Whether it’s the gentle melody of “Beautiful Colorado” or the upbeat strum of “Jersey Giant,” new sounds travel through the walls of The University of Rhode Island’s Fine Arts Center every Friday as music students perform songs.
In the music convocations, held weekly at URI’s concert hall, second, third and fourth-year music students perform in order to develop skills vital to their careers, according to music department chair Mark Conley. Upperclassmen perform once every semester and while first-year students are not required to perform, they are encouraged by the department to actively participate in convocations.
“A convocation is a meeting of all, that’s the meaning of the word,” Conley said. “The idea is everybody is coming, everybody is lending support.”
Held at 1 p.m. weekly, anyone is welcome and encouraged to watch student performances, according to Conley.
“Even though it is a course, it’s still a performance lab, it’s still open to the public,” Conley said. “Our students would love to have support from other students.”
Also a one-credit course titled MUS 300, convocation is a required course that all music students are mandated to take each semester, Conley said. The performance aspect of the class allows students to put themselves in the role of a soloist so they can better prepare for the required recitals at the end of the curriculum.
“One of the best things about convocation is you watch a very nervous sophomore perform for the first time in the fall of their sophomore year and by the time they are a senior, you can go to their senior recital and see how much they’ve grown,” Conley said.
On Friday, second-year music therapy student William Hentschel, performed “Beautiful Colorado” on the ukulele in his first ever convocation at concert hall.
“Convo has always been built up and I was always really nervous about it,” Hentschel said. “I think actually getting onto stage and doing it was very exciting and I’m really glad to have done it.”
As a music therapy major, the focus surrounds developing ways to use music to achieve therapeutic goals, such as helping someone regain lost movement, according to Hentschel.
Because the goal of convocation is to help students develop necessary skills for their careers, the features of the gatherings are multifaceted, according to Conley.
“We don’t just do performances,” Conley said. “The faculty who run convocation will bring in guest speakers to talk about maintaining your health as a performer, whether physical health or mental health, or [they will give] masterclasses and lectures on music history.”
As a way to build public speaking skills, students who perform at convocation also speak in a panel discussion after the performance, an important asset for musicians, according to Conley. All of these aims go toward supporting the overarching goal, to prepare students for the future.
Last Friday, seven students performed in the afternoon convocation, including third-year music major Meghan Rinaldi who performed “Air champêtre ,” “A Nun Takes the Veil” and “Jersey Giant.”
“I feel like I presented myself well, I didn’t forget anything,” Rinaldi said. “I feel like it went pretty smoothly.”
Her final song of the afternoon, “Jersey Giant,” was a duet with her boyfriend George Clark, a fourth-year student also involved in the convocation, Rinaldi said. The pair had performed “Jersey Giant” in gigs before and decided to work together, considering they both had the same convocation day.
“His convo day just happened to be on my day too,” Rinaldi said. “We’re like hey why don’t we collaborate for one of his songs?”
Convocation is not something many people outside of the music department are aware of, and according to Hentschel, the performances are a hidden gem on campus.