The following post was written by Mary Theresa Russek, BM ‘16, who is an undergraduate double major in Violin Performance and Music Education. Thanks Mary!
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Senior year is wonderful! I finished my Theory, Aural Skills, and Music History classes last year, which has made a huge difference in my schedule this year. I’ve also opted to do the FORTE program, which means I will complete all of my coursework for my two majors in 4 years but will stay a ninth semester to do my student teaching. I chose this option because I wanted to have more time in my schedule to take some extra classes that I was interested in. I ended up adding three elective classes from the ALP (Arts Leadership Program). I also have more time to work at my on-campus jobs (Residential Life Office Assistant, Admissions Student Worker, and Residential Advisor) and to practice for my upcoming senior degree recital this November. Here’s how my week looked.
Monday: Work hours as Residential Life Office Assistant and Admissions Student Worker, History of the English Language class, Eastman Philharmonia (Orchestra) rehearsal, Career Skills for the 21st Century class (Arts Leadership Program)
Mondays are my busiest days with work in the morning, then classes in the afternoon and even. Quite honestly though, my favorite part of the day is working in the Admissions Office with a wonderful staff and I love giving tours. This week in my Career Skills class we talked about writing cover pages for job applications and thought about how to make our performance meaningful to the individuals in the audience.
Tuesday: Excellence/Innovation/Uniqueness class (Arts Leadership Program), Teaching Group Strings Lab, RA Staff Meeting
Tuesdays are pretty light, and I use days with fewer classes to get in some extra practice time. In my Excellence/Innovation/Uniqueness class we split into two teams and thought up everyday problems then gave our list to the other team to come up with a way to solve them.
Wednesday: Work hours as Residential Life Office Assistant and Admissions Student Worker, History of the English Language class, Rehearsal with my accompanist, Eastman Philharmonia orchestra rehearsal
Wednesdays are intense because I have four straight hours of rehearsal. However, I end the day pretty early and know I’ve accomplished a lot both in work, violin, and classes. In Philharmonia rehearsal we worked on Brahms Symphony No. 2, which we will be performing this Saturday, October 10th in Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre at 8pm.
Thursday: Teaching Group Strings Lecture, Arts and Media Promotion class (Arts Leadership Program), Studio Class
Thursdays are great! Aside from being just one day away from Friday, I have Teaching Group Strings with Dr. Fetter and Studio Class. Group Strings is my only music education class this semester and, as a violinist, I have the fun challenge of learning to play the bass in this class. Studio Class is a great time to hear excellent music and catch up with my studio-mates. My professor, Mr. Krysa, has made our studio feel like a family and it is a highlight of my week. This week in studio class we listened to students who will be competing in the Eastman internal competition to play Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy with Eastman Philharmonia in our November 9th concert.
Friday: Private Violin Lesson, Admissions Student Worker Meeting, History of the English Language class, Eastman Philharmonia rehearsal
Friday! In History of the English Language class we had a quiz on speaking Old English and identifying when a word came into the language.