12 Saltus Stage
Spotlight on
Student Views!
Week in the life of a Saltus Music student
The whole musical week begins on Monday during lunch. This week I worked with Ms Jones editing the Our Country's Good performance in order to create the school DVD. Later that day, I get home and practise for my grade five trumpet exam. My favorite piece so far is Softly Awakes my Heart. Later that evening, I have my piano lesson for which I am currently studying for grade four. Tuesday begins bright and early with a 7:45am start with Senior Orchestra. Following later that day, technical theater at lunch with Mrs. Jones. In technical theatre, we learn how to do the sound for plays like Our Country's Good. I often do sound for different performances… like Shakespeare Speaks last year. Wednesday once again begins with an early band practice… This time it is Concert Band. My favorite piece we have so far played this year had one of my favorite songs, Carry on my Wayward Son. Later that day, Jazz band at lunch with Mrs. Maule is extraordinary. I have been playing with Jazz Band for two years now and I find it challenging but fun. Following this amazing jazz practice, I have my trumpet lesson taught by Ms. McDonald.
On Thursday, my lunchtime is taken up by the performance arts magazine. I am currently uploading different musical pieces I recorded to Sound Cloud. Once they are uploaded I can embed them into the school magazine. Friday starts with Concert Band. This time it is sectionals with Ms. McDonald. This means that the wind and brass are separated in the rehearsal, working in sections before the full band rehearsal next week. Over the weekend my music continues with individual practice. I work on both my trumpet and piano and have to work on my individual work and pieces for the school ensembles. In between all the music activities I have also taken part in sports this week, I have had my tennis and golf sessions and played rugby for the inter house competition.
Phew- what a busy week!
Billy Ewles S8
Our Country´s Good was the first school production I’ve participated in and I can confidently say that I have no regrets for taking part in it. I played a character named John Wisehammer, a convict who is angry at the world, yet desperate for love. I definitely enjoyed playing him, and loved using the variety of lines and emotions I was directed to use to portray him. I´d be lying if I didn´t say that my favourite part about this character was being allowed to shout at the audience. In fact I found that having to display the emotion of being enraged was helpful for overcoming the nervousness I was feeling before stepping on stage.
As a drama student acting in this play helped me with being confident on stage. My biggest obstacle in drama class has always been physically getting up and performing. Doing this play helped me tackle that. With each rehearsal I became more comfortable with myself, and my character which made it easier to perform on opening night. With each performance, I felt more comfortable being on stage and in character. By the third night I found myself feeling relaxed and enjoyed acting my part in the play. With this whole process, I’ve found that I’m a much more confident performer. I’m no longer frightened by the idea of being on stage in front of an audience, big or small. I look forward to trying out for other parts in future plays.
Preparing for Our Country’s Good proved to be a lot more work than I imagined. Everyone put long hours into making the production as best as it could be, especially the students and teachers working behind the scenes. Without them, the play would have had no chance of being as good as it turned out to be. All in all, being in this play showed me the strong commitment that is necessary to the rest of the company and the shared feeling of accomplishment when everything is over. I personally enjoyed every aspect associated with staging a play and strongly encourage others to take part in a production.
Jakob Resnik S10