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U.S. Campus Life

Music in Albany

By Masako Yamada


新天地での音楽活動

今学期、筆者がとっている伴奏のクラス。

Whenever I tell people that I'm moving to upstate New York in the fall, they seem surprised that I am so calm about it. They expect me to be more upset about having to move to an isolated area. They ask me whether I've ever lived in such a place before and whether I have any friends or family there. Won't I be bored? I think they are more worried than I am.

It's true that I go to lots of restaurants, concerts, museums, and lead a pretty "urban" lifestyle now. Yes, I'm flanked by young, international friends, and I scurry about town by subway. I suppose it's hard for people to envision my surviving in a more sedate locale.

I just can't imagine myself sitting bored inside my house, tapping my foot and twiddling my thumbs. But I'm not worried about how I'll fill my spare time. First of all, I know my job will occupy a good part of my energy, so I don't know how much spare time I'll have. Next, I actually like to read, cook and sew, so I can easily entertain myself at home.

Of course, everybody needs companionship, and people have told me that it can be very difficult to make new friends outside of a university setting. This doesn't have to be the case, though. I'm confident that I'll meet plenty of new people outside work. I don't want to be a person who complains of being bored while sitting around waiting for the party to show up at the doorstep. The pro-active people, whom I admire, join churches, charities, alumni associations and sports clubs to make new friends. My community of choice is the music scene. The nice thing about the music scene is that age isn't a factor in determining a good match. I've performed with musicians of ages ranging from teenage to late 70s, and some of my dearest music friends are in their 40s.

In the past year or two, I've been toning down my musical commitments, first quitting my private piano lessons and then even quitting my group piano class. But I've still found ways to be involved. This semester, I've started to take a class in which I learn how to accompany singers. I've accompanied singers before, but I've never learned the subtleties particular to this task. I like it very much since vocal accompaniment tends to be technically simple while leaving much room for interpretation. One can enjoy the social aspect of collaborating with other performers without having to practice for hours each day.

The class is for non-professional adults, and I've become quite close to many of my classmates, all of whom are women older than me. I won't say we've become instant buddies, but I do know that there is a warmth about the amateur music community that makes it quite easy to establish friendships. Perhaps this closeness has something to do with the fact that we practice together, often in each other's homes. In such intimate settings, conversations naturally gravitate toward the personal. At times, my classmates and I spend so much time eating snacks and gossiping that we hardly manage to fit in any rehearsal time.

Already, I find myself leafing through concert information around Albany, happily noting that plenty of fine musicians come into town. I've looked at the listings of piano teachers at local universities, as well as chamber music groups that I might be able to join. I've read an article about large a cappella groups in the Albany area, and although the average age of the members is around 60 and the average skin color is white, I feel strangely compelled to call them up. I've even looked up the names of accredited piano rebuilders in the area, trying to see whether any of them might be able to lead me to a good used piano.

Most of the people I've met at my future workplace are married with children. This means that they often socialize as families. I don't mind being a single person in such a mix, since I like family barbecues, but the bottom line is that I don't have a family to occupy my personal time, so I'll have to find a community of my own outside of work. I am hoping that music will be the tool I can use to break into this new community.

Of course, I won't know what upstate New York is like until I live there. For now, I can only guess. But my guessing has been filling me with hope, not dread. I think this is a good sign.


Shukan ST: May 17, 2002

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