here we go again

Ah, school.

After a month of only work and play (plus a visit from the Parents!) I once again get to add in the school factor.

On the plate for this semester:
Lessons
Dissertation
Old Time Ensemble
and
Seminar


Lessons - An hour lesson, once a week

Dissertation credits - Here the school guarantees it gets 12 credits of money. I don't have to do any work on my scholarly paper* yet. Just take the credits.

Old Time Ensemble - I feel way out of place, but in a manageable way. I will eventually get to learn a new instrument. This last week I played an Appalachian lap dulcimer. I could do the three chords necessary for most of the songs, but I am not quite able to follow the chord changes yet.
This next week I will probably be trying the mandolin.

Seminar: Representation of the 'Other' - It will be an interesting class. One of the readings includes the introduction from Said's, Orientalism. Weekly topics include, Orientalism and Post-Colonialism; Oriental, Primitive and Folk; The Turk; The Gypsy; Blackface; The Asian Other; Hawaiian Otherness. Along with Said's book, we are also reading a book called Mimesis and Alterity: A Particular History of the Senses, and bits of Western Music and its Others. I know one of the articles talks about the Polynesian Cultural Center. That will be interesting to discuss.

Oh ya, and my second recital. For that, I'll be playing

Fulvio Caldini's Noveletta No. 2 for English horn
Jindrich Feld's Sonata for oboe
Alyssa Morris' Four Personalities (Yay!)
and
Jean Michel Damase's Trio for Flute Oboe and Piano

And that, my friends, is my semester in a nutshell. I hope it goes as easily as my overview.




*I don't do a real dissertation. Instead, I have three recitals plus the paper