This was the first day where we were given taster sessions for the other courses available. For me, this involved the advanced instrumental session and the vocal session. As a classically trained musician, the instrumental session appealed to me naturally. We were given the task of writing a short piece for a solo instrument – for me the violin – in only 20 minutes. We had a live musician at our disposal, and he was able to give me some useful advice about melody and structure. I wasn’t very pleased with my final piece, but I was proud of what I had accomplished by composing in my head in such a short time.

The vocal session didn’t seem like my cup of tea at first, but I had promised myself to dive into all activities we were given. I therefore gave it my all, which ended up in me throwing away my dignity and loudly shouting ‘oooooooooooohhhhh’ in front of about 30 people. I found it a great experience in building confidence in front of the audience, and learning to cast off my dignity.

We also received 6 short lectures on different instruments from around the world: the violin, the tabla, the oboe, the clarinet, the marimba and the Nyckleharpa. The latter was particularly interesting as I had never heard of it before. This would later serve as a basis for my final composition, which I decided would include the clarinet, the marimba and the table. These were the three instruments for which we had professional performers at our disposal, and so I thought I would challenge myself with this slightly unusual combination to create something new and creative.
As before, samples of my work from this day will be shown and explained in the next few pages.