportunities. He submitted promotional ideas, gaining experience of the process and working with marketing managers.
After the department merger, he said there was also a change in the culture. Moved to the street team, Jonathan said there was no real budget or goals. “I realized after awhile that sadly, my department did not have a lot of respect from senior management. But I was doing a lot of really interesting things. I made conference calls on a national scale and talked to others across the country to see what they were doing.”
At the end of the summer, Jonathan decided to take an internship at S.L. Feldman & Associates (SLFA). SLFA is Canada’s leading full-service entertainment agency, representing such artists as Crash Test Dummies, Bare Naked Ladies, Matthew Good, Jaan Arden, Bryan Adams and Diana Krall. “They book most mainstream Canadian acts, including many major Canadian artists,” said Jonathan.
“I’m just learning the ropes now and seeing the inner workings. This is the kind of place I wanted to end up at. Everything is time-based. Everything needs to be done on a strict timeline. Although the atmosphere is casual, everything is urgent. The environment is misleading. It appears laidback, but the actual work is quite the contrary. It’s an interesting dichotomy.”
Jonathan has one more year to complete his degree but is hoping to work at SLFA when he graduates. “I want to get closer and closer and learn more and more.”
Monica Shank
Monica Shank, a vocal student with a violin minor, feels privileged. Not because she comes from a nurturing family home in London, Ont. Not because she has had learning opportunities many others never receive. Not because she is so talented she sings in the Thames Scholars and plays violin at a high level at one of Canada’s top music schools. Monica feels privileged because she spent the summer on Toronto streets with the homeless.
“It was quite a privilege to talk to a demographic you don’t often know how to approach,” she said. “It was such an experience to talk without offending them, to think about whether we should give money or food. There are no absolute answers. But by giving money, you give back some control to them, and that might be the biggest gift. By giving time and by listening you are also giving.”
These insights sound mature well beyond the age of a privileged Canadian university student. But Monica has developed this attitude over years of giving. She began volunteering in a soup kitchen, and went on to help at shelters and food banks. Two years ago, she went to Guatemala with a group to work with survivors of the genocide. A year ago, she traveled to Botswana.
“I learn from these interactions with people who have had challenging backgrounds, so challenging that it could prevent them from doing anything,” she said.
Her own background of volunteering landed her this past summer’s job with the Toronto Mennonite Central Canada TOOLS Project. The name stands for Toronto Ontario Opportunities for Learning and Service and it brings participants, usually young people, face to face with the realities of homelessness and poverty. The website describes the program: “We explore how our lives relate to the lives of people struggling within the tension of hope and despair in Toronto's urban communities. This provides an opportunity to meet people and learn about the issues they are facing, while doing some hands-on work.”
Monica met people from throughout the United States and Canada who were participating in the program of learning and service. “It was fascinating hearing about all the issues from different perspectives. A lot of my job was facilitating discussions on systemic poverty, marginalization and bringing them back to the local situation.”
She also spent at least four hours a week on street walks. “They were led by a man who had spent his teen years on the streets as a boy prostitute. He now works with the homeless and understands their issues, what their life is like and the challenges of getting off the street. There is a huge daily potential for death, murder, exploitation and starvation.”
Interacting with such people, Monica said she learned to empathize, not sympathize. “You hear how they are estranged from their families, evicted, etc. and you learn not to judge people and that everyone has a story. Choices are relative.”
She said this was similar to her experience in Guatemala where foreigners needed to approach not as masters and servants, but as equals. “Living their challenges alongside them, they need that more than they need stuff or services. People don’t want to be charity cases. They want to be treated as human beings. They want eye contact, a smile. They do not want to be dehumanized.”
Monica applies her experiences to her studies. At Western, she is a Music student with a minor in International Development. A course in Music and Politics and the social implications has helped her link everything.
“After Botswana, I had to go back to music. When you have spent time with people who are starving and dying, it makes you see your privileges and how much those people would give to have those. If you don’t have to contribute to survival, you have an opportunity to offer hope through music. If you have that opportunity, you can’t let it down either. You have to make society better. That is what kept me in Canada this summer. I am seeing how music fits in society.”
Next summer, Monica hopes to return to Toronto to learn more through service and exposure to challenging situations.
“I have a passion to change attitudes and perspectives through acknowledging that not everyone grows up with the same privileges. You need to acknowledge the specific ways privilege empowers us. Marginalization prevents opportunities. When I am back at school, sure I practise, but I had support and lessons and I wasn’t slaving in a cornfield for 18 hours a day.
“It’s amazing how much privilege has allowed me to accomplish what I have.”
Joseph Siu
Fourth-year piano performance student Joseph Siu was given the UWO Faculty Association’s undergraduate scholarship for high academic achievement on Dec. 4, 2008. Siu was the only Music student among the 35 undergraduates to receive this honour.
Siu studies piano with Stéphan Sylvestre, sings tenor in the award- winning UWO Singers and is also involved in the music theory program.
Born in Vancouver, Siu moved back to Hong Kong when he was three
months old. "I decided to come back to Canada for university, and
actually did not come to Western to study music at first. I came for
its renowned business school, Ivey. Therefore in my first year at
Western, I was a social science student. As I continued to explore my
academic interest, I eventually came to a realization that music was
the subject I wanted to pursue. The major reason is probably in that
year, music changed from something that I had to learn because of my
parents and music teachers, to something that I wanted to learn for
myself. I have been studying the piano and cello since the age of
five, and I have been in school choirs and orchestras since grade 4,
and my mom is a private piano teacher. Nevertheless, I did not
treasure all those learning opportunities and I never worked hard
when I was young. Music was kind of fun, but it was never my passion.
Not until I was all alone here in Canada that I finally discovered
the joy of studying music. Therefore, in order to catch up on what I
missed when I was younger, I work really hard here at Western trying
to make up for that."
That hard work paid off through the scholarship recognition. It also led Siu to pursue several interests.
"I learned more about how music was structured and how each note is related to the other, oh and that composers didn't write down notes just by intuition! On the other side, music is not music if people cannot hear it. Therefore, I think performance is very important, and I would like to improve my skill in it. To be honest, I am not a stage person, and performing scares me sometime. Nevertheless, I truly love the sound of the piano and I could spend hours playing on it. Besides, I think no matter what kind of musician you are (scholar, educator, teacher etc.), having an accomplished performing skill is essential. I have to admit that it's not easy to do both areas, and I have to overload my courses in order to take all the courses that I want. But I guess it's because it's my interest, I am willing to spend the time and I never get bored with it."
Siu plans to return to Hong Kong to teach music and rejoin his family before continuing graduate studies. "Since I have a passion for sharing my love of music to others, my career goal is to become a professor in music."
The annual scholarship is granted to students demonstrating outstanding academic performance in the previous year. Western’s faculty association is the only one in Canada to offer a program of this kind and scope. The scholarship program was started in 1971.
"It’s a way of promoting excellence in teaching by recognizing the students who excel," says UWOFA president Michael Carroll.
"I felt that this scholarship has recognized all the hard works I have put into studying music," said Siu. "It has definitely encouraged me to continue to pursue my interest in music. I think it is such a blessing to be able to study what I truly enjoy and be able to do well in it."
Katherine van Voorst
Traveling to Italy sounds like a picture-perfect holiday. But traveling to Italy with a group of retired teachers could start to blur that happy focus. Not for fourth-year music education student Katherine van Voorst.
“It was wonderful,” she said. “I got to see all the major cities and then attend the conference.”
The conference was the five-day International Society of Music Educators’ (ISME) 28th World Conference, held in Bologna. Amidst the city’s medieval setting, music educators from around the world gathered to share information, research and friendship. Before the conference, the group toured Italy for two weeks.
Katherine traveled with Christie Marshall, another music education student at Western. Both are members of the Faculty’s Music Education Students’ Association. The past president of the Canadian Music Educators’ Association was part of the group, as were several new teachers and a couple of students starting at Althouse College of Education this fall.
“There were teachers from Brazil, Spain, Australia,” said Katherine. “We learned the structure of their education systems and their teacher methods and how they differ from Canada. We learned how their communities work together.”
Of the multitude of seminars, Katherine attended one about teaching teachers and another that gave her insight into the Australian system where her sister is attending teachers’ college. “Some of the things I learned were ideas to get students’ interest and keep it. It looked at how to take your education and spark that ‘I want to learn’ in others. Part of it was how to ask questions and engage students.”
She most enjoyed meeting everyone from around the world. “It was so valuable learning about their different cultures and backgrounds and seeing how they interacted as teachers.”
Katherine hopes to teach high school music after graduation and found the summer experience a wonderful introduction to the profession. “I always wanted to be a teacher. I have a love of music and I love being able to teach others what I know. I had a lot of good music teachers in school.”
Scott Way
As a master’s student in Western’s Popular Music and Culture program, Scott Way digs a lot of different music. But this past summer, he was literally digging on an archeological site near Orr Lake, Ont.
“We were uprooted by the light at dawn, drank a pile of coffee and spent the day on our hands and knees with a trowel, moving dirt from the excavation site,” said Scott. “We separated the dirt, then sifted for artifacts that we would wash and catalogue to get an idea of what they were, who used them and how.”
A wilderness camp of 15 tents may seem like a long way from being a roadie with a heavy metal band, but Scott enjoys both cultures. His pursuit of both earned him an undergraduate degree from Laurentian University in anthropology and brought him to Western to study popular music in culture. “Being a roadie was a springboard to here,” he said.
“This course at Western gave me a chance to study something at the master’s level that I enjoy. It’s not hard to be motivated when I love what I’m doing. I am always in search of a good adventure. I liked anthropology but it was time to move on. I also loved music. Right now this is a whole lot more interesting.”
However, Scott returned to his past to discover more about the past of some of the Hurons this summer. As an undergrad, he spent time on a dig as a course credit. This time, he was a teaching assistant for five weeks at the site of a primary village from the mid-16th century. “The First People gave permission for us to dig,” he said. “It was an abandoned property. This was where the first European contact was made and it’s known as the Contact Period. Trading began at that time, so we found knives, copper pots, compass needles as the First People were introduced to metal.”
Some days the group of 10 students, three TAs and the professor, Dr. Alicia Hawkins, would find many artifacts; other days, nothing. “It depends,” said Scott. “It’s a game of chance. You have to guess where you might find something. On days when you find nothing but dirt, it’s demoralizing. Other days, we’d find bags of stuff. It’s part of the thrill.”
Work began at 6 a.m. and ended with a return to camp around 4 p.m. Dinner was cooked over a fire. “We stayed around the campfire, telling stories and drinking warm beer,” said Scott. “We cooked everything by fire. But we ate surprisingly well for being in the bush so long. Nothing fancy – hot dogs, hamburgers and spaghetti. We were in driving distance of a grocery store, so we kept everything in a cooler for one to two days. Unfortunately, the beer got warm.”
Each person had a tent, so the site looked like a tent city. “We joked that we all had an address on Dirt Road.”
Now that the digging is done, students at Laurentian will continue to clean and catalogue the items. “We did phase one and they have the slow, boring stuff to do.”
Scott relates his experience to his new studies at Western. “Everything here is hands-on. I get treated better here than as an undergraduate. I can log time in the recording studio and learn the ins and outs of producing. There is a stronger sense of community here. It’s a lot easier to adjust when all the resources are at your fingertips and everyone is willing to help.”
No digging around for it.
Alison Wong
Toronto Police, at-risk youth and opera aren’t usually in the same sentence, never mind the same place. But that was exactly the scene this past summer. The Canadian Opera Company (COC) launched a pilot program with the police to offer an opera program for at-risk youth. Alison Wong, a fourth-year vocal performance student at the Don Wright Faculty of Music, was part of the pilot project.
“We built the program and the young people learned excerpts from operas. They wrote their own libretti so they could tell their own storylines.”
Alison has been spending summers at the COC since high school, learning various aspects of running a large arts organization. “Every summer I’ve done a different job. I was an administrative intern one year and worked on the study guides created for every opera. I also helped with the after-school opera program at four sites in Toronto. Students attend it for six to eight weeks and build an opera that they perform at the end of the session.”
Alison has also helped with the summer workshop tour at which participants in community centres make parts of costumes and props, learn an opera excerpt and do a mini-concert. “It’s feeding opera to the community and getting them excited.”
She said the tour program is very accessible to people who may never have seen an opera. “Professional artists, such as designers, and chorus members go on the tour so people are getting so much professional expertise at such an accessible rate. There are also bursaries. It’s really about getting opera to the community.”
The summer of 2007, Alison worked on a pilot program that provided intense training for young singers who want to pursue singing after secondary school. “More was expected of them. They were given private coaching and scene coaching and learned the process as well as performance.”
This summer’s pilot camp provided an opportunity for at-risk youth who indicated an interest in the arts and signed up for the program. “It was a really good success. The youth responded really well. You could see their opinion of opera changing. They were empowered by knowledge. They learned that it is not the scary stereotype.”
Alison worked in the Education and Community Outreach Department that runs programs all year to promote the season and involve young people. The department prepares study guides for schools who attend the operas, and curriculum for workshops that the COC takes to schools. “They visit classrooms and work on creating an opera,” said Alison. She also conducted tours of the opera house and the opera centre, one dedicated to performance, the other to administration, preparation and rehearsals, giving people a look at both sides of the business.
In May and June, she was asked to be a vocal instructor. “I want to be a performer. I want to work on my master’s next. But someday, I would like to be a director. Working on performance skills with people, I’ve learned a lot during these summers.
“So much of my experience has been in how an opera company runs. That is valuable information, to know how the different departments work together. I’ve learned the business side of the arts industry. It has been invaluable. The COC is a good place for young artists to develop. It’s a lot of fun. It’s like family. You get addicted. That’s why I go back every summer.”
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