In just a few hours I will be greeting the not oft visited time of 4am to get to the airport and depart for lovely New York City. This is always the worst part of the trip, because the nerves of going on your trip mix with the excitement and mix a cocktail of restlessness and not much sleep. I am greatly looking forward to this trip; I've only ever been to New York once, for a day, and so I have no idea what to really expect for a trip of this length or magnitude. Still, I welcome the uncertainty - it will make it a fun and enjoyable experience, I am sure.
By now I am all set for the trip: resume and headshots printed, bags packed, itinerary put into my calendar, and I have an interview set up with the composer George Lam at York College on Tuesday, which will be very interesting. Dr. Lam was referred to me by Chiayu Hsu, my comp professor at UWEC. If you get a chance, check out his website, he has done some cool things: http://www.gtlam.com/
At this point in my life I have experienced living on my own for a little bit, but still haven't experienced enough to really know where I want to go or what I want to do, so I am ready for this trip as a chance to really take in everything I possibly can and experience everything I can. I'm excited to see all the shows and I'm glad for a busy schedule, but also glad that we have substantial free time. I plan on utilizing it well. As a person who is very shy in new situations, this trip is a chance to try and free myself of my self consciousness and be open to trying new things, meeting new people, and making good first impressions. I am also glad to be going with such a great group of people. The amount of talent in this group is amazing, and it is a privilege to be included with them. I'm sure that I will learn as much from them as I will from being in NYC itself.
Now I might want to try and get some sleep before the flight. Less than twelve hours until the Big Apple.
- Jordan
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Tomorrow Cannot Come Soon Enough!
Tomorrow, we will be in New York. I am so blessed for this opportunity and it is not going to be like any experience I will ever have in my life. The first time I went to New York it was on a family trip with my aunt, and the second time was on a mission trip to Brooklyn with my church. Both times it was so rewarding, and I know this one will be as well. One of my many goals for this trip is to take in as much as I can, because we will be speaking with so many people there it is going to hard to sort out information, but it will be so rewarding getting to know them and interact with them. One of my expectations is getting to see to fantastic and culture enriching shows. Never in my life would I have thought that I would get to see so many professionals shows in one week. I really love listening to people and letting them share their gift with me. I also expect to come out of this trip with a new sense of drive and direction to my goal in life of being a working singer.
I know I am looking forward to exploring the city, and going to see the opera. One of the things I have always wanted to do in my life was go see a show there, so it is so surreal that it is actually happening. I also love just getting to be in big cities. Getting to be on our own, exploring, and getting around the city is something I am really looking forward to. The one thing I really want to learn from this trip is if I actually have what it takes to actually live in a big city. Though I love the atmosphere, it is not the small town of 4,000 that I grew up in. Their will be new challenges and new things to experience, but I hope I learn that I am independent enough to make it. Again I am so blessed to be able to be a part of this trip, and getting to know everyone on it! Here's to a wonderful week in New York City!
Jessica
I know I am looking forward to exploring the city, and going to see the opera. One of the things I have always wanted to do in my life was go see a show there, so it is so surreal that it is actually happening. I also love just getting to be in big cities. Getting to be on our own, exploring, and getting around the city is something I am really looking forward to. The one thing I really want to learn from this trip is if I actually have what it takes to actually live in a big city. Though I love the atmosphere, it is not the small town of 4,000 that I grew up in. Their will be new challenges and new things to experience, but I hope I learn that I am independent enough to make it. Again I am so blessed to be able to be a part of this trip, and getting to know everyone on it! Here's to a wonderful week in New York City!
Jessica
Greetings!
Greetings!
My name is Amanda Blue and I am a
sophomore vocal performance major at the University of Wisconsin Eau-Claire. I
am extremely excited and honored to be apart of this wonderful learning
experience that is the New York City Immersion Program for Young Artists. This
program will allow us to make connections that can help develop our career and
provide us with important experience within New York City. I am looking forward
to all of our events that we will be attending. Each event will expose us to many
important lessons and experiences that the music world of New York City has to
offer. As a performer, I am really looking forward to the master class with
Claudia Catania. I think that it will be an amazing experience to work with her
and have her work one on one with us on a song that we have prepared. Our
professors have done an amazing job in preparing and guiding us throughout this
whole journey, and I want to thank them so much for that!
Our immersion program this year not
only focuses on our professional experiences, we have been focusing on
diversity within New York City. Throughout our 8-week meetings with the group,
we talked about diversity and how it affects how we ourselves see the world. I
thought that those discussions were very important and useful in our travels
during this trip and in the future! My expectations on this trip are to grow as
a musician and as a person. I hope to step outside of my comfort zone more as a
performer and allow myself to get lost within a piece of music. I have learned
that by experiencing life and stepping out on your comfort zone can lead to
wonderful life changes and continuous growth. This is what I want to do for the
rest of my life and this trip is providing me with an amazing first step! I am
very excited and thankful to be going on this amazing journey!
Sincerely,
Amanda
Start Spreading the News
All my bags are packed and I couldn't be more thrilled to being spending a week in the "Big Apple" with such a fantastic group of people. Prior to this trip, I have been to New York City twice for school trips in high school. When on those trips, all of our activities were pre-planned and organized by our adult chaperones. This time on my reentry to this vibrant city, our trip and much of the activities depend on student planning and networking. That element of our immersion changes the entire dynamic of the experiences we will have. Although our years in school range from sophomores to seniors, I think that it is really special that we are all music majors and are traveling to NYC to pursue our professional goals.
To say that I am excited about this trip is more than an understatement. As a music education student, although I know that I will use my instrument and skills as a musician everyday when I teach, my overall knowledge about the music industry and performance is limited. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to watch, speak, and learn from those who are professionals and get an outside perspective on my singing. It is for this same reason that I am nervous. Our cohort is amazingly talented, but as a non-performance major, I hope to represent our program proudly. These are the formative years of my development as a singer and future teacher of the voice, so I want to absorb as much information as possible on this trip.
At the risk of sounding like a tourist, I am also extremely excited to go see all of the shows on broadway, off-broadway, and at the Met. Although we all knew that as part of our trip we would be seeing shows, I feel extremely fortunate that we are attending so many amazing shows! I also think that it is really cool that our we are going to see Die Fledermaus as just last year we performed that opera at UWEC and that all of the members of our cohort were involved in the show!
I hope that through our experiences I will discover whether living in a big city will be a good fit for me. I want to teach in at-risk schools after graduation. I know that that type of environment will be a huge change for me in my life. Although I have lived in bigger cities before, I have never been in the situation where I spent so much time in as culturally diverse of an area as NYC. In all cases, although multiple minority groups were present, the large majority were of similar ethnicities. Language was also an expected barrier in these situations as most of the people I interacted with spoke either German, French, Italian, or Japanese. In NYC, over 800 languages and dialects are represented throughout the boroughs. Especially in NYC, you cannot ever assume that the person standing next to you speaks your language so you need to constantly be aware of that.
Overall, although I hope to learn and expand my knowledge about performance, vocal technique, culture clash, and myself, I am going into this experience completely open minded. I know that after this immersion, there might be a possibility that I will not want to live in a big city, or I might feel more at home in NYC than in Eau Claire, but that is something I am excited to find out regardless of the outcome. New York City here I come!
Cory Bristol
To say that I am excited about this trip is more than an understatement. As a music education student, although I know that I will use my instrument and skills as a musician everyday when I teach, my overall knowledge about the music industry and performance is limited. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to watch, speak, and learn from those who are professionals and get an outside perspective on my singing. It is for this same reason that I am nervous. Our cohort is amazingly talented, but as a non-performance major, I hope to represent our program proudly. These are the formative years of my development as a singer and future teacher of the voice, so I want to absorb as much information as possible on this trip.
At the risk of sounding like a tourist, I am also extremely excited to go see all of the shows on broadway, off-broadway, and at the Met. Although we all knew that as part of our trip we would be seeing shows, I feel extremely fortunate that we are attending so many amazing shows! I also think that it is really cool that our we are going to see Die Fledermaus as just last year we performed that opera at UWEC and that all of the members of our cohort were involved in the show!
I hope that through our experiences I will discover whether living in a big city will be a good fit for me. I want to teach in at-risk schools after graduation. I know that that type of environment will be a huge change for me in my life. Although I have lived in bigger cities before, I have never been in the situation where I spent so much time in as culturally diverse of an area as NYC. In all cases, although multiple minority groups were present, the large majority were of similar ethnicities. Language was also an expected barrier in these situations as most of the people I interacted with spoke either German, French, Italian, or Japanese. In NYC, over 800 languages and dialects are represented throughout the boroughs. Especially in NYC, you cannot ever assume that the person standing next to you speaks your language so you need to constantly be aware of that.
Overall, although I hope to learn and expand my knowledge about performance, vocal technique, culture clash, and myself, I am going into this experience completely open minded. I know that after this immersion, there might be a possibility that I will not want to live in a big city, or I might feel more at home in NYC than in Eau Claire, but that is something I am excited to find out regardless of the outcome. New York City here I come!
Cory Bristol
Let the Adventure Begin
A new group taking on the Big Apple. It's an exciting time and there is so much potential for some dynamic and positive life-changing activities. This group of 12 students has different dreams and different aspirations than those who traveled last March, but that is what makes it so exciting. As we depart we think back to the weeks of preparation that have gone into preparing this experience. Kudos to Dr. Mitra Sadeghpour for the work that she has done to make this experience possible. We leave with an exciting itinerary, a focus on how people use different lenses (culture and experience) to make sense of the world, and an awareness of art as an expression of the human experience. As we interact with artists and with their art, it is my hope that we can appreciate the perspectives that others present in their artistic expressions and that we can learn from them in meaningful ways.
Alan Rieck
Alan Rieck
My First Time in New York!
This past year has offered me so many insights into the pathways that are available to me in my life. Because it is the first day of the new year I think it is only natural that my writing would be reflective in nature. For anyone who know me, they understand that this year has been one of many transitions for me. So many wonderful firsts have come to me in the last 365 days. Now a first that I never thought would happen is right in front of me. I get to experience New York for the first time! In doing so, I know that a variety of insights will come to me, bringing me closer to answering the question that is always on my mind; Who am I?
To be honest I am very scared about this trip. Being young, I am prone to making foolish mistakes that do not lend well to my professional and personal goals. I fear that I will lose myself in the bright lights of the city. I wonder if the true nature of my insecurity will reveal itself. But I know that things will work out for me. I've realized that there are always people out there who are waiting to catch you when you fall. We all receive support from so many people, but most of the time our clouded perspectives make us unaware of the numbers of people who care for us. In saying this, I want to make the point that I have a new objective for myself. I want to tame the roaring fears that hold inside of me. The first step is accepting the helping hand.
To conclude, I would like to say that I have so much excitement for the amazing experiences that this trip has to offer. I'm so grateful to be going to New York with a group of such incredible talent and positivity. I became blissfully aware of the unbelievable amount of individuality and musical aptitude present in each member of this group at the dress rehearsal for the consent. It means a great deal to me that I get to be a part, if even only a small part, of your professional growth and self actualization. I'm so grateful for all of you! I can't wait to see what the next few days bring!
Chris
To be honest I am very scared about this trip. Being young, I am prone to making foolish mistakes that do not lend well to my professional and personal goals. I fear that I will lose myself in the bright lights of the city. I wonder if the true nature of my insecurity will reveal itself. But I know that things will work out for me. I've realized that there are always people out there who are waiting to catch you when you fall. We all receive support from so many people, but most of the time our clouded perspectives make us unaware of the numbers of people who care for us. In saying this, I want to make the point that I have a new objective for myself. I want to tame the roaring fears that hold inside of me. The first step is accepting the helping hand.
To conclude, I would like to say that I have so much excitement for the amazing experiences that this trip has to offer. I'm so grateful to be going to New York with a group of such incredible talent and positivity. I became blissfully aware of the unbelievable amount of individuality and musical aptitude present in each member of this group at the dress rehearsal for the consent. It means a great deal to me that I get to be a part, if even only a small part, of your professional growth and self actualization. I'm so grateful for all of you! I can't wait to see what the next few days bring!
Chris
One More Day!
I purposefully saved blogging until the last day because thats when all my excitement has gathered, and I'm sooo ready to go (except I haven't started packing yet)! My expectations is to learn, listen, and follow new advice and find mentors who can shape me. I'm going to really try to not compare this trip to last years; the energy of this group of people is different, and so so so great! I really think that the energy of this group can help make this trip a great one. With everyone supporting and backing each other, and helping other meet their goals for this trip, we are all in for a really great and fulfilling time.
Something Dr. Rieck challenged us to do last year is to strive to make someone's trip better than your own. I think that really impacted me last year and the way I looked at this trip, not just going for personal gain but to go and help others achieve their goals. I really want to do that this year, as well as really get to know everyone, although I know everyone on a friend-based level. That has to be one of the things that I am really looking forward to the most, is seeing everyone really enjoy their time and achieve whatever they wanted to achieve, as well as the group becoming closer through out this amazing experience.
Along with a personal and professional goal, I have come up with a cultural goal as well. Next year I will be hopefully attending either Queens College or New Jersey City University through the National Exchange Program, and both of those colleges have high cultural diversity, which isn't something i'm used to, coming from UWEC. My goal is to not only tour these schools, but to get a taste of what going to school will be like in a highly diverse situation. I will do this by opening my mind and not having a pre-determined view of what is going to happen or how people are going to act. This is going to be both a challenge and also very good for me as a growing young adult.
I'm so excited to see everyone and start this week long journey! I plan to take each moment in and not think about what is happening next, or all the things I have to do when I get back to school for the spring semester, but instead get as much as I can from every experience of this immersion.
See everyone soon!!
Laura
Something Dr. Rieck challenged us to do last year is to strive to make someone's trip better than your own. I think that really impacted me last year and the way I looked at this trip, not just going for personal gain but to go and help others achieve their goals. I really want to do that this year, as well as really get to know everyone, although I know everyone on a friend-based level. That has to be one of the things that I am really looking forward to the most, is seeing everyone really enjoy their time and achieve whatever they wanted to achieve, as well as the group becoming closer through out this amazing experience.
Along with a personal and professional goal, I have come up with a cultural goal as well. Next year I will be hopefully attending either Queens College or New Jersey City University through the National Exchange Program, and both of those colleges have high cultural diversity, which isn't something i'm used to, coming from UWEC. My goal is to not only tour these schools, but to get a taste of what going to school will be like in a highly diverse situation. I will do this by opening my mind and not having a pre-determined view of what is going to happen or how people are going to act. This is going to be both a challenge and also very good for me as a growing young adult.
I'm so excited to see everyone and start this week long journey! I plan to take each moment in and not think about what is happening next, or all the things I have to do when I get back to school for the spring semester, but instead get as much as I can from every experience of this immersion.
See everyone soon!!
Laura
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