A few weeks ago I asked U of T-ers (UT-ers?) on twitter to tell me what they listened to when they study.

Songs we like to listen to include:

• The Long Way Home, by Norah Jones
• Banquet, by Bloc Party
• Levels, by Avicii
• Ghost Division, Into the Fire, and Talvisota, by Sabaton
• Marchin’ On, by OneRepublic
• One Step At A Time, by Jordin Sparks
• Animal, Miike Snow
• Where You’re Coming From, Matt & Kim
• Comme des enfant, Cœur de pirate

Some of us like to listen to certain artists too:

• Yiruma
• Bon Iver
• The Pogues (This UTnian said that you can’t get better than drunk Brits singing!)
• Drake, but only when he mentions Toronto.
• Joe Hisaishi
• Daft Punk
• Epik High
• Chris Botti

If you want previews of any of these songs, you can go look them up on Youtube. Personally, I like to use Grooveshark. It’s a site where you can listen to songs, artists and playlists that are completely customizable or sorted by genre. For those of us that don’t download (which is all of us right? *cough*), this is a better alternative to streaming Youtube videos, since streaming and buffering times are much faster.

We also have our very own CIUT 89.5FM, which features “alternative radio and interesting music.” It’s been on air since 1966, so give it a listen and support our U of T DJs and talk show hosts. Broadcasting out of Hart House, they aim to provide an alternative to mainstream radio and try to reflect the diversity of our community.

This is by no means a comprehensive list. I’m pretty sure our student body has a much more diverse and exotic playlist than what I have here. What do you listen to when you study? Tell us below!

If you listen to music while you study, and you don't jam on your computer... Well, I don't believe you.

I can feel it in the air – that distinct sense of shifting, as students are handing in their last essays and attending their last few lectures; the end of the semester is finally approaching, and as usual, it looks gruesome. The exam period – not only the actual writing of the tests, but the process of studying – overnights at Robarts, rewriting and rereading, cue cards, highlighters, coffee, sweatpants, snow, slouching – is just around the corner. It’s not a pretty time for U of T students, but it’s always laced with the comforting knowledge that winter break, that brief pause in our otherwise non-stop academic year (pardon me – there was that oh-so-satisfying “micro reading week”) where we might do a bit reading for year-long courses, but mostly can sleep, breathe, eat, and do all those other things that normal, non-U of T students do regularly and might consider, in fact, necessary to human survival.

I’m hoping to maintain my peace of mind during exam season this year, and while I know those moments of panic are unavoidable, there are certainly a lot of opportunities on campus for students to relax and defeat the stress plague, if only momentarily.

Hart House offers a variety of programs to soothe the stressed student:

• Massage Mondays – Yes, this is exactly what it sounds like. Free massages, because U of T knows – you deserve it.
• Lunchtime Crafts – Personally, I find arts and crafts to be really relaxing – though, of course, I have never produced anything presentable. Distract yourself with a little A&C, and who knows, maybe you will produce a great work!
• ThursTeas – Enjoy a warm cup of tea at Hart House while chatting with some new friends or reading a (non-school related, perhaps) book.
• Let Shakespeare distract you with the production of Macbeth playing at Hart House Theatre until November 26.
• Jazz at Oscars – This free event every Friday night brings all sorts of different music to the Hart House Arbor Room. Be entranced by live music to distract yourself from stress. The monthly Sunday concert in the Great Hall might also be of interest.

It’s difficult for students to keep up exercising during exam time, but sometimes going to the gym is exactly what you need to wake you up and keep you studying productively. Both the Athletic centre and Hart House offer a wide variety of drop-in fitness classes. The AC has free yoga among its repertoire, certainly a relaxing pastime.

The Multi-Faith Centre offers a variety of yoga and meditation courses over the term, designed to help you relax and find peace of mind.

The Angela Grauerholz exhibit is still on the University of Toronto Art Centre until November 26, and the centre remains open until December 10, for your perusing pleasure. Take your mind off exams by taking a brief tour through this great U of T resource.

Every Friday night at Innis Café, story tellers come deliver tales for “1001 Friday Nights of Storytelling”, a tradition which has been running since 1978. A well-told story could be just the right thing you need to wind down and distract yourself from the looming stress of exams. Innis Town Hall also has inexpensive movies playing throughout the exam period, which may also serve as a welcome distraction.

Exam period is one I clearly characterize as bleak, but I think there are definitely ways to limit your stress. You do yourself a disservice by climbing under a pile of books in a library for a week and not facing the light of day until you are forced to enter the outside world in order to walk to your exam destination. Taking some time during the exam period to not study for exams will make the time you spend studying all the more productive. It’s always a pleasant feeling to realize that the world is going on when you feel like it’s ending, so allow yourself to bear witness to that comforting truth by taking a break. Whether it’s a yoga class, or just a walk around our beautiful campus, indulge yourself this exam period, if only for a moment.

Oh là là.

For those of you out of the francophone-music-loop, Serge Gainsbourg is often considered to be one of the world’s most influential popular musicians. He experimented with every genre of music, from jazz to reggae, to rock and roll to mambo, to so many more. And he did them all well.

So, basically, we have a ridiculously talented French man who somehow manages to look fierce in a pinstripe suit jacket. I guess it’s true that le français est la langue de l’amour, because I have fallen hard.

Excuse me while I swoon.

blogUT is teaming up with the wonderful members of EFUT (check out their new shirts – sont-ils pas magnifiques?) to give away five double passes to an advanced (subtitled) screening of Gainsbourg: Vie Héroïque at the Cumberland Cinema (159 Cumberland Street) on Wednesday, September 14 at 7pm. The film depicts Serge Gainsbourg’s life, from his childhood in Nazi-occupied France to his rise to fame, as well as his steamy love affairs with Juliette Gréco, Jane Birken and Brigitte Bardot, who’s played by French beauty Letita Casta. César Award-winning actor Eric Elmosnino is featured as the title role.

The perfect movie for date night? I think so.

All you have to do to enter your name into the draw is post a YouTube video of your favourite French song as a comment. Comments will be accepted up until 11:59pm on Sunday, September  11th and we’ll be emailing the contest winners on Monday, September 12th. Please note that we will only accept entries from those who provide us with a utoronto email address.

So post a comment so that you can whip out le champagne, throw on your beret, and marchez on over to the Cumberland Cinema with that quelqu’un de spécial!
Or you can just bring a friend. That works too.

Post written by Boyd Hao.

MusicBox Children’s Charity (MBCC) is a youth-run, registered non-profit organization that strives to provide music education opportunities to financially, socially, and/or physically disadvantaged children and youth.

A formal education in music should not be a privilege limited to only those who can afford it. We feel that music is an integral part of a child’s early development, with benefits reaching far beyond the child’s developmental stage. Disadvantaged children should be granted the same opportunities for growth and development that are available to their peers.

Through our partnership with the Yonge Street Mission (YSM), we bring music to the young children who need it the most. We fully subscribe to the concept of music as a developmental tool, and recognize its beneficial effects on a child’s social, academic, and emotional development.

As a youth-driven initiative, the Directors of MBCC are strong proponents of ‘self-help’ within the community. We believe that the needs of a community are best met by those living in it, and who better to enhance our youth programs than the youth themselves? Youth volunteers with significant musical achievement provide mentorship to our participants in group and one-on-one classes.

Our approach is two-tiered. We seek to enhance our children’s educations with the inclusion of music, as well as benefit our volunteer youth who gain self-enrichment and fulfillment from their participation in MBCC’s programs. Furthermore, we end each school year with an ‘End of Year Concert’ to provide the children with an opportunity to showcase the musical skills they have developed throughout the year. At the end of the day, everyone is happy – the students joyfully celebrate their musical achievements and the volunteers proudly celebrate their student’s progress, knowing that they have taken part in helping to make Toronto a better place.

Here at MusicBox, we open our doors to any prospective volunteers who share our goals and enthusiasm. You can learn more about us by checking out our organization’s website, or by calling or emailing us at 416-895-5456 or musicbox.toronto@gmail.com.

Where: The Canon Theatre
When: Tuesdays @ 7PM, Wednesday-Saturday @ 7:30PM, and Wednesday and Sunday @ 1:30PM
More info: See the Billy Elliot in Toronto website

Billy Elliot: the Musical is a musical adapted from the film, about a young boy in a small mining town in Nothern England, who dares to don ballet shoes while all the other boys are decked out in boxing gloves. The film was a moving story of how a boy’s all-consuming love for ballet, allowed him to overcome incredible obstacles – the stigma against men in ballet, his small town upbringings, his mother’s death, and the brutal 1984 British National Union Worker’s strike which was devastating the town – to do what he loves and escape. This particular production downplays the struggles greatly, and in so doing loses our emotional investment, but puts together a wonderful spectacle of lights, dancing, and music, punctuated by slapstick comedy.

The production was directed by Stephen Daldry and choreographed by Peter Darling, who also did the film, the London West End production, as well as the Tony-award winning Broadway rendition. The directing and choreography – if we consider only the blocking, the flow, and the dances – are a triumph. The directing is well crafted enough to cleverly weave together the two interlocking stories: Billy’s discovery of ballet and his town’s destruction during the strike. I particularly liked how the montage of Billy’s initial ballet education happens in the middle of the stage, while the miners and the riot police face off on either side of them: Billy and the other innocent kids are quite literally caught between this conflict and ballet is an escape. It’s a brilliant idea and perhaps with a better cast and better acting, it would have been properly executed in Toronto. But the themes never fully come to fruition in the hands of the Toronto cast.

When it comes to singing and dancing, this cast has talent. Billy Elliot is alternately played by four different boys – Julian Elia, Myles, Erlick, Ty Forhan, and Marcus Pei – and I saw Pei’s performance, which was an amazing feat of singing and dancing. The rest of the cast is equally talented in these areas, even Jake Epstein of Degrassi: the Next Generation holds his own next to the seriously trained dancers. The dance numbers were immensely entertaining, well choreographed, and smooth, smooth, smooth. (more…)

It’s almost time for the Taste of the Danforth!

What is it?

Lori did a post covering the festival 2 years ago, but hopefully it won’t be rainy this year. Enjoy tons of yummy food, games, and shows all weekend!

Food?

Some food you may want to try: spanakopita (spinach pies) and loukoumades (honey balls) from Athens Bakery, kangaroo burgers from The Friendly Butcher, souvlaki, gyros, and backlava.

When is it?

August 5^th – August 7^th.

How do I get there?

The festival is super accessible by TTC. Just take the subway to Broadview, Chester, Pape, Donlands, or Coxwell station.

(If this doesn’t sound like your idea of a good time, or if you’re looking for even more stuff to do this weekend, you can also stop by the Brickworks Farmer’s Market on Saturday morning. You can take the free shuttle bus by Broadview station on Erindale, just north of Danforth.)

For more information, you can visit the Taste of the Danforth’s official website.

Post written in collaboration with Tian-Yuan Zhao.

Marshall McLuhan, an alumnus of our university, once stated that ‘the medium is the message’. But did you know that he was also a graduate of the same high school as Tian-Yuan Zhao, the founder of Tales of Harmonia? Amongst the many reasons Tian had for starting his own choir, the most important one stemmed from the knowledge that McLuhan had passed down. Tian felt that, because a choir is the medium whereby the message of a song is portrayed, it doesn’t matter if there’s variety within the genres of music that each choir at U of T specializes in. The only thing that matters is the medium – if, for example, jazz is the only genre of music performed by a choir, their performance can become stale. Tales of Harmonia intends on showcasing music from all genres. Its slogan is:

Whether it’s Accompanied or A Cappella, Arranged or Artistic, Occidental or Oriental, Sacred or Secular, as long as there’s a fire burning from deep within the song, we’ll be there to dish it!

Through practicing what they preach, Tales of Harmonia intends to generate a more personal, intimate, and special experience not only for their choral members, but for their audience.

Tales of Harmonia is a mixed 30-voice auditioned choir that aims not only to provide talented musicians with the opportunity to pursue excellence in music within a friendly, focused environment, but to do so alongside others who share the one other commonality that unites us as one – our collective power to geek* out about the various insanities of life.

*’Geek’: A person with a devotion to something in a way that places him or her outside the mainstream. This could be due to the intensity, depth, or subject of their interest. This definition is very broad but, because many of these interests have mainstream endorsement and acceptance, the inclusion of some genres as ‘geeky’ is heavily debated. Persons have been labelled, or have chosen to identify, as physics geeks, mathematics geeks, engineering geeks, sci-fi geeks, computer geeks, various science geeks, movie and film geeks (cinephiles), comic book geeks, theatre geeks, history geeks, music geeks, sport geeks, art geeks, philosophy geeks, literature geeks, historical re-enactment geeks, video game geeks, and role-play geeks. – Wikipedia

The group is built on the following tenets to provide all choral members with:
1) A more holistic musical experience.
2) A more heterogeneous (diverse) musical experience.
3) A geekier musical experience. In this context – ‘geeky’ isn’t a derogatory term as it refers to anything and everything from all mediums whereby art is expressed, such as movies, TV shows, books, anime, video games, math, history, engineering, and so on and so forth. I hope you get the gist.
4) A more ‘underground’ musical experience. While some songs are widely recognizable, most of the showcased songs are less popular amongst the masses. ToH’s repertoire draws from all genres.
5) A more innovative approach to musical groups as a whole. Now what does this mean? ToH not only intends on revolutionizing ‘what’ will be performed at concerts, but ‘how’ they’ll be performed as ToH intends on having multimedia concerts in the future, collaborating with other musical organizations as well as hoping to all ToH to grow into something more than just a choir into an entire musical/artistic experience for all who’s involved with it. Expect great things to come of this.

Tales of Harmonia dares to explore strange new worlds and to seek out new life and new Civilizations (I, II, III, IV, V, etc.). They boldly go where no choral ground has gone before. So join them for the ride – I assure you, you won’t ever regret it!

Here’s a sneak peek of the lists of songs ToH will be singing this year:

Star Wars – John Williams is the Man
Baba Yetu, Ipharadisi, and Parismaalase Lauluke
Nintendo A Cappella
Zelda Medley
Still Alive – Basix
I Will Derive
Rent
Pi Song
Avenue Q
5 Chinese Songs songs, including Jasmine Flower, Yellow River Cantata, and The Butterfly Lovers
3 Korean and 3 Japanese Folk songs
I Love the Whole Wide World
The Grand Fonic Hymn
Tshosholotza
The Legendary Sorcerer and Guiding Star
Le Ali Del Principio and To the End of the Journey of Glittering Stars
Zulu Mama
Les Misérables
Engineering Songs

Auditions for Tales of Harmonia will be held in the second or third week of September. One audition time/place has already been confirmed (September  12^th, 3PM, Bickersteth Room at Hart House), and another time/place has yet to be confirmed, but expect it to be in the Engineering Complex a day or two after the first day of auditions.

If you have any questions about the group, please don’t hesitate to email Tian-Yuan, check out their website at http://talesofharmonia.sa.utoronto.ca/ and/or check them out at the UTSU Clubs’ Fair, as well as the Engineering Clubs’ Fair.