So in the last two weeks this whole grad school thing has shifted and I'm starting to remember why I wanted to continue studying composition in the first place. I'm starting to get really inspired again, by of all things, my thesis.
I'm actually incredibly excited about the whole project. I've started really digging deep into what I want to do, and how to do it. I'm writing a short opera and for a while that was all I knew. But now it's starting to come together. I'm working with an award winning student in the English Department who is writing the libretto for me. I met with him today and we both sort of have the same idea of where we want to go. I literally can't wait until he finishes the first draft of the libretto. It's going to be so interesting not just to set text but to work with an author and craft a piece of art together.
I'm further inspired by the way in which I've suddenly really become to appreciate opera to a huge extent. I'm listening and buying opera now, both modern and classics. I listened to this amazing opera by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies the other day called "the Lighthouse" telling the tales of 3 lighthouse keepers on an island off the shore of England who disappeared mysteriously one foggy stormy night. It was amazing. I was thrilled and inspired. Tonight I'm tackling another Davies opera "the Martyrdom of St. Magnus" set in Medieval times.
Plus my compositions for the year are starting to come together, and I'm inspired to write more... I'm tempted to not get a job this summer and just compose... But if I did that, well.. I wouldn't be able to eat next year, or go the Banff Centre for the Arts (crossing my fingers)...
Being inspired is fantastic....And plus how can I not be excited.. My reading week starts tomorrow!!!!
February 22, 2006
February 13, 2006
QSOC Weekend
It's wonderful to return to your alma mater and realize that as much as things change (for example AJ's Hanger is now the Ale House), the more they stay the same (for example the cop cars and ambulance outside of the Ale House).
Denis and I went up this weekend to see QSOC's production of Poulenc's Les Dialogues de Carmelites. An opera set during the French Revolution looking at an order of nuns who get beheaded for their faith. The production itself was of exceptional quality and it's nice to know that something I poured so much of myself into last year music directing Donizetti's L'Elisir D'Amore hasn't suffered. Much dedication on the part of this years crew and cast has resulted in QSOC continuing on at the high quality it has set in the last 3 years.
Of course, an added bonus of going to see the opera was the ability to visit the old haunts and to hit up a good old fashioned CAST PARTY. Follows is a break down of the 3 days:
Friday: Arrived at Katrina's around 8:30ish and enjoyed a glass of wine and some fun chat before heading to the QP to meet up with friends at my favourite bar. Hung out at the QP till about 1am and then went to Gusto's to meet up with some of the cast and production team of the opera. Got kinda drunk and fell asleep around 4am
Saturday: Got up late, went for lunch with Laura, from the cruises, went to the QSOC Wine and Cheese, dinner with Colleen and Kat, followed by the opera, followed by the cast party. Got ridiculously drunk and partied with all my old friends and new faces till around 7am, passed out at Kat's shortly after arriving back.
Sunday: Got up late, packed up, drove back to London while exhausted and suffering from the worst hangover I have ever had.
The cast party was just a reminder of the ties and bonds you create by the things you do while you're at school. Despite graduation, knowing 3/4 of the people at the cast party resulted in me feeling very welcome. It's nice to belong somewhere and it's great to know you haven't been forgotten. It's also great to recapture the wild abandon of being an undergrad and getting ridiculously smashed, ridiculously fast regardless of consequences. That bottle of wine disapeared in 15 minutes...
Thanks to all the people who made the weekend such a great experience and I look forward to more drunken recaptures of Queen's in the near future. Some Pictures follow....
The Illegal Wine and Cheese at Grant Hall:
Denis, Trish and Duffy wasted at the Cast Party:
Alanna and I drunk at QP:
Selena and I chugging JD at the Cast Party:
Kevin Drunk:
Denis and I went up this weekend to see QSOC's production of Poulenc's Les Dialogues de Carmelites. An opera set during the French Revolution looking at an order of nuns who get beheaded for their faith. The production itself was of exceptional quality and it's nice to know that something I poured so much of myself into last year music directing Donizetti's L'Elisir D'Amore hasn't suffered. Much dedication on the part of this years crew and cast has resulted in QSOC continuing on at the high quality it has set in the last 3 years.
Of course, an added bonus of going to see the opera was the ability to visit the old haunts and to hit up a good old fashioned CAST PARTY. Follows is a break down of the 3 days:
Friday: Arrived at Katrina's around 8:30ish and enjoyed a glass of wine and some fun chat before heading to the QP to meet up with friends at my favourite bar. Hung out at the QP till about 1am and then went to Gusto's to meet up with some of the cast and production team of the opera. Got kinda drunk and fell asleep around 4am
Saturday: Got up late, went for lunch with Laura, from the cruises, went to the QSOC Wine and Cheese, dinner with Colleen and Kat, followed by the opera, followed by the cast party. Got ridiculously drunk and partied with all my old friends and new faces till around 7am, passed out at Kat's shortly after arriving back.
Sunday: Got up late, packed up, drove back to London while exhausted and suffering from the worst hangover I have ever had.
The cast party was just a reminder of the ties and bonds you create by the things you do while you're at school. Despite graduation, knowing 3/4 of the people at the cast party resulted in me feeling very welcome. It's nice to belong somewhere and it's great to know you haven't been forgotten. It's also great to recapture the wild abandon of being an undergrad and getting ridiculously smashed, ridiculously fast regardless of consequences. That bottle of wine disapeared in 15 minutes...
Thanks to all the people who made the weekend such a great experience and I look forward to more drunken recaptures of Queen's in the near future. Some Pictures follow....
The Illegal Wine and Cheese at Grant Hall:
Denis, Trish and Duffy wasted at the Cast Party:
Alanna and I drunk at QP:
Selena and I chugging JD at the Cast Party:
Kevin Drunk:
February 05, 2006
My Hotel Year (Part 2)
What happened was this: Cathy and I walked to the edge of the reservoir's water and from her purse she removed a Ziploc baggie containing two filmy-tailed rather stupid-looking goldfish that Pup-Tent had bought for her the week before in an isolated moment of kindness. We sat down on the smooth rocks next to the spotless, clean, infinitely dark and deep lake water. She said to me, "You only get one chance to fall in love for the first time, don't you." And I said, "Well, at least you got the chance. A lot of people are still waiting."
She then poked into the glassy still water, made small ripples, and threw a stone or two. Then she took the baggie, placed it under the water and punctured the membrane with her sharp black fingernails. "Bye-bye, fishies," she said as the two languidly wriggled away down into the depths. "Make sure you two stay together. You're the only chance that either of you is ever going to get."
She then poked into the glassy still water, made small ripples, and threw a stone or two. Then she took the baggie, placed it under the water and punctured the membrane with her sharp black fingernails. "Bye-bye, fishies," she said as the two languidly wriggled away down into the depths. "Make sure you two stay together. You're the only chance that either of you is ever going to get."
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