On Tuesday night I had another concert, but this time I was doing the performing.  We had our departmental Voice Recital in Baird Recital Hall.  It’s always nice to get a chance to perform, and is very refreshing at this point in the semester because it is something to work for that isn’t a paper or a final exam.  I was also excited because my mom was able to come up for the concert and I am always enjoy when my parents visit.  The next couple of days are going to be super busy trying to get things finished before I head home for thanksgiving on Tuesday, but I am really excited about the way this semester has been going and am looking forward to the next couple of weeks!

The main concept of the concert was to inovoke the atmosphere of the “Wednesday Musicales” that Nadia Boulanger used to host in her Paris apartment.  It was a formal concert, but I appreciated that the musicians took the time to speak to the audience and give a brief history or anecdote about the music in between pieces.  I did not know that the famous composer, Aaron Copland, was the first Americans to study with Boulanger, but furthermore I had no idea he had any connection to Buffalo!  He was a guest lecturer at Buffalo’s June in Buffalo Summer Music Festival, as well as working with the BPO and influencing and teaching Lukas Foss. 

This concert is an example of one of the reasons I love my major…I am required to attend concerts! I do have to write a paper about this concert.  It was very inspiring (it even got me to pull out my recording of Copland’s Tenderland already) and I am now very excited to be able to learn more about the music as well as express my own thoughts and opions about it!  I will definately be keeping an eye out for future performances of these musicians!!

I felt very comfortable giving my theater history presentation because it was a topic I have been researching and known about since the beginning of the semester.  I also was speaking to a group of students who had at least a basic knowledge of performance terminology if not a little knowledge of opera itself.  My presentation for my italian class on the other hand was a little more challenging.  The biggest reason was that the presentation was not in English.  I realized while preparing that theater vocabulary is not something I have really come across yet in my italian language studies so I found myself looking up word after word and then trying to make it accessible for the other students in my class. 

Luckily both of my presenations went well and I received positive feedback from both professors and other students.  One of the main points that I tried to emphasize at the end of my presenation was that opera is available throughout the United States and even more so recently because of the Met in HD Broadcasts. The Met Broadcasts happen in movie theaters around the country and they broadcast live performances of the Met Opera productions.  It’s a great way to see opera especially for opera audience beginners!!

Recently I have been trying to decide if I should join Schussmeisters.  Schussmeisters is the ski and snow boarding club at UB.  It is a student run club and offers a chance for students to get extremely discounted season passes to area ski slopes.  Every year I have this debate with myself about whether or not I will actually have time to ski.  I haven’t been in a couple of years so my skiing skills would also be quite rusty.  Although, it’s a GREAT way to get fresh air and exercise in the winter!

I have taken advantage of the many places to ice skate around Buffalo.  The Amherst Pepsi Arena is located across the street from North Campus and has lots of open skate times and I find it to be a cheap weekend activity.  Also, once it gets colder there is a FREE ice skating rink downtown Buffalo!  Free activities are always appreciated by college students!

Along with all this excitement about the approaching winter also comes a very busy schedule and stressful point in the semester.  All of my midterms are over, which means it’s time to gear up for final papers and projects that are all due in the next few weeks.  Stay tuned and hopefully I’ll be gearing up for some winter fun soon instead of gearing up for homework!

My professor has been using film and literature as a way to explore many different topics regarding Italy’s history and contemporary issues.   Most recently we have been discussing immigration.  It has been a very interesting topic mainly because immigration has been such a big issue in the U.S.’s political scene lately as well. In class this week we are watching the film “Quando sei nato, non piu nasconderti.”   This film was directed by Marco Tullio Giorana, who also directed “I cento passi,” which is a little more well known.  So far I have throughly enjoyed the film, we are watching the rest of it in class tomorrow.  Earlier in the semester we read the book “Novecento” by Alessandro Baricco, and then watched the film “The Legend of 1900″ which was based on the book (and it was in English!).

I love that I am able to continue my language studies all the way into my senior year, although this class makes me really miss Italy.  I was able to study abroad the summer after my sophomore year.  I studied in Florence, Italy through the Bel Canto Institue of music.  Studying abroad was one of my favorite experiences in college. In Florence I was able to live with a family, but then after my program I was able to visit my own relatives who live in Abbruzzo!   While I was in Italy I was exposed to several of these films but not necessarily taught quite in the same academic sense as this class.  It has been wonderful to have a class taught entirely in Italian, but that also focuses on different aspects culturaly through all sorts of different types of media!  I’ll keep you posted on how I like the end of the film! Ciao for now!

The main two places that my friends claim have the best wings in Buffalo are “Duffs” and “Anchor Bar.”  “Anchor Bar” claims to have the “Best Wings in the World,” which might be true since they did invent them, but I know several people who would defend “Duffs” with their lives (wings are kind of a big deal in buffalo!!)!  Both of my parents are UB Alumni and I remember hearing all about “Duffs” wings before I came to Buffalo…so I’m sure they give “Anchor Bar” some great competition.

As of last night I have officially been to both of them!  “Duffs” is located on the corner of Millersport Hwy and Sheridan Drive, conveniently located on the main route between North and South campus.  Although, last night I went to the new “Duffs” that opened a couple months ago, located near the Galleria Mall.  It’s a lot bigger than the one near campus and therefore there was a little less of a wait.  I do have to give both places credit for having some decent vegetarian dinning options, not a ton, but more than I would expect for a wing joint.  (If anyone finds somewhere to get ‘fake’ buffalo wings, please let me know!)  There is definately something very appealing and distinctly Buffalo about meeting a bunch of friends for wings, and to catch whatever sports game is on!

 “From the Wings” is completely student run, yet it attracts both student and faculty audiences.  It is one of the performances I most look forward to each semester.  The concept of “From the Wings” is to get students involved in theater who may not get a chance to normally perform or to offer a chance to do a different type of performance (for example if you’re an acting major you might do a musical theater piece).  Also, I love that anyone can participate….no auditions!!  “From the Wings” often has SNL-ish sketches that poke fun at faculty or share silly anectdotes from the department.  This past friday night the show took place at midnight in the Katherine Cornell Theater (a theater located in the Ellicot Residence Complex), and it was great to see facutly still come out and support students that late!

My weekend was rather busy, starting with “From the Wings” friday night at midnight, followed by Fall Open House bright and early on Saturday morning, it was no shocker by Saturday night I was ready to just chill with a friend and watch tv!  On Sunday one of my “apartment-mates” and I drove to Niagara Falls to visit one of the often overlooked wonders of  Niagara…the Outlet Mall.  We both had some shopping to do so it worked out well that we had the day free.  After our shopping extravaganza we took my great-aunt out for lunch as a belated birthday celebration! I returned to my apartment just in time to see the Buffalo Bills beat the NY Jets! All in all I had a wonderful weekend!

As some of my fellow bloggers have mentioned, the weather has gotten colder. (Also a shout out to fellow blogger  Lynlee for a very Happy Birthday!!).  It wasn’t until today that I noticed more people were walking to class through the academic spine walkways and tunnels.  Also, this week I busted out my sweaters that have been hiding under my bed, and switched them with several of my summer clothes. 

There are so many Halloween activities that I would love to participate in this year.  Every year I have managed to find time to go to “Fright World,” which is a warehouse with several haunted houses, located very close to campus.  Recently some of my friends have been suggesting going on an “historic ghost walk.”  There are several that take place in Buffalo: Williamsville, the Theater District, and Allen Street….all of which sound very interesting.  Furthermore, I’ve been dying to carve a pumpkin, which I’m hoping to do this weekend!  This weekend looks like it is going to be incredibly busy, with Open House taking over my Saturday, and various other things tomorrow and on Sunday, I’m sure I’ll have a lot ot update about!!

I was excited because this weekend allowed me to finalize some of my grad school applications decisions but also I was able to catch up with some of my good friends from high school who are in school in NYC.  I have been having trouble deciding exactly where I want to apply and for what, and even if I want to go straight from undergrad into grad school.  In general I have decided to try to give myself as many options as possible in regards to the program, faculty, assistanships, and what the locations have to offer.   I have found myself asking the same questions I asked myself 4 years ago (when applying to undergrad schools) for example: what size school, what type of housing is available, how much is tuition/costs of living in different cities, what is student life like, what is the faculty like, etc.  All in all, grad school applications have been a little daunting but I am really starting to get excited about what opportunities are ahead!!

This weekend allowed me to get a change of scenery and to refocus on my applications and school work.  Sometimes a roadtrip is a nice break from the regular school routine, and I’m definately feeling refreshed for the upcoming week of school!

On top of grad school applications, my normal work load has seemed to double this week.  Even though there is no designated week for midterms this week and next week are packed full of exams and presentations for me.  I’ve been in the library every night studying or doing homework, although I shook things up last night and studied at Starbucks instead (I’m convinced pumpkins spice lattes help me focus!). 

I also have a ton of new music to learn.  We started music rehearsals this week for Opera Studio Workshop.  This semester we are doing an opera by Tom Jonson called “The Four Note Opera.”  That’s right…only 4 notes were used to compose this opera!  It’s exciting because there are only 5 of us in the workshop so we will all have a lot to do.   It’s also going to be directed mostly through collaboration so we’ll all get exposed to aspects of directing opera.  Having a class like this is quite refreshing amidst all my exams!