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Bubbles On The Boston Commons

When I walked between my classes during my last week in Boston I saw so many faces I knew. I waved to the bass player who was in my musicianship class and the saxophonist who was in my jazz ensemble. I stopped to give my roommate a hug and to chat with friends from Brazil.  I couldn’t walk anywhere in the Berklee vicinity without seeing people whom I was happy to call my friends. 

Contrast this social butterfly image with the me of five weeks ago – the me who was apprehensive about leaving her dorm room for the fear that she might meet and need to talk to people on the stairs. At the end of the five weeks, although I still preferred to hover on my landing and watch the antics of people three floors below, I became much more confortable with talking to people and initiating conversations. 

Flower Garden on Boylston St

In my last musicianship class, rather than having a test, we all discussed what we had learned in the Berklee Five Week Program.  I said that I had learned how to talk to strangers.  In order to explore a foreign city I needed to ask countless locals for directions.  To enjoy the program, I needed to make friends among my fellow students.  When the Five Week started, if I saw someone I recognized I would have been more likely to walk in the other direction than go say hello.  By the end, I would walk towards someone I knew and then just hope that they liked to talk. 

And, major breakthrough, I once initiated a high five!  I was shocked, but no one else noticed how amazing it was.  The next high five I gave was to my 2-year old cousin the weekend I flew home to Vancouver from Boston. 

Being in Boston this summer was an amazing experience.  It changed the way I interact with people on the street and it taught me so much about music.  I learned a whole textbook of music theory, and, and, and… a bunch of other stuff that would only be interesting to musicians.  Although, if you want to hear some more details let me know in the comments and I’ll happily write your eyes off. 

One of the hardest things since returning to Vancouver is the lack of shared experiences.  The lack of music is hard, being back in Vancouver is trying, but what is worse is that no one I know is as ga-ga over my summer as I was and continue to be.  I have slipped easily back into my normal life here and it is a little depressing.  Sometimes its like Berklee never happened.  I resumed my university education Wednesday with inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry, ecology, and intro to poetry.  Its another culture here in science land.  It's not easy.   

On my last night in Boston I stayed up hanging out with my friends and exchanging last minute emails.  By the time 3:00 am rolled around there was no point in sleeping, the cab was coming at 4:00.  My closest friend from Boston and I stayed up talking, exchanging photos, and promising each other we would write and visit.  Eventually.  She walked me down to my cab and then I was off to the airport.  I slept the whole way home catching up on sleep I hadn’t been getting for the previous five weeks. 

I loved attending Berklee—it was the most fun I have ever had at school.  It was certainly the only time I’ve been happy to wake up for a 9:30 class after going to bed at two AM.  I would love to go back and attend their full time program, be immersed in music again, and be inspired by all the other awesome players. But for the immediate future I will continue my Biology and English degree at SFU.  That way, when I do go to music school, I will have a day job to support myself. 

Final Week in Boston

-->In my last week of the Five-Week music program, there were hundreds of final performances given by all the various classes, ensembles, and special programs.  In one particular evening concert, I watched someone who looked like Barbie grant 17 wishes. 

Many of the best students attending the Berklee Five-Week were in a program called City Music, “a nonprofit education program… that connects Berklee City Music in Boston with like-minded music programs all over the country” (http://berkleecitymusicnetwork.org/about.html).  These “city music” kids were often some of the best in their home city and they all attended this summer program on a full scholarship.  The city music students gave a final awe-inspiring concert on the last Wednesday of the program.  At the end, City Music awarded 17 full-tuition scholarships to Berklee’s four-year degree program.  To give you a scale as to how much money was being handed out, one year’s tuition is $37,586. 

The tension in the concert hall was palpable as the Barbie-esque Emcee read though the list of names.  Anxiety increased as she gave various clues to tease the audience into thinking they knew the identity of each recipient.  People would call out the names of their friends who they thought matched the Emcee’s description.  Then the crowd would become silent as one person stepped forward.  The audience was alive with shouts and alternating screams of joy and quiet despair. 

I knew most of the people called to the stage.  I knew the drummer from New Orleans who gave everyone a big hug and I knew the singer-songwriter who burst into tears when her name was called.  I also knew the people who sobbed afterwards—they didn’t receive a scholarship and now their only option was student loans.

Jazz Ensemble Performance

I also played in final performances corresponding to all my ensembles.  They weren’t nearly as high stress as the concert mentioned above.  All I had to do was concentrate on remembering our arrangements and smile for the camera.  I performed with the Five Week orchestra, a jazz ensemble, and a free-improvisation ensemble.  The video shown above is from my orchestra performance, taken by my roommate Francesca.  They all went about how I expected them to.  We all made the same mistakes we’d made in our practices.  It was fun to put into practice everything I’d been practicing so hard over the previous weeks.  Performing put the music in context—we don’t play jazz to read notes off a page, we play jazz to improvise and either make mistakes or play what we hear in our heads. 

Here are some YouTube links to some of the bigger deal, and better, final concerts held in the Berklee Performance Center.  I can’t find some of my favourites, but if I can find them later, I will post them. 

The Rock Workshop ensemble http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPYr82ru7No (note the guitar solo at 3:17) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7ZH5Ad4NKo

Five-Week Jazz choir http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hacJgWCsk0c

Five-Week vocal night concert http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFiEJD2QZdk

1:35=Balkan and Middle Eastern fusion ensemble

20:00=choir

40:00=musical theatre, music from SMASH

1:10:00

Jazz All star band http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf1dpjMlNoo (auditions were held for this ensemble at the beginning of the first week, some of the best jazz musicians attending Five

 Week are in this ensemble)