Month: January 2018

MIV2018 Festival Wrap-up

/ myzania / 1 Comment

Hi all. It’s been a couple of weeks…but very good ones.

MIV2018 was a blast. So much fun. I challenged myself in a few ways,  participating in different social events in ways I hadn’t done during my last IV. Here’s an idea: participation pays off. I had a really good time and even won a few times at different social things – which I was not expecting. Participation would have been prize enough. Enthusiasm leads to fun!

I’m not going to lie, it was full-on. IVs always are, especially the first half. Rehearsals for six hours a day, then social events in the evenings. This time, being Social Secretary, a part of me was always busy – mentally or physically – making sure things were running smoothly. By the end of the day, I was quite tired and rather “peopled out” – unusual for me!

I loved organising the social events though. I really like being (one of) the host(s) and seeing people having fun, making new friends and participating – like I said above, it all pays off.

The rehearsals were really good – we had a really good conductor who engaged us well. Patrick Burns got us – or at least me – thinking about the music in particular ways and working together to produce the desired quality sound. We had sectionals where our assistant conductor Leonard Weiss worked with Pat and us in two halves – sopranos and altos in one group, tenors and basses in the other.

One thing I love about rehearsing and performing in big choral groups is the journey from a diverse group of voices just starting to learn the music, to a cohesive group who’ve learnt their parts and sound confident and powerful. It’s bloody fantastic and with IVs, the process only takes ten days! I remember the first time we started feeling really cohesive (for me) – I was singing along as we ran through a piece. I heard the rest of us singing and realised, “This is going to be a great performance.”

I was right. 🙂

We sang really well, if I do say so myself. We heard great audience feedback afterwards too. It was a real treat to sing the pieces – I don’t know if I can pick a favourite, but all have taken turns popping up in my head since.

Thanks, MIV2018.

On a brick wall hangs a green and brown lattice frame with false green leaves attached. Tied to the frame are fake pieces of apple, eggplant, peach and carrot
We brought these decorations in. I like them.
Womble sits on the edge of the pool - it is behind him and lit by artificial lighting, with two pool noodles floating in it. A tree trunk obscures part of the view on the right-hand-side
Womble investigates the pool.
A yellow fish and a purply-white fish swim through the water past coral, with other blue-and-yellow Dory fish and brown fish nearby
Aaaalll the colours! The purply-white one is a unicorn fish or rhino fish, something like that. All so pretty!
Part of a banner that was once plain white and has been filled with signatures, which surround the words, "summer of '69...."
Signatures from most if not all MIV registrants.
Womble, a brown bear with light brown pants and vest and blue shirt, sits on a music stand. Behind him on the stand to his left is a closed black music score. Behind to the right on the stand is the pink songbook, with words spelling "Hugely Illuminating Printed Pamphlet of Interesting and Excellent Songs". The first letter of each words spells "HIPPIES".
Womble with music score and songbook.
Viewed from side-on: Womble, a brown bear with light brown pants and vest and blue shirt, sits on a black stool. In front of him is a music stand with music score and, on top of that, a black phone and a booklet showing a black-and-white rehearsal schedule.
Womble tries out the conductor’s chair…
A crocodile lies menacingly in the water, viewed from the side of the tank.
That’s one big crocodile…
Viewed from side-on: Womble, a brown bear with light brown pants and vest and blue shirt, sits on a blue chair with a pink, teal and black KeepCup beside him. In front of him is an open music score on a music stand.
Womble rehearsing….and keeping away thirst.
A woman (Clare)'s head and neck are visible to the left of the pic. A teddy (Womble)'s head rests next to Clare's neck. Clare is wearing a blue dress and pick-and-teal-tie-dye bandana. Behind her is a rainbow tie-dye fabric banner with words that read: MIV: 69th Intervarsity Choral Festival Melbourne 2018
Opening Night.
A plate with knife and fork visible, on the plate is beef steak in a rich red (shiraz) sauce with brocolini to the side
Delicious main meal at Aquademic Dinner….
Womble sits next to a brown guitar or ukelele leaning against a person's legs. The person is wearing jeans and a t-shirt.
Womble and ukulele/guitar (idk which!)….
Clare's head and shoulders as seen as she stands in front of a coral fish tank. She is wearing a navy-blue dress, with her hair pulled back to the side with a black flower clip, and her glasses. The water behind her is very clear, with light reflected down through it shining onto the coral and fish.
At the Aquademic Dinner…. every bit as good as I hoped.
Womble, a brown bear with light brown pants and vest and blue shirt, sits on a red chair with a backrest. Behind him are a journal and songbook.
Relaxing on the free camp evening.
Womble, a brown bear with light brown pants and vest and blue shirt, sits on a black stool next to a drum kit. Two long drumsticks lay across his lap. Behind him is a red pinboard with a rainbow fabric banner on it. THe banner spells "MIV 69th Intervarsity Choral Festival Melbourne 2018"
….and the drums.
Clare, wearing the blue dress, stands in front of a lectern and is speaking into it.
Was this during my Toast? Or when I retold the punchline of my joke? Hmmm.
Womble, a brown bear with light brown pants and vest and blue shirt, sits on a white table supported by a rainbow flower-prop. In front of him sit wooden letters spelling, "MIV".
Womble at MIV.
To the left of the pic is a mound of colourful coral and underwater plant-life in shades of green, red, brown, purple, yellow and blue. The top of the tank and water-level is visible on the right, with light filtering down.
Colourful coral in the fish tank
Womble sits in front of a black music folder, with Clare's stockinged knee visible next to him
A quick snap before we go on-stage…
Silhouettes of fish swim through the water, with light catching tails and bodies and fins.
Shadowy fish….
Headshot of Clare from side-on as she holds her phone in front of her at eye level, thumb ready to take a picture.
When you’re trying to take a photo and someone takes a photo of you….
A platter of yummy chocolate eclairs, white, red and chocolate-swirled cupcakes and little red and chocolate-brown tarts. It sits on a white table. Underneath is a teal napkin and nearby is a platter of bread.
Dessert at Aquademic Dinner….
A wine glass full of amber liquid and ice cubes sits on a light brown wooden surface.
A well-earned drink at the post-concert party. 😉
A table with white tablecloth is busy with menus, wine and water glasses, a table number and the entrees: a platter of mini burgers, a platter of varied bread rolls, and at the front, a platter of quiches and small dumplings and a bowl of dipping sauce.
Entree at Aquademic Dinner….
Womble, a brown bear with light brown pants and vest and blue shirt, sits on a red chair supported by a barely-visible human hand. In front of him is a black table with playing cards on it. Human hands and arms are visible on the opposite side of the table.
Card games on a free camp evening.
Womble sits on the edge of a black grand piano. The piano has a music score on its ledge and Womble is holding a green flyer advertising MIV's "Light the Dark" concert
Womble checks out the rehearsal piano…
On a brick wall hangs a black ballet slipper on blue ribbon. Beside it are a black-and-silver cap with the word "Boss" written in silver on it, as well as a black and white clock that says, "Dancer's clock" in the middle, with "and 5 6 7 8" clockwise around its bottom edge.
Dance o’clock… Nifty decoration hanging in the hall.

(Click on the pic for a caption – they’re not in date order, just for fun.)

MIV2018 Festival Opens Today!

/ myzania / Leave a comment

After many months of prep, today is the day! Hooray!

If you’re coming, I’ll see you at camp dinner this evening. If not, maybe I’ll see you at the concert? 😛

I can’t wait to see all my friends and have a fantastic time.

Get tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/light-the-dark-tickets-39366091038?aff=es2

See the Facebook event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/305903166591081/

And doesn’t our concert flyer look amazing?

(Link to a shareable version here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwdTWPS792Wnajl5a2w1anlxUzBQTm5OOVpvV0NCTnVvRU9F/view )

If you can’t make it or even if you can, please share these links and the flyer around. The concert is going to be really good, I can feel it, and I want everyone else to hear about that. 😉

MIV2018 Update – Six Days Until We Open the Festival!

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MIV2018 logo: Teal background with pink and white lettering spelling out MiV (pink and white): 69th Intervarsity Choral Festival (in pink) Melbourne 2018 (in white).

Can you believe it?

In six days at time of publishing, the Melbourne Intervarsity Choral Festival 2018 opens. There’s such a lot planned. Rehearsals during the day, social events most nights. I’m excited and have been putting in place the finishing touches for my portfolio: I’m Social Secretary so I’m n charge of the fun.

Over 100 people are going to converge on our venues for the festival. As I was writing this post yesterday evening, I realised that it was pretty much a week to the hour until my first event starts. Eep! 😀

It’s not all just games, traditions and fun. Over ten days we’re learning several pieces to then perform on Saturday 20th January at 19:30. Get your tickets now!! I’d love to see as many of my Melbournian (is that word supposed to have no ‘o’?) and Victorian friends as possible at the concert. It is going to be bloody amazing I can already feel it.

Bring it on! 😀

Here’s the ticketing link with some information: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/light-the-dark-tickets-39366091038

“MIV 2018 is proud to present Light the Dark, a moving musical programme offering hope in a time of global turmoil and upheaval.

The concert features Vaughan Williams’ Toward the Unknown Region, Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody, Parry’s I Was Glad and the jewel in the crown, Elgar’s Light of Life. Conducted by Patrick Burns, featuring reknowned soloists Liane Keegan, Andrew Goodwin, Anna-Louise Cole, Raphael Wong and accompanied by the Melbourne Opera Orchestra, this concert will be a once-in-a-lifetime performance, and we hope that you will join us as we make history in the glorious Melbourne Town Hall.”

Would you do me a massive favour, especially if you’re reading this from a Melbourne or Victorian address (and/or through my Facebook) and “share the Dickens” (as one of my friends, a co-convenor, put it) out of this link? Even if you can’t go, pass the information along in case someone else in your circle might want to. Thanks heaps! I hope to see you at the concert – or at MIV, if you’re an IVer reading this.

*makes excited noise*

 

P.S. Take care of yourselves weather-wise! In Victoria, the next couple of days are scorchers, with more to follow later in the week (I’m very glad of aircon with MIV!). Meanwhile, in the US there’s a hell of a snow event happening atm, I gather. So yeah. Stay safe!

Japan Days Part 2

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My Japan trip was really really fun. We experienced a lot of Japan, its food, its people, its culture. I was quite busy so didn’t end up publishing any more trip posts. But here’s one and the other one or two will be up soon, once I’ve had a chance to do some work for MIV. I’ll update you on that front tomorrow…

 

Day 4 consisted of exploring various places in Kyoto. A few stand-outs included Nijojo Castle, the Nishi Market, a couple of shrines and Kinkakuji – the Golden Temple.

A woman (Clare) stands in front of a stone entranceway to a castle. The entranceway is white with grey stones at the bottom and a black roof and gold highlights. The woman (Clare) is facing the camera and wears purple jeans and jumper under a black coat, with sunglasses. She has a backpack on and is being passed by other people in the left side of the picture.A gateway into Nijo-jo Castle - the arch is decorated by gold overlay with red and black wood and has a particular curved design.Womble sits in the foreground in front of a lake at a Japanese Castle. Behind the lake there are trees and part of the castle area.A shot looking up at some Japanese text naming the Nishi market which is on a coloured background. Below it are drawings on a canvas screenA copper drum is roasting chestnuts in a shop windowHeadshot of Clare wearing a purple jumper and black coat with a hand holding an open chestnut towards the cameraSkewers of meat, probably seafood of some kind, cooking and waiting to be cooked at the marketA shrine offering box which is bright orange with green and white overlay. The box has a roof like a house and sits on an orange post.Part of a shrine. The building has a black and red roof that is shaped like a rectangular pyramid. The body of the building is rectangular and white with red accents. It has a balcony of sorts. The sky is blue and people are moving around the building at the bottom of shot.Another building at the shrine complex - a very tall pagoda which has several stories, each with a red and black decorative roof. The body of the building is red.A shot of the golden temple across the water so a reflection is mirrored there. Trees surround the edges of the shot.Golden Temple from a different angle. The top two floors are gold and shining in the setting sun. Their roofs are black as is the entranceway. The temple is still reflected in the water and a tree is obscuring a part of it on the left side with more trees behind it.A woman (Clare) stands in front of the lake before the Golden Temple. She is wearing a black coat and purple jeans, leaning against a railing.

 

Day 5 was the start of our Japan Rail Pass. We used the Shinkansen (bullet train) to get from Kyoto to Hiroshima and Miyajima.

A shinkansen train pulling into a station. The front with its sub-nose is visible and it is pulling up behind a barrier.View of a station from a shinkansen window.Womble sitting in a shinkansen seat next to the window. The seat is blue with a white headrest. Womble is brown with yellow pants and a patterned top.

Hiroshima was sobering and a little eerie. We heard many stories of how the atomic bombing affected the lives of the people.

A shot of Hiroshima from the river.The shell of a destroyed building near the epicentre of the bomb strikeThe peace memorial to the dead. It has a large stone archway with a platform running out underneath towards the water. There are flowers in front of it with a descriptive plaque to the side.A stopped clock showing the exact time when the bomb hit, as well as the date of the attack in Western and Japanese styleImage of an exhibit showing what Hiroshima looked like from the air after the bomb hit. The children's peace memorial which has a plaque, several towers and flowers.Another shot of the original peace memorial to lives lost, showing the Japanese flag and the full archway. The foreground has brown grass.

Miyajima was quite beautiful. We visited another shrine and went exploring and looked through gift- and food shops. We finished the day with okonomiyaki from a place next to Hiroshima station.

Miyajima Gates lit up at night. The tide is coming in so soon they will look like they are floating in water.

Okonomiyaki on a plate with a second one at right-angles to it. It's a dish with noodles, egg pancake, veggies and sauce. The sauce is very visible as are the noodles. It fills the whole plate, which rests on a wooden table. A glass of water

Day 6 was a travel day. After exploring the last thing on our list in Kyoto, the Place of 1,000 Steps (or Gates), we boarded a train headed towards the snow country. We changed trains at Toyama for a wide-view train, then travelled on to Takayama. The scenery was pretty good – enough deep snow to make me a little excited. But Takayama, while pretty with old buildings, had no snow. After another train trip, we arrived at our stop for the night, Kanazawa.

Snow blankets the ground outside the train window. There is a fence line with deciduous trees along it and non-deciduous trees back further behind it.
The edges of large step-like features of landscape are blankets with snow, in front of a fence and pine trees
Snow covers the ground and behind it stand masses of pines with a building in the distance leading up to a mountain

Day 7 was another travel day, from Kanazawa to Tokyo. We explored Kanazawa a bit before leaving, seeing another market and some gardens (and more snow! 😀 ).

Vegetables piled high in kanazawa market - many different sorts laid out on stands with different colours like white, pink, green, orange...
Fish and crustaceans in kanazawa market - crab and octopus and shrimp being the main offerings, with red and pink and grey colours.
Fruit in Kanazawa market - strawberries, mangoes, grapes, mandarins and others, all set out in polystyrene boxes.
A shot of the sign naming Kanazawa market. Its on the roof overhang above the market at an entrance.
Snow! A hand holds icy snow while below it more snow rests on the ground.
Snow on a road next to brown grass
Edge of a rise, with a walking track and benches to rest while looking out at green bushes and pines.
Bamboo netting or sticks holding Japanese pines in a particular shape so they don't droop.
A woman (Clare) wearing glasses stands in front of a "wide-view" train. She is wearing a black coat over a pink top, with a colourful flowers-on-black-background skirt. Her hands are by her sides and she is smiling. The train is white with wide windows and a red stripe across its middle.
A woman (Clare) wearing glasses has taken a selfie smiling and the landscape shot shows the snow and lake with trees and mountain outside her window

We arrived in Tokyo late in the evening. It was Christmas Eve so after finally locating our apartment, we dumped our stuff and ended up going to a Vigil Mass at 22:00. Midnight in Australia. I mentioned it briefly in my Christmas post, but it was a moving experience.

Close-up view of the nativity scene, showing the characters.
People, viewed from behind, are standing in a packed cathedral. The cathedral walls slowly slope up to a point at the top and a light shines above a cross.
A view of the nativity scene, in a stone carved area.
Close-up of the cross, with people before it. The arms of the cross lie within a circle which has been cut off by the top of the image.

 

That’s all from me for now, I’ve got a busy day ahead. Next up will be my White Christmas and related exploits before a final post after that to tie things up. Both of those will be out next week – tomorrow is MIV-related. It’s ONE WEEK OUT TODAY!

2017 Soundtrack 

/ myzania / 2 Comments

It’s that time of year again, where I compile a list of songs that mattered to me this year.

1. Think of Meryl Streep (from FAME!) – due to a powerful political moment by Meryl Streep at the start of the year that I blogged about then.

2. Bread and Roses (and maybe also Power in a Union). First one is a folk song, the second is by Billy Bragg. They reference the Women’s March and surrounding politics.

The next are a bunch of love songs that speak to me. I first listened to them on Triple J and they remind me of feelings I felt then and feel now.

3. Thinking Out Loud (Ed Sheeran)

4. Say My Name (Tove Stryke)

5. I Want Something Just Like This (The Chainsmokers)

The next one is one of a bunch I heard when watching my first Eurovision Party this year.

6. Eurovision 2017:

Running on Air (Nathan Trent)

Lights and Shadows (O’G3NE)

Origo (Joci Pápai)

Where I Am (Anja)

My Friend (Jacques Houdek)

Grab the Moment (JOWST)

Story of My Life (Naviband)

Beautiful Mess (Kristian Kostov)

I Feel Alive (IMRI)

Yodel It (Alex Florea & Ilinca)

Gravity (Hovig)

Fly with Me (Artsvik)

Flashlight (Karsia Moś)

Amar pelos dois (Salvador Sobral)

City Lights (Blanche)

Don’t Come Easy (Isaiah)

Never Give Up on You (Lucie Jones)

Next are some from the concerts of the year:

7. Te Deum (from the MonUCS May concert, Choral Icons). First time I’d heard this song and I still remember it well. From the same concert, other standouts included Five Eyes and Vivaldi’s Gloria.

8. Peace/ Equip Yourself for Life, Pink Telegram, 0808, and other songs from the John Monash Peace Cantata – a highlight of the year and one I’m proud to have participated in. My only regret is that uni prevents me from participating in the overseas performance next year.

9. Pirates of Penzance (from MonUCS’ performance). I find myself humming songs from the production at times still. I’m not singling out any because they were all very good.

10. ETA: Mr Brightside (by The Killers). Purely because hearing it reminds me of the 2017 AFL Grand Final, with all its emotions. #gotiges

11. Finally, Christmas songs. This year, those include adapted versions of Winter Wonderland and White Christmas as for once they were almost appropriate. As well as “Green Book Carols”, from MIV carolling gigs and LaTUCS’ carols performance. Also the Vaughn Williams’ piece, Fantasia on Christmas Carol. I was reminded of the piece at the start of December and realised that I really had had a good year, as the last part of the piece hoped.

There might be more, but I think ten is a good starting point! Happy New Year everyone. I’m currently finishing this on a plane that’ll land back in Australia from Japan in a bit under an hour. I’ll post this then.

Keep an eye out for the rest of the Japan Trip posts this week and I hope you have a good year ahead of you. I reckon I do, but I know it’ll be busy too. MIV2018 starts on the 11th after all…