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Thursday, April 20, 2006
I really did not mean to go this long without writing; I just turned around one day and realized that it had been overtwo months since last I checked in. The few months since we came back to school after winter break have flown by and been very busy - but very fun, too.
South campus res life again brought us great activities and entertainment. The weekly wednesday night Coffeehouse in the basement of Main Hall twice became host to auctions - a "Man Auction," and a "Woman Auction." These yearly events are always eagerly awaited by south campusers and north campusers alike. Moravian ladies and gents are invited to offer a "G-rated service" to be auctioned off to benefit south campus res life. Winning bidders took away massages, free movies, free dinners, and musical serenades. South Campus's Clewell Dining Hall became a dance floor for a night for an "Ardi-May As-Gray dance" (that's Mardi Gras in pig latin, by the way!) Complete with snacks, beads, a live DJ, and a night of dancing. A "Thai Night" was also held, in which my RA made some fantastic thai food and we watched 'Anna & the King.'
Life in the music department has been interesting as always. The choirs went on tour to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, over spring break. And for two weeks in March I do believe I was stuck in the Renaissance! The Choir and Orchestra's performance of Purcell's Fairy Queen was an interesting experience - especially since everyone was in costume! Everyone in the choir were dressed as fairies (yes, wings included), and the orchestra dressed like miscelaneous Renaissance characters, like peasants and court musicians. Much to my dismay, however, I have no pictures from the event. The following weekend was the thirtieth anniversary concert of Collegium. It was a day-long affair, complete with a luncheon and post-concert pot-luck. In celebration of the group's anniversary, all of Collegium's alumni were invited back to perform in the concert, and the "Kollegium Kids" - children, nieces, nephews, and younger siblings of Collegium members and alums - also got a chance in the spotlight! I'm really enjoying playing gamba; it's an experience that I likely would never have gotten except here.
One thing that I have found very quickly in my time here is that college is not only about the classes you take and the material you learn. What has been most influential to me in these past months have been the wealth of experiences that I never could have gotten anywhere else. Just one year at college has made me much more aware of the world we live in, more aware of other peoples and cultures, more aware and appreciative of various kinds of music...and the list goes on.
And now, somehow, there is only a week of classes left, and then a week of finals, and the year is over! I'm looking forward to a break from school work, but a part of me is sad to leave what has become a "home away from home" and the great friends I have made. So, until September - happy summer vacation! (almost...)
Rachel
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
It's about five weeks into second semester, and things are going great! I'm enjoying all of my classes and have some excellent professors. One of my favorites is Education. A component of all Education classes is field study - that is, actually going out into schools to observe and get involved in classrooms. We spend four hours a week in an assigned classroom at a local school with a co-op teacher. Today was my first day of Early Field Experience. I was placed in a music class at Broughal Middle School (which is convenient since I hope to teach secondary music). My co-op is great, and I will be teaching a lesson later this week already! I'm very much looking forward to working with the classes and my co-op; I know it will be a very rewarding experience. Another class that is a lot of fun this semester is ice skating! Yes, I am taking ice skating as a gym class. We meet on fridays at the Bethlehem ice rink and receive lessons from an Olympic skater!
This semester, the orchestra and choir are working towards a collaborative performance of Purcell's Fairy Queen. And to add some extra fun, everyone will be in constume! Another new experience for me this semester is playing gamba in the musical ensemble Collegium, a group that performs Renaissance-period music. The group consists of period-appropriate instruments including recorders, viols, krum horns, and a lute.
This past weekend I accompanied some of my friends to a common event at a local church - contra dancing. It is similar to square dancing, but is done in long lines. It is definitely something that I reccommend to anyone who likes dancing, or wants to learn something new in a casual setting. Personally, it was the first time that I had ever danced, and it has quickly become one of my favorite things to do!
And, since we received close to a foot of snow over the weekend, it was time to break out the sleds for some snowy fun on the hill behind the HUB!
Keri and Chris contra dancing!!
Rachel
Sunday, December 04, 2005
Christmas City! Personally, I don't think there's a better place to be at Christmas time than historic Bethlehem! Main street is all aglow with lights and Christmas Carols drift through the air. Outside my window I hear horse hooves and jingle bells as tourists get rides in horse-drawn carriages. And by the public library the huge tree is lit up with the nativity scene under it. And, to make the holiday cheer even more splendid, it snowed last night!
It is also Vespers season! Vespers is the annual Christmas concert/service held in the Central Moravian Church. I experienced Vespers with my family on friday and it was absolutely wonderful. As everyone filed into the church, the trombone choir played Christmas carols up in the bell tower - where it was very cold! Music was provided by both the Choir and Women's chorus, Vocalis, the brass ensemble, the guitar ensemble, and the Montiverdi ensemble, all of whom were excellent. At the end, the congregation, too, joined in singing carols by the light of the traditional beeswax vespers candles.
As for the orchestra benefit concert (nearly a month ago - wow, where did the time go?!) it was a success; we earned over $900 for the Family Readiness Group. The marching band season came to an end a few weeks ago, formally closed by a band dinner and the giving of awards to each member of the band. Now there's only one more week of classes before finals, and then winter break! Happy Holidays!
I finally learned how to post pictures, so here's an old one of the bell tower of Central Moravian Church - where the trombone choir and brass ensemble play during Vespers.
Rachel
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Wow - I've been here at Moravian since August 21, and time has flown! It's hard to believe that it's November already!
The past few weeks have been busy, but a lot of fun. In celebration of Halloween, the residents of south campus hosted their annual Haunted House two weeks ago in Clewell, the men's dorm here on South. I had the great honor of getting to be one of the "dead" bodies in the basement. Myself and a few others were under sheets like bodies in a morgue. When victims - I mean, guests - came through, we would slowly come to life and chase them outside. It was a lot of fun, and people were really scared!
It has also been a busy time for the marching band. The day after the haunted house, we marched in the Bethlehem Halloween Parade. The parade was absolutely huge - over a mile and a half long people lining the streets and two tv cameras! There were many local bands, but I think we were the most crowd-pleasing, as the whole band was in costume! My section was characters from the Mario videogame. Other costumes included characters from the Wizard of Oz, fairies, french maids and school girls, to name a few. This past weekend was the band's last performance at a football game. It was a beautiful day for the game, and we performed a stunning show written entirely by seniors in the band. Today was band cleanup, where we organized and filed all of our music, cleaned instruments, and packed away uniforms. As tedious as waking up early on saturdays for football games has been, marching band has been a lot of fun and I will miss it this spring.
On friday, Veteran's Day, the Moravian College Orchestra is performing a benefit concert for the Family Readiness Group of the Pennsylvania National Guard's Bravo Company, 228th Forward Support Battalion. This Bethlehem-based Battalion was recently sent to Iraq, and the Family Readiness Group provides support for the families of the troops. The concert will include patriotic music, as well as selections including the theme from the movie "Saving Private Ryan." This is my first concert with the orchestra, and I'm looking forward to it!
In the meantime, registration for spring courses is already in full swing, and Thanksgiving break is just around the corner! Until next time,
Rachel
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Well, as this is my first post for the MoCo Blog, I ought to introduce myself. My name is Rachel, and I am a freshman music education major, my main instrument being cello. I was born in Maryland but spent most of my life in New York, about two hours away. But as my parents were both born and raised nearby here in Pennsylvania, this is more home to me than anywhere else. As a young child, I loved coming to Bethlehem, especially at Christmas time - for anyone who hasn't seen the "Christmas City" in December, it is certainly a trip worth making! So being able to live right here in Bethlehem is like a dream come true.
One big benefit of living on South Campus as I do is being able to take advantage of the plentiful music and art events that occur here. Just recently I attended the opening performance of the Piano Masters Concert Series, with world-renowned pianist Joshua Pierce. Most concerts on campus are free to students; thus being able to see such fantastic musicians perform not only is a rare honor and opportunity, but won't break the bank!
Well, that's all for now. And be sure to bundle up; the cooler weather is upon us!
Rachel
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