Music Camp

My arrival at Laurier University in Waterloo ON yesterday was delayed by half an hour because of 401 nonsense and a scenic cross-country detour. The check-in at the dorm was very efficient and I quickly made my way up to my cell room.

It’s the basic, institutional dorm room. There is lots of cupboard space and shelving.  The colour of guacamole on the walls would not have been my preference, though. 

The bathroom is shared between two rooms. I paid extra to not have to share so I also don’t have a neighbour through that door. The toilet, shower, and towel rods are in this room

The sink is across from the bed right in the room.

And around the corner from the sink is the desk and more shelving. It has all the basics for my comfort for the week.

The dorm beds are like the surface of a slate pool table. I am so glad I brought the foam pad for the bed. I slept great last night.

Last night was introductions, followed by free snacks. I was pleased they had ketchup chips - my new guilty pleasure. Since Alexa served them at her place on Canada Day, I’ve been addicted.

Rather than schlepping my ukulele and oboe back and forth between the residence and the music building, I was able to get a locker in the music building. We were told ahead of time of time they would be available and to bring a lock.

The first class of the day is ‘Choir for All’. We are working on several tunes (I didn’t take a photo of the titles). One of the pieces has a very moving melody and poignant lyrics. It was all I could do to choke back my tears. Since retiring, I haven’t really listened to a lot of music. I think I was kinda burned out. My mind doesn’t let it just wash over me, rather I’m always separating out bass lines, melodies, or inner parts. Since Skip died I can’t even listen to music on the radio in the car. There’s something that just ‘grabs’ me and waves of emotion just wash over me. It’s hard to describe. Anyway, this particular piece was the last one we worked on and as we were leaving the rehearsal/recital hall I noted a couple of other people were also feeling emotional. It wasn’t just me. I headed for a cubicle in the washroom to compose myself and prepare for my next class.

After a coffee and another snack break, I headed to ukulele class. It’s geared for beginners but more advanced folks can do fancier strumming for a challenge. We learned C, A minor, F, and G chords today. Our teacher, Gillian is very experienced teaching beginners. Basically she queued up YouTube videos from Ukulaliens and we strummed chords and sang along. It was good to be playing my uke again. 

My tender fingers were ready for a break by the end of the hour. After stashing the uke in my locker and a ‘pit stop’, I returned to the same room with the same instructor for Vocal Jazz Choir. We had been sent .pdfs of the two tunes ahead of time so I had listened to both arrangements on YouTube. 

I’m singing Alto II and am enjoying harmonizing. Tomorrow we’ll work on some of the tricky spots.

Then it was lunch time, so headed next door to the dining hall for lunch. Last night at dinner I just happened to be sitting across from one of my sorority sisters (from uni 50 years ago). Debi inspired me to learn handbells and I hoped to take that class at camp but I signed up too late and the class was full. She’s now playing percussion so isn’t in any classes with me.

I was advised to not sign up for a class in every time slot so I took Period 4 right after lunch as a ‘spare’. Back at the dorm I had some quiet time and a bit of a lie-down and listened to my audiobook until it was time to return to the music building for Concert Band in Period 5. I’m playing oboe (for the first time in 15 years !) in this class. Interestingly there are no brasses or percussion in our group. The conductor knew the instrumentation ahead of time and arranged pieces for us to make sure all the parts were covered. My oboe worked pretty well. Intonation with the other oboist is a bit of a challenge but my lip held up for the hour.

After dinner tonight I listened to Dave Brubeck’s ‘Unsquare Dance’ to try and solidify the 7/4 time signature - “1 and, 2 and, 3 and a” or STRONG weak STRONG weak STRONG weak weak.. You may remember it as the theme of an old Ritz cracker commercial. 

Although about a third of the 120 participants at Lakefield (Adult) Music Camp are newbies like me, many of the rest have not only attended previously but, in many cases, several times. Normally the camp is held at Lakefield College School (“Canada’s top University and Prep, Boarding, and Day School in Ontario”) just north of the village of Lakefield near Peterborough ON. Randy Andy attended the private prep school back in the 70s but I don’t think they brag about that any more.

The last class is Celtic song. Basically lectures about Celtic language and history. We’ll be singing a couple of traditional Celtic tunes.

After supper I had about an hour to kill before the evening recitals so I sat outside and listened to several YouTube videos and enjoyed being outside and not freezing in the air-conditioned buildings.

The evening recitals were entertaining. It was very brave of the participants to get up there the very first night and perform. There were several vocalists, instrumental soloists, and a jazz combo. I had brought my knitting so was able to keep my hands busy and not be a ‘discipline problem’. Between Celtic song class and the evening recitals I got about 2” done on my sock. 

After the recitals was yet another snack time and karaoke in the lounge - lot of fun. I had more ketchup chips and a fizzy drink.

It was a very busy first day - lots of fun. Tomorrow more of the same but in more depth. Our rehearsing will culminate in performances on Friday and Saturday nights. Lots of new music to learn before then.