My life, my plans, my education

My future, my plans, my goals, my education
To know where you’re going, you have to know where you’ve come from. I was born in Massachusetts, raised in Germany, and just before High school made the transition back into American Culture. To say that my life in Germany made a small impact on my life would be a serious understatement. In Germany, I spent my best years. In Germany, I became the person I am today. I moved to the U.S. in 2004 to a small town called Hinesville in the swamps of Southeast Georgia. Then a year later I moved to Sanford, NC where I spent my High School career. It was a difficult transition to a new culture and a new way of life, but I found solace and a sense of peace in two things: God and Music. I played violin and trumpet in church and at the time I would often escape this new American world by enveloping myself in the music of the church. When I got to High school, I realized that one of the things that I missed the most about Germany was its architecture: the cathedrals, the city centers, the small village houses. I decided that I wanted to become an architectural engineer and just continue with my music on the side. Throughout High school, I took drafting classes and architectural engineering classes alongside my orchestra classes (there was no German program in my High school, so I had to waste my time taking Latin instead of the language that would inevitably be my major). Once I was into my sophomore year of high school, I came to the awful realization that I absolutely hated math. This, as you might guess, is a problem for anyone wanting to enter the field of engineering. So instead of pursuing a major involving miserable math, I committed my life to the arts and humanities.
Finding out what exactly you want to do after you’ve gotten a general idea is often the harder part of planning out your life. I knew that I wanted to major in some sort of music and German, so I searched out a school that could offer me both of these things. Music school was easy because there were only three reputable music schools in North Carolina that I could consider: Appalachian State, ECU, and UNCG. Only one of these had a German program. After much deliberation and soul-searching, I found out that I wanted to be a music educator. The reasons for this choice are all very difficult to explain, but mostly stemmed from the fact that I never had a good music teacher and I wanted to right the wrong in the world. So, I applied, auditioned, interviewed for, and now attend the school of music at UNCG where I received one of very few music scholarships that were offered.
As of right now, I’m planning on pursuing my goal of becoming a Middle school orchestra teacher (beginner’s instrumental music). Along with my German major, this will take somewhere between 5 and 6 years. My German major is a bit more difficult to get along with. The classes often conflict with my very temperamental, very confused music courses which makes it very hard to meet my major requirements. I’ve not been able to touch many of my General Education Courses which most people seem to be lucky enough to get out of the way their first couple years here and then focus solely on their majors. Being a musician, you have to be constantly on top of your major. You are expected to be able to jump right in and swim. It’s very difficult. Sometimes you have six classes a day with very little break in between to do homework, eat, sleep, and just live. On top of this, you have to fit in 15-20 hours of practicing on your primary instrument (Mine is the cello). I’m looking forward to my junior year where I’ll be able to study abroad in Germany and focus on my German without the music requirements getting in the way. I’m not yet so clear on my goals for my German major yet. There are a lot of options that you get with being a German major. You can work for an international business. You can be an educator. You can be a translator. You can work in the government with international affairs, or any other number of things. One of the many reasons I chose to focus on German is because of the great opportunities that it opens up for you. With a German major you have options and you don’t have to commit right away to what you want to do. Plus, there’s wiggle room to do other things as well without it consuming your whole life the way that music tends to do.
After getting my undergraduate degree, I hope that I can jump right into the workplace. Then after a few years of working, go back and continue my education for a graduate degree. I think education is very important and I’m in that awkward stage where I feel like I could be comfortable staying a student the rest of my life. Being a professional student could be enjoyable work, but it doesn’t pay or support itself. I can see myself one day being a college professor and working at some great university doing all sorts of research projects and contributing to the world of music and German education. I often ask myself if I’ll stay here in the United States or move off to Germany to work over there. I suppose inevitably it’s going to depend on whether I pursue more German or more Music. I think it could be very exciting to do music in Germany, but I’m not exactly sure how that could work out. Whatever I do, however, I’m going to continue to rely on God to show me how as I always have.

Casella Sinfonietta

Casella Sinfonietta UNCG Nov. 12, 2009

The Casella Sinfonietta is an ensemble of Graduate students that play every instrument from flute to violin. Their performance was based on very well known chamber music ranging from traditional composers such as Beethoven to more modern composers such as Stravinski. Since my honors proseminar class has been looking into furthering education, I took time to interview Graduate student in the Casella Sinfonietta.

Boja Kragulj is a Doctoral clarinet performance major from Illinois. She attended Interlocken Acadamy of music in Northern Michigan and decided to become a music performance major. Originally she was interested in becoming a member of the Chicago symphony, but after playing and getting involved in her major, she realized that she was more interested in a solo career rather than an orchestral profession. She was lucky enough to be enrolled and accepted in the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, where she continued to pursue her degree in clarinet performance.

Boja Kragulj

Later, she studied under Eric Mandet (considered the greatest contemporary clarinetist and composer in the world) at South Illinois University. He saw music from a compositional standpoint verses the soloist’s standpoint, and this helped her realize how she wanted to apply her performance Later, she decided to get her Master’s degree in music education focusing on Post-secondary education in the University and Conservatories. Outside of education, she wanted to get back her performance abilities and for that, she was led to UNCG to study under Dr. Kelley Burke (most famous clarinet pedagog in the US) for her scientific exploration of clarinet playing.

When I asked Boja what she inevitably wanted to achieve replied with a laugh, “To get a job would be nice. With the economy as it is, performing jobs are hard to get. In the past year only 2 performance opportunities have opened in the US. It’s rough. At this point I’d like to get a professor job at a university teaching undergraduate theory and performance.

When I asked her about the Casella Sinfonietta concert, Boja told me that originally she was scheduled to play the Stravinski’s Concerto in Eb, but the other clarinetist got sick and was instead asked to perform Beethoven’s Rhondino. She was given the parts and was required to perform them after only 2 rehearsals with the music. “I can easily sit down, read, and perform something. Especially in the small group feel and sound that you get with the Casella Sinfonietta. But, it was difficult to go from one playing style to a completely different one in only two rehearsals.” She continued to go into a lengthy explanation of how hard it is to make an instrument built for orchestral music to make the same sound meant for an intimate chamber ensemble. But ultimately, she was proud of the performance and enjoyed the variety of pieces that she played. “It helps to play many things in different styles. It helps you learn. For instance the Stravinski piece has a very reduced instrumentation due to the Great Depression. Since there were few musicians during this time, the music reflects this. There’s a lot of subdivision with changing meters to reflect the style and emotion experienced during that day.”

Something that bothered me with the performance was the initial interpretation of the pieces. According to Boja, and I happen to agree fully, the conductor was very careful with the interpretation. This carefulness often causes a bit of strain on the instruments and the musicians. The conductor and the instrumentalists often have different interpretations of the piece and therefore play differently. Beethoven has a very periodic interpretation and for Boja, this meant paying close attention to the clarinet that is built for a contemporary orchestra verses the smaller Beethoven era clarinet which would use a different sort of articulation, breathing, and technique.

In closing the interview with Boja, I asked her about the success she’s made in her career. She replied smartly, “whatever your career is, you need to think outside the box of what you think you can do. Success means more than being good in school. How can you implement things and how can you make them better? This is ultimately what makes you better and makes you successful.”