This is just a random rant while I sit here at home, having just completed my online component of "ethics training."  Yes, the University of Alberta decided to complicate my degree further by adding an ethics training component which supposedly aids grad students should they ever find themselves in a variety of situations that could compromise their academic reputation and credibility.  Fortunately, making it an online webct component allows you to skim the readings and try the tests multiple times until you get 100% on each one.  Unfortunately, none of the questions were pertinent to my degree so it was essentially just another unnecessary hurdle to jump over while the powers that be dangle my university degree in front of me.  I'll admit that the training would be helpful to those in a research-based degree but "Piano Performance" doesn't not exactly fit into that category.  Just another example of why the fine arts does not belong in a post secondary environment: or at least at the University of Alberta.

I forgot to mention that I went to the Emily Haines concert at the Citadel last month.  Some of you may know her as the lead singer from Metric but this concert was dedicated to her solo record she recorded recently.  It was quite the opposite from her Metric flavour; it has a lyrical, ballad feel to it and she even played clips from independent films that she thought contributed to the idea of each song on a screen behind her.  It all sort of reminded me of the direction Matt Good took after he left his band - much more mellow where the lyrics seem to supersede the music.  The whole experience was a little surreal just because Emily was nothing I expected, but then everything I should have.  You might think of indie rockers from what you see on tv: they're the type that would imagine what the sky would be like green and write a song about it and then tie in some metaphorical lyrics that have to do with suicide.  It was kind of like that except she was the real deal and a little more down to earth (as much as I could gather) but the poetic element was definitely there.  I've uploaded some pictures of the event as well as a very poor quality video I took of one of her songs.  The quality is so bad I don't even know why I bother - I don't even know what song it is.  Enjoy!

 

 

Hello Edmonton Readers!  (I think there's one of you maybe haha)

 

i Coristi, the choir I sing with and accompany will be showcasing their second concert of the season at McDougall United Church downtown Saturday, February 2nd at 8 pm.  The title of our concert is "Fireside Songs and Stories."  We will be performing pieces by Canadian composers, R Murray Schafer and Larry Nickel, and others by Elgar, American composer John Rutter, Debussy and others!  In the first half the music will be interspersed with a reading of The Cremation of Sam McGee by David Ley, a professor of Drama specializing in dialects at the University of Alberta (he does a wonderful southern accent).  Accompanying us on harp for the evening is Edmonton Symphony Orchestra harpist Nora Burmanis.

 

Tickets are $15 for students and seniors and $20 for adults.

 

So please come if you can!

 

Visit http://www.icoristi.com for more information.

 

-Ry