Music Music All The Time: Summer Music Festivals All In One Not-Boring List!

Okay, we know that it's only Autumn, that wondrous season where the trees are naked, drizzly and depressing days become the norm, and Daylight Savings ensures that we are suddenly catapulted into complete darkness at 4:00 PM.

Well, good news! It's time to think about summer music festivals! Now you can bask in the thoughts of warm, music-ey comfort that a gorgeous summer festival affords, the hours of peaceful practice while a gentle breeze wafts the edges of the delicate pages of your Khachaturian concerto. And you can think all these thoughts while you make your audition recordings in the dark.

The University of Houston's Texas Music Festival provides all applicants with a scholarship covering tuition, room, and board (valued at $4,000)... so... that's awesome. This festival is open to ages 18-30.

Domaine Forget in Quebec has a number of sessions throughout the summer. Information will be up on their website by the end of November.

The Brevard Music Festival in North Carolina offers a number of programs for college and high-school. The age limit is 29, and specific programs include Orchestral Studies, Collaborative Piano, and Composition.

But what about those of us who are, shall we say, more seasoned? More life-experienced? Old?

This wine tastes like musical
maturity, with slight notes
of a mix CD from 2001.

Dig, if you will, Yellow Barn in Putney, Vermont. With no upward age limit, this small festival is open to individuals and pre-formed ensembles; So Percussion and eighth blackbird are alumni ensembles. Boston auditions are January 28-30.

Round Top is another option with only a minimum age limit: participants must be born before December 31, 1997. This orchestrally-based festival also provides full-tuition scholarships to all participants, so the fee is minimal.

The Aspen Music Festival in Colorado only has minimum age limits as well. This large program offers chamber music, orchestra, and opera theater.

Bowdoin International Music Festival in Maine has 6-week and 3-week sessions, and no upper age limit. Pre-formed chamber ensembles are also invited to apply.

You mean... I GET money
to take lessons?!

"Okay," we hear you say. "What about those of us who are legit broke and cannot handle any fees of any kind?"

Might we suggest working for, rather than attending, a festival? Here is a short list of festivals that hire staff:

Interlochen Arts Camp in northern Michigan hires a full staff, from waterfront, counselors, production, front-of-house, and box office, to more specialized positions like collaborative piano, instructor of yoga, and kiln technician. Summer employees can study with faculty and perform on staff recitals.

Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, also in Michigan, hires staff for the summer. They also have a number of advanced graduate students serving as faculty. Staff and faculty play in a number of large, small, and jazz ensembles.

Boston University's own Tanglewood Institute has not only a number of RA positions open to college students who have finished their sophomore year (and older!), but institutes that are open to students until age 20. There are also paid internships available. Students can study with faculty, time permitting, and enjoy the Berkshires (a significant perk!).

Anybody out there enjoyed any of these festivals? Any that we should add to the list?

Handy Ways To Not Be Injured Safely On A Bike

We all know that city biking is a rewarding and wonderful way to get around, not to mention that in many cases it is also faster than other modes of public transportation (*cough* the green line *cough*). It is also, however, a dangerous undertaking. Here are some tips to stay safe on your bike this summer and throughout the school year.

1. BUY A HELMET. Riding without a helmet is so dangerous, you guys. Musicians need our heads (and faces, and brains) so protect them with a GOOD, HIGH-QUALITY helmet. Don't buy a used helmet; cracks can be invisible but significantly impact the quality of the helmet.

Where to buy a helmet? Here, here, or here. How to buy a helmet? By exchanging money for goods and services. Why should you spend money on a good helmet? Because of the brain thing previously mentioned. Will you look like a dork in your helmet? No.

The following picture illustrates how good you will look in your helmet:

2. Keep a constant eye on the right. If you bike in the bike lanes (WHICH YOU SHOULD) you will notice that cars, busses, and other sundry traffic pass through the bike lane. One particular hazard is opening car doors, as shown below:

3. Ride at the same speed as traffic. If you are riding faster than traffic, there is a chance that a car could miss you, cut over quickly, and cause an accident. As tempting as it is, don't speed past the poor, unfortunate cars stuck in traffic.

NO.

4. DO obey all traffic signs, lights, and signals. Bicycles are moving vehicles on the road and are therefore subject to all the same regulations and rules as cars. This also means that you can act all snooty when people tell you that you should bike on the sidewalk. Which you shouldn't.

Also, police have been pulling people over for riding unsafely. So, you don't even wanna mess with that.

5. Get a bike light! Ideally, these lights should be able to be solid or flashing, and white for the front of your bike with red on the back.

May your bike light reflect your own personal radiance.

The reason for the bike light is two-fold: first, you need to see at night. Sometimes streets are dark and you don't want to ride over (or into) something unpleasant. Second, cars need to see YOU. A light goes a long way toward preventing this:

Obviously this is just a basic guide for biking in Boston. For more information, or to get involved with bike activism in Boston, you can visit the Boston Cyclists Union, where you can sign a petition for protected bikeways on Commonwealth Ave., sign up to volunteer, and take a class on things like winterizing your bike.

Just remember, even though riding a bike is awesome, taking proper safety measures makes us EVEN COOLER. What do you do to stay safe on the roads?

And Now for a Non-Musical Interlude: The Remedy for the Common Cold That Won't Quit

The first year in a new place is always a treacherous time for airborne illnesses, even during the summer. A new environment brings new germs, among which lurks the common cold. A virus (and therefore not treatable by antibiotics unless there is a secondary infection) with over 200 strains, the common cold can knock wind- and brass-players off their feet for weeks, and can be especially devastating for vocalists. And obviously, while other instrumentalists may not play with their faces, feeling crummy is never positive for a practice routine.

The best cure for the common cold is rest and relaxation. The second-best is, we believe, this ridiculous concoction.

Your version of this will likely be pulpier.

You will need:
1 high-powered blender
1 strainer
1 mug
1 stove with pot, or microwave
______
1 cup apple juice (water will work in a pinch)
1 whole lemon
1 one-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled
1 pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon of honey

Now, this is going to sound crazy. Cut the lemon in quarters and throw it in the blender without peeling or removing the seeds. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the honey, put the top on, and blend until it's nice and liquid-looking in there. In reality, there will probably be a lot of pulp.

Put your strainer over your mug or small stove-top pot, and slowly pour your mixture through. If your outcome is anything like mine, you will have to push the final bits of stuff with a spoon to get it to yield all of its healing goodness. Then, either warm the mixture on your stove, or microwave until it's steamy. Stir in the honey.
______

This mixture is full of Vitamin C, thanks to the lemon. And thanks to the cayenne pepper, it will sometimes leave unfortunate sinuses able to breathe for the first time in days. It takes a while to drink, but since this is the Chuck Norris of beverages, one would expect that it can't be quickly downed.

Do you have a never-fail remedy for the common cold?

And Now for a Non-Musical Interlude: How To Stay Properly Warm in Winter

Who Took This Awesome Picture?

Please answer "yes" or "no" to the following questions:
1. Is there a need for shoes that are not flip-flops?
2. Do you get enough Vitamin D?
3. Would you, if you could, cozy up to a roaring fire mid-May?
4. Is it important to wear clothes lined with faux fur? 

Below are the correct answers for Boston:
1. Ten months out of the year, yes.
2. If by Vitamin D you mean Doritos, then yes.
3. There are times that, yes, I would. And I'm not ashamed.
4. I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you through my fuzzy hat.

If your answers are different, you might need to know How To Stay Properly Warm in Winter.

 1. Buy a proper coat. We aren't talking waterproof-but-uninsulated. We aren't even talking waist-length. Anything that could, in any context, be described as a "jacket" will not cut it. We need high-tech, insulation-filled, waterproof, knee-length, hooded coat. To save money, you can buy a real winter coat either a) in a warm climate (they are cheap where nobody needs them!) or b) in the off-season (summer sales!). As painful as it is to try on coats in June, just think about the angst you will save yourself in November when it starts rain-sleet-hailing. "But," you protest, "why should I buy a huge coat when I will only need it for a month or so?" HA! we say. This year, we were still wearing our coats in June.

2. Buy proper boots. Again, cute will not cut it. At a minimum, boots should be waterproofed and hit above the ankle. Something big enough to accommodate pants is good as well, since it's very unpleasant to spend all day walking around school with soaked bottoms to your pants. "But guys," I hear you saying, "can't I just avoid the big puddles?" No. We can't really explain why, and honestly, we don't want to think about it since it's warm outside right now, but the puddles will find you, and they will soak you. Also: traction. If you can avoid the slow, embarrassing fall where you hit hard on one hip and then proceed to slide down a hill in full view of all your neighbors, you should.

3. Buy texting gloves. Admittedly, texting gloves are not usually the most awesome of gloves, but they serve one important feature: you can keep your gloves on as you, shivering, check to see when the bus is coming. Sometimes, this is such a wonderful thing you may have to wipe a tear from your eye before it freezes on your cheek. But keep your gloves on for that too.

4. Buy a hat. This is slightly more open to interpretation, but we can tell you that tightly woven hats with brims are great for keeping the heavy snow from blinding you.  It will keep your hair dry. It will keep you from flying into a rage-coma when a chunk of snow, wet and heavy, falls from the roof of a bus stop and onto your head.
Now don't get us wrong, winter in Boston is a beautiful thing, replete with outdoor ice-skating and idyllic hot-chocolate-sipping. But the best of winter is even better when you are properly attired.

The Musician's Guide to Avoiding Old-Timey Ailments: How To Not Get Rinderpest

Ahh, Rinderpest. The ancient scourge of cattle, domestic buffalo, and other even-toed ungulates. "But," we hear you say, "I'm a human." Well listen, even though this disease only affected animals, and was declared globally eradicated in 2011, there are still some valuable lessons we can apply to our lives.

1. Don't Lick the T. Okay, you probably wouldn't lick the T, that cozy train-space you share with 384,392 of your best friends on your daily commute. But if you think about it, holding onto the hand-rail or helping yourself into a seat and then eating with your bare hands is sort of akin to licking the doorknob. Rinderpest is spread through direct contact, and it doesn't get much more direct than saliva. We humans tend to hold onto things on the train to avoid falling over, unlike wildebeests who pretty much have it covered with four legs. So remember to wash your hands after riding the T, or after touching anything that seems particularly grimy, with soap and water.

Wildebeests don't need handrails.

2. Cover Your Cough. If there's one thing we know about Rinderpest, it's that it can rip through your nineteenth-century herd of longhorns like a warm knife through butter, and a large part of that is caused by air transmission. When you cough, it's best to do it into your elbow, where little Rinderpest particulate can't worm their way into the rest of the flock. Sneezing or coughing into your hand/hoof carries the risk that you will touch something else, or someone else, and spread the Rinderpest far and wide.

No, you guys, we just talked about this.

3. Don't Share Water. This little tip is also handy for avoiding other, less old-timey illnesses that tend to plague college students (some of which, like meningitis, are serious business). This is also where being human comes in handy, because, unlike antelope, we humans can mostly control our sources of potable water. Since human beings generally function better when hydrated, it's a good practice to start carrying around a reusable bottle with you; you can fill it up at the handy water fountains located all over the College of Fine Arts. And if someone asks you for water out of your own personal drinking vessel, just say "no thanks. I don't want to catch Rinderpest," and then give them the side-eye.

These practices will serve you well as you start the school year, particularly if you are moving from another geographical location, like a migrating giraffe. We all know that a new place means new germs, so although these three tips won't necessarily ensure that you won't get sick at all, they will pretty much guarantee that you won't get Rinderpest (although this is also thanks to Dr. Walter Plowright, who developed the vaccine).