Putting Together the Coe Review

Last night I spent a few hours in Hickok helping put the Coe Review together.  We read all our poetry submissions, picked out the very best, and assembled the order last night.  The cover has been completed and just this morning, all the poems were scanned into Adobe Design.  That means our issue is that much closer to publication!  Now begins the process of sending it to the printer, receiving a proof back, editing it for any mistakes, returning it to the printer and having around 300 copies published.  There will be a release party in December to celebrate the issue and any Coe students featured in the publication will have the opportunity to read their poems!  This is always a neat part of putting together the Coe Review -- suddenly all these poems come together in a blink of an eye, we have a publication.  It's exciting and rewarding. 

Fall Band Concert

After a successful campus visit day, I also had a band concert to play in.  It was our annual Fall Concert which we split with the Jazz Band.

This semester Dr. Carson, who usually directs the Concert Band, is on sabbatical.  His substitute is Earl Dickinson, a former, but now retired, Coe professor.  Mr. Dickinson picked out some really interesting and complicated pieces of music that we played on Saturday night.  We played five songs, and our lips were definitely sore by the last song.  I even had a small eight measure solo in one of the pieces.  The solo went well and then I got to stand up as a soloist at the conclusion of the piece.  I was quite proud of my overall performance and the performance by the entire Concert Band.

There was a short intermission after we played so the Jazz Band could be set up.  The Jazz Band also played five songs and I was thoroughly impressed by the solos from multiple members of the ensemble.  I love listening to jazz music, so it was lovely way to end the concert.

Since we did such a nice job on Saturday, I don't have band rehearsal today; the extra hour and a half will be greatly appreciated.  Starting on Wednesday, the students in the conducting class will be coming in to work on their conducting skills.  This is a pretty low key rehearsal and we try to help out our peers as much as we can.      

Campus Visit Day

This past Saturday, we had over 200 people visit Coe's campus for our November Visit Day.  I started my morning off early (I had to be ready to go at the library by 8 AM).  After a quick pep talk, I headed up to the Perrine Gallery to man the College Scholar's Program Table (this is Coe's Honors Program).  David Nordmann, the director of the Scholar's Program, was also there and we spent an hour talking to prospective students about the program.  I will do a post all about the Scholar's Program in the upcoming week.

After chatting, we had another pep talk while the families were in Cherry Auditorium listening to a student panel.  Then it was time for tours.  I showed four students and their families Coe's campus and told them all about the neat things they can do here.  The tour went well and I hope the families had an enjoyable time.

Once the tour was over, I helped out Natalie and Josh (two Admission counselors) with an informational session.  I got to talk about my Coe experience and some of my favorite parts of Coe.  That was fun and I was glad I was able to share my love of Coe with even more prospective students. 

To any prospective students who attended Campus Visit Day -- I hope you had a wonderful time.  And I hope to see you back on campus soon!  If you have any questions, feel free to post comments here and I'll answer them for you.

An Eventful Friday Night with Music and Fun!

Boy, was my Friday night busy!  It started off with Tonic Sol Fa, an acapella music group.  It was part of the Marquis Series and they sang to a pretty full Sinclair Auditorium.  It was a nice mixture of cover songs and original songs; you should definitely check them out if you haven't already!

After their performance, it was back to Murray for a game night.  Heidi and I invited some friends over and we ended up playing Catch Phrase for a while.  It got pretty intense at times and in the end, under pressure, we said some silly things.  But that's okay, it was a lot of fun!  It was nice to hang out with my friends since I've been so busy I haven't seen them as frequently as I would like to.

To end the night, we all piled into cars and went bowling!  SAC was sponsoring free midnight bowling and who wouldn't take them up on their offer?  Somehow, the bowling gods were smiling upon me and in my first game, I bowled a 145!  WOAH.  I think that's a new personal best.  The second game didn't go nearly as well, but I did manage to crack 100 (that counts for something, right?).     

Recital Hour

On Thursday, I attended my first ever Recital Hour.  This hour is for music majors and throughout the semester, they have to perform at least once.  The piece they play is something different than the piece they play for their jury.  It's sort of a big deal. 

My friend and fellow clarinet player, Elise, was performing on Thursday so I made sure to be in Marquis to hear her play.  She did a FANTASTIC job and she's really my peer role model; I hope to play the clarinet as well as her someday.  Also, unknown to me, some of my other friends were performing as well so it was nice to be able to hear them.