Hello everyone!

Auditions will apparently begin in the afternoon, at 230 pm. I had thought they ere beginning in the morning. This means we will not get to Murchies in time (they close at 6) by the time everyone auditions and we deliberate as a committee afterwards.  I also found out the school is hosting a welcome back to school get together at that same time frame, on 10 Sept Thursday afternoon, which would be good (for the new students, especially) to attend. So I want to know: how many of you could  meet at Murchies the following week on 17 Sept instead at 4 pm? I would like this to be a special and fun time, not rushed and frenzied. Our other option is to just carry on the day/time planned but just meet at the Grad Lounge instead. Please let me know your preference on this decision via email, thank you!

Hello everyone

I will be performing tomorrow at 130 pm in PTY with Sharon Stanis and a musician from the Victoria Symphony.  We will be performing a lovely work for flute and two violins and I will be talking about about my research into music during internment during WWII, and larger human rights issues related to that topic. The concert, which is part of the international Global Connections conference on Holocaust Education, is free and open to the public. Please do stop by!

 

27 August update: Please review the following information as some things have been confirmed and clarified and other (see item #2) have changed.

Make a note of the following MC schedule for the first part of the coming term  (a bit irregular).

1. Our first MC will be on 8 September from 1 to 330 in PTY recital hall. This is not required as it is being offered prior to the start of classes, but gives a little advance time for you to tweak your excerpts prior to the audition on 10 Sept.

2. There will be a very short but required presentation on 16 Sept (lasting only about 20 min, in PTY, beginning at our usual time of 130 ) to review important PTY usage, policies and procedures with you. Everyone is required to attend this information session. Thank you for your cooperation in this.

3.There will be no flute classes (in other words, no lessons and no MC)  on 16 and 23 September (I will be out of town and observing high holy days).

3. Masterclasses will resume Weds 30 September (confirmed in PTY) at our regular time of 130 -220.

4. Please note we will have an extended MC on 14 October (which is open to the public) from 12 to 220 in PTY. This is also followed by a reception. Please plan to set aside some time to meet and greet the visiting flute players. Thank you!

http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/2015/07/17/classical-music-meets-wilderness-in-bamfield-bcs-music-by-the-sea.html

 

http://www.yellowbarn.org/about

Re Yellow Barn. I just heard from Benjamin Butterfield (head of voice dept. at UVic): Apparently, the level is particularly high but it would present all of you a wonderful challenge…. All expense paid with amazing faculty and performance opportunities! Consider it for next summer.

 

It has come to my attention that the second to last note in both bar 11 and 72 ought to be a C natural, not a D as the score indicates (if you are using the IMSLP version). Please correct this in your parts. I believe it is correct in the Julius Baker book of Arias. Thanks.

There will be three required faculty concerts during first term. I expect all flute students to be present at these three concerts as they are important for your development, and you should hear/see your teacher perform.

The first is on 29 September 8 pm Tuesday in PTY; this is a trio concert with fantastic collaborating musicians, pianist Michelle Mares and violist Joanna Hood.

The second is the annual faculty chamber music concert: 24 October  at 8 pm in PTY. Details TBA.

The third is  1 November at 230 pm in PTY; this is a solo recital with pianist Michelle Mares, featuring Czech music (Feld, Janacek and Martinu).

In addition, I will be giving a solo (unaccompanied ) recital on 19 November at Open Space. However, as this is off campus and requires tickets your attendance will not be required at this one…this is just FYI for those who would like to attend!

Dates for second term will be forthcoming…

 

JUst recv’d word, there are copies of this new reading available now at Munroes Books (Government Street in downtown Victoria).

 

Hi everyone,

One of the books for this coming year (The Musician’s Way: A Guide to Practice, Performance and Wellness by Gerald Klickstein) will be available at Munroes Books (on Government street, downtown Victoria). They have said it will be here by September and at the same price as the online vendors. Just FYI!

MUS 1-2-3-4 40; MUS 245, 345, 445, 545

Instructor: Dr. Suzanne Snizek

email: ssnizek@uvic.ca

flute studio blog: https://finearts.uvic.ca/music/flute

 

Welcome to the Uvic Flute Studio! I am looking forward to working with each one of you. I will be your flute instructor and mentor during your time here at Uvic. Please do not hesitate to ask for guidance. I am at school nearly every weekday and can meet with you by appointment or during my office hours, which are posted outside my office door (my teaching schedule changes from term to term). If these times conflict with your class schedule, we can arrange another time if needed; just ask!

 

Important Things to know…

1. First, you will need to sign up for an ensemble placement audition. Sign up sheets will be posted on the ‘ensemble bulletin board’ located at the base of the stairs. This audition will take place during the first week of classes and will help to place all students in their large (Wind Symphony, Concert Band and Orchestra) and small chamber ensembles. Audition materials will be posted on the school website during the summer and will also be posted on my office door.

 

2. Please also sign up for a private lesson time for first term. This sign up sheet will be posted on my office door by the first week of classes. You will similarly choose a new lesson slot for second term during the first week of that term. Lessons will occasionally fluctuate to accommodate my own performance and travel schedule. Lessons are 50 minutes in length.

 

3. Lesson Logistics: All students are expected to be punctual, ‘warmed up’ and fully prepared for each lesson. Please assemble your flute prior to the lesson and dissemble in the hallway afterwards, to help me stay on time and be most efficient. Please be sure to bring a notebook to each lesson and keep it current. Students that are organised about their work tend to be more successful!

 

4. Please do not wear any scented products. Many faculty members, staff and fellow students are very scent sensitive. Plain old (unscented) soap is appreciated though! Many thanks for your cooperation in this matter.

 

5. Please keep informed by regularly checking the flute blog AND your email. Important things often pop up during the course of the year that are quite time sensitive.

 

Attendance policy

1. Lessons cancelled because of a documented illness (i.e., those with a doctor’s note) will be rescheduled at a mutually convenient time.
2. Any unexcused missed lesson will not be made up.
3. If you know in advance that you need to reschedule a lesson (for any reason), please arrange this directly with another willing student, and then inform me via email (ssnizek@uvic.ca) of the change in advance. If you have to cancel a lesson because of illness, please email me with as much advance notice as possible at the above address. Generally, I require 24 hrs. advance notice in order to reschedule a lesson.

Master Class meets weekly on Wednesdays at 1:30. This class is central to your development as a flutist. All flute students are expected to attend all master classes. There will be rotating performance dates for each student for each term; this list, including planned repertoire, will be posted (outside my office door) near the beginning of each term. Participation, attitude, attentiveness and preparedness will be the determining factors in the assessment of your work in master class. Specific repertoire and themes change every term; specifics on this coming year will be detailed in a separate document.

Jury There is one year-end jury performance of 15 minutes duration for all performance majors and 10 minutes for all other concentrations. There may be sightreading as part of the jury for performance majors. A jury exam performance missed for any reason (other than a genuine and unavoidable emergency) will not be rescheduled.

Please note: If you are a first year student who is interested in pursuing the performance major in flute, please speak to me immediately, as there will be an audition (typically at the end of the second year) for which we will need to prepare. 

Private lesson mark will be determined as follows:

One third of mark:

1. Weeklyprivatelesson (including assigned readings/summaries) and
2. Weekly master class

This part of your mark assesses your degree of musical preparedness, as well as your attitude, attendance and punctuality (for performance majors this includes IPS attendance and participation).

One third of mark:

1. Quality of your performances in Tuesday and Friday noon hours, annual Studio recital; and for performance majors, your IPS performances and
2. A technical exam (administered in your second lesson in January). All students (except graduate students) will be assessed in this technical exam. Fluency, accuracy, tonal homogeneity and speed will be assessed. Details TBA.

One third of mark: Jury or graduating recital

Please note: In every category listed above, a student’s attitude towards learning, consistency of effort, (weekly preparation), openness to trying new approaches/concepts, and evidence of improvement and effort are extremely important factors in your overall mark.

 For extremely important UVIc policy information on marks, academic integrity and evaluation of student achievement, please consult the following:

http://web.uvic.ca/calendar2015-09/FACS/UnIn/UARe/Grad.html

 

http://web.uvic.ca/calendar2015-09/FACS/UnIn/UARe/PoAcI.html

 

http://web.uvic.ca/calendar2015-09/FACS/UnIn/UARe/EoStA.html

Readings and Summaries Three short written reflections on required readings (between 400-600 words) will be required as part of this course. You may read your assigned readings in any order that works best for you. The first is due on 1 October; the second will be 20 January, and the last will be due by 1 March. To save paper, please submit your summary by email (word doc) attachment. Late assignments will not be accepted.

This assignment is designed to heighten your awareness of the context of performing and to expand your thinking about various larger issues in performance. I would like each student to ‘digest’ and directly apply the practical information contained in these texts to their own playing. To that end, please focus on what was personally most useful to you as a player and how you actually applied the information in your practice and/or performance experiences.

Please include in your summaries three specific examples of how you have applied suggestions/information, sourced directly from the text, to your own practice as a musician.

The required readings for 2015-16 are listed below. I encourage you to purchase these items (they are generally available at Munroes Bookstore on Government Street downtown) rather than borrowing them; they will be items you will refer to throughout your musical careers.

For first year students:

1. The Inner Game of Music by Barry Green (if you have already read this, please instead read The Mastery of Music: Ten Pathways to True Artistry by Barry Green)
2. The Musician’s Way: A Guide to Practice, Performance and Wellness by Gerald Klickstein
3. Playing (Less) Hurt by Janet Horvath

For second year students:

1. Kincaidiana by John Krell
2. The Proper Flutist by Trevor Wye
3. Casals and the Art of Interpretation by David Blum

For third year students:

1. Body Mapping for Flutists by Lea Parsons
2. Casals and the Art of Interpretation by David Blum
3. Mastering Creative Anxiety by Eric Maisel

For Fourth Year Students:

1. The Notation is Not the Music by Barthold Kuijken
2. Making your Creative Mark: Nine Keys to Achieving your Artistic Goals by Eric Maisel or The Creativity Habit by Twyla Tharpe
3. The Musician’s Way: A Guide to Practice, Performance and Wellness by Gerald Klickstein

Practice

I suggest daily practice be proportioned as follows:

25% tone

25% technique

25% etude/s

25% repertoire

Even (especially!) when you are in the midst of preparing recitals this is an excellent way to practice. Attending concerts, performing, listening to recordings, reading relevant texts and physical exercise/stretching (yoga is excellent, as is swimming!) are extremely important activities. Please regard these as a regular part of your essential ‘out of the practice room’ practice.

Recital Attendance

Students will be expected to attend their professor’s and fellow flutist’s recitals. This is an important means to improving your own performance practice. Please keep apprised of events via the flute studio blog. If you are performing a solo recital this year, please notify me well in advance so I may post your event in a timely manner. 

Materials I will be making individually tailored recommendations for all students. Students will be expected to purchase music as determined by the instructor. Every undergraduate will prepare a weekly etude, in addition to technical work and repertoire. Graduate students will, in addition, generally be expected to complete works more quickly. We will strive to cover all genres (‘early’ music, classical, Romantic/French salon, 20^th C and beyond) and fill in any gaps in repertoire. If a student has a very strong background in one area, there will be greater emphasis given to the others. Piccolo, Alto and Bass study are all encouraged as well.

Studio policy

1. I do not photocopy any music or lend any music (parts, scores or recordings) from my personal library to students. As with any academic course, all students are required to secure their own materials. If financially necessary, you may opt to borrow available materials from the Macpherson library. We have a fairly comprehensive existing collection. I can also request the library purchase new items if they do not happen to have an item we need. However, it is important to develop your own music library.

 

2. Performances represent the work we do together in the studio, as well as your own individual practice. Therefore, when I feel a work is ready to be performed, I will suggest a concert venue to you (usually, Tuesday and Friday music concerts). This will happen after I have first heard the material successfully and confidently presented in a polished manner in the studio, and as it is to be presented publicly: in its entirety and with all collaborative musicians. Performance permission slips will not be signed in anticipation of a student’s later work. Please plan accordingly. I will have performance permission slips, at the ready, in my studio.

 

3. Please make sure you check with me before scheduling your solo recital. Please note that according to current wind section requirements, all graduating recitals need to be presented before 15 March. My schedule fluctuates throughout the year according to my concert schedule and other commitments, but I will make every effort to be present at your recital(s).

 

I am looking forward to a very productive and enjoyable ‘musical journey’ with all of you! Please join me in extending a warm welcome to our new students!