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MT26.1 Freshers' Special · The Downing Arts Podcast

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  Welcome to the Downing Arts Podcast.
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  We're back with series five of the Downing Arts Podcast and this week's
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  special edition for all freshers about to arrive in college. Downing has an
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  incredibly busy creative arts scene with music, drama, creative writing, visual arts
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  and much more happening almost every week during term. I'm Louisa Downing's
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  Director of Music and I'll be chatting to members of the Downing community about everything
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  from creative projects to favourite films and brilliant books about as well as bringing you
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  all the creative arts news from college every week during term. You can listen on
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  the website as well as Spotify, Apple podcasts and most other podcast platforms.
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  And if you'd like to come on the show and talk about something creative which
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  matters to you, do get in touch on artspodcastao.cam.ac.uk
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  There are lots of opportunities to get involved in music in college and one
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  of them is the student run Music Society. Here to tell us a bit about
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  plans for the year are co presidents Elliot and Mayer. Welcome to you both.
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  Hello. Hi. Thanks for coming on the show. I know
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  you have lots of exciting plans for the year but just before we get into
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  that, do you want to just tell us a little bit about yourselves and what
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  you're studying and what kind of arts stuff you've been involved in so far?
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  I'm Ameya, I study pbs Psychological
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  and Behavioural Sciences. I play electric guitar, piano and
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  I sing. So in this first year I was involved in a
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  lot of the freshers events for music which was really exciting. I'm also a
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  member of the Downing Jazz Band which has always been a really great experience to
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  play in front of other people. Brilliant. And Elliot, I know you sing in the
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  chapel choir. Yes. So I sing bass in the chapel choir
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  and I'm a second year geography student so I'm
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  really looking forward to being involved in the running of DCMS this year because I
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  really enjoyed taking part in recitals and watching
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  recitals last year and I'd love to carry on with keeping music going
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  and Downing. Yeah, that's great. And of course the Music Society is not just for
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  people who perform, is it? It's people who want to come and listen as well.
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  So do you want to tell us a little bit about your plans for the
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  term? So we've got quite a few things for freshers specifically.
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  Firstly we've got the open mic which is happening on the 16th
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  of October, so anyone can turn up and play or sing
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  whatever they want to do. There's no booking required and I
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  really enjoyed Watching that last year and seeing lots of people who came to watch,
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  they hadn't even planned on performing and then they just got behind the
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  mic. So that was a really fun evening. We've also got the Freshers recital,
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  which is a bit more formal, so if you've planned
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  a piece that you really want to play, you can book on to
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  take part in that. And then we've also got other more informal things, like the
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  Christmas karaoke happening towards the end of film.
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  That sounds amazing. Yes. Well, it's Bridgmas,
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  really, isn't it? Not so much Christmas. Very true. Yeah, I suppose.
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  Do you want to just tell us what Bridgemas is? Yeah.
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  Bridgemas is because Cambridge term ends so early, you kind
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  of celebrate Bridgemas a month before you would celebrate Christmas, so you can
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  get into the Christmas spirit early. And by the time you've got home, all your
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  family are wondering why you're already wearing Christmas jumpers and all that spirit when they
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  don't feel quite ready for it. But it's a really fun time with everybody.
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  And, yeah, it's always nice at the end of term when we've had carol service
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  and various other things. And Christmas jazz. Is Christmas jazz happening this year?
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  Christmas jazz is happening. We've also got Week 5 Blues, which hits
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  at slightly low point in midterm, but will hopefully build your spirits
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  back up again. Brilliant. And are either of you involved in music outside college?
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  I'm actually playing guitar for Cambridge Show Choir at
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  the end of this term, so that will be a good experience. And then I
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  also play in a band and I play a few venues in Cambridge. Out and
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  about. Yeah. Amazing. And do you find it easy to balance it with
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  your studies or does it require a little bit of. A little bit of planning?
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  I think a little bit of planning, but I think when you're here,
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  you realize if you want to do something, you can definitely make it happen.
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  You've just got to think a little bit ahead. But I'd say it's really important
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  to have that balance, otherwise you get a little sucked into just work. And it's
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  good to do music or anything you enjoy outside. Do you have a lot of
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  contact hours? I have about 15 a week,
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  which probably helps me out a bit, but. Yeah, yeah. And, Elliot,
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  I mean, I don't know much about geography, but do you have a lot of
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  contact hours? I think fairly similar to a mayor, maybe even
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  a bit lower. Yeah, yeah. There's a lot of time just reading,
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  so I guess I think whatever degree you do, you can make time
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  to do music and get involved with things outside of your degree. You just have
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  to be organised and prioritise having fun as
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  well as doing your degree. It all helps, doesn't it? Great.
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  And we've talked a bit about freshers events this time. What other things
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  have we got going on with dcms? So we've got the organ scholar
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  recital dates to be confirmed, but that is happening
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  during term. So I think these events, even if you're not
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  massively knowledgeable about organ music or chapel music, I think it can
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  be just nice and relaxing coming and sitting in the chapel for an
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  hour and listening to music that you wouldn't necessarily listen to. And it's
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  really great to make the most of the fact that this sort of music is
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  on offer at Downing because you wouldn't get that in your day to day
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  life outside of Cambridge, really. Yeah. I suppose it's good to support your friends as
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  well. Yeah. We've also got a big band roulette coming to
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  play for us in October which should be really exciting. And if
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  people are interested in jazz, they can also learn a bit more about what big
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  band roulette is. And it's quite a low term commitment for people who want to
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  get involved in Cambridge jazz because. Yeah, they came last year, didn't they?
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  Yeah, they came first time last year so it's nice to have them back again.
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  It was really impressive last year. Can you explain what
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  big band roulette actually is? Yeah. So basically the way it works is because
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  a lot of students don't have the time and aren't able to find a band
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  to play with every single week. The way big band roulette works is you
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  audition and if you get in then you're kind of on a rota and then
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  you might end up doing about one or two gigs a year
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  with a really big amount of musicians. And it's just a really nice
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  way to meet people, get involved in something without feeling like you have to
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  make a major commitment. Yeah. And it's really spectacular what they do in a day,
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  isn't it? Yeah. Do you know what the theme is for this? This year's concert?
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  They're currently in the planning stages but we will get it revealed
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  very soon. Fantastic. Wow. And is there anything else you want to tell
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  our listeners about dcms? I think I would just encourage people to
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  get involved and give us suggestions for things,
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  events that you want us to put on for the rest of the year.
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  If you play an instrument or you like a style of music which you think
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  isn't represented well at Downing or you want there to be more opportunities to
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  do that sort of music, then just let us know because we'd really like to
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  accommodate as wide a range of music within Downing as we can.
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  Fantastic. Well, thanks for telling us about DCMS and see
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  you soon. Thank you. Thank you.
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  I'm talking to Zarya and James, who are Head Freps.
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  Welcome to you both. Hello. Hi. Thank you for joining us. Oh,
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  that's okay. So what does Head Frep actually mean?
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  Oh, great question.
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  I think I would say we're responsible for
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  representing the freshers in the wider college community.
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  But up, like, primary job is organizing Freshers Week.
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  Fantastic. And were you both freshers last year? Yes. Yeah.
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  Great. And how is it this year, you know, having. Having done it last year,
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  sort of being on the other side? I think it's definitely given us, or me
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  at least an awareness of how much work goes into it,
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  like get to college, being a fresher.
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  And there's so much going on and it all feels very busy and chaotic
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  and crazy. But there is a plan and some higher powers
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  are working towards making it all well.
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  And what do you both study? I study geography. I'm doing English.
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  Great. And how was your first year at Downing?
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  Was it what you expected? I'm going to give a vague answer. It was both
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  everything I expected it to be and not at all like I expected
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  it to be. It was super fun and a lot of work, but,
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  you know, worth it. And what I signed up for. Great. I'd say
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  something similar. It was like everything and more. Like there was all the work
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  and all the learning and that was great. But then there was so much else
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  to do and that was great and I didn't see that coming and. Yeah.
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  Brilliant. So what have you got lined up for our freshers this week? Oh,
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  what are we most excited about? We're most excited, I think,
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  about the sports day, which is happening on Sunday, which is very chill.
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  It's a chance to run around, get some fresh air. That'll be really nice.
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  A bit of competition as well.
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  What else? We've got a dance workshop.
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  I think it's a salsa dance workshop because we've got one of the societies coming
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  in on the. I'm gonna say on the Saturday,
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  I think. Yes. And then after that, there's also the dresses, your degree end,
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  which I'm super excited for because I loved it. Yeah. Because I love dressing up,
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  but it's a really nice way to meet the people. In other years,
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  as well, and it's a lot of fun. Wow. What do you dress up as
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  if you're doing English? I guess some sort of a character from a book.
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  I guess you could choose from so many. Well, last year I dressed up as
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  Shakespeare. I went big. Both big or go on. But people did
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  Lady Macbeth. People did just like authors. Yeah, great. So.
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  So what, what other stuff is coming up in. In freshers week we've got
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  matriculation, which James maybe wanted to talk a bit more about what happens
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  during the day. Yeah, of course. So you start
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  off the day with coffee and pastries. It's a
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  really good chance to take photos and just kind of relax.
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  And then you have talks from the Master and
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  lots of other. The senior people in college. Then you have
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  massive group photo. It's always a nightmare to organize, but it
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  looks really cool. And then you have the matriculation
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  ceremony, which is where you go up in front of the Master and
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  you, you say you're going to follow all the rules and you sign a document
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  and there you're in the college officially. And then in the
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  evening there's evensong, which I'd really recommend attending. It's really,
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  really nice. Great music always. And then afterwards there
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  is the dinner, which is a lovely, great start to your studies.
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  A big formal dinner with everyone in your year. And that's really nice.
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  Brilliant. Sounds like a quite a long, tiring day for you guys. If you're
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  trying to organize various things. Or are you mainly organizing the fun
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  stuff? Well, you know, the less serious stuff, mostly the fun things,
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  yeah. Great. And having having been a fresher last year and now,
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  you know, coming back for your second year, what do
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  you wish someone might have said to you, to your fresher self? What words
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  of wisdom could you offer to our freshers?
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  I think that I sort of knew this already, but I also didn't necessarily
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  take it to heart, which is like your academics are obviously really important, but there
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  is also so much more to university than that. So like just looking
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  for opportunities to get stuck in and even things you didn't think you
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  wanted to do is so cool because there's so much you can do here,
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  like have a look, see what you want and give it a
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  go. Is there a freshers fair this year? Yes. On matriculation
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  day? Yeah, they can, they can go once
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  they've matriculated. I think, I think something so important to specify
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  is it gets a bit confusing because there's the college society fair, which is Downing
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  Societies, then there's the Uni Society fair, which is across the
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  road, conveniently on Parker's piece, and that is all
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  the university societies. And then there's also the sports fair, which is in the
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  sports hall, which is a little bit further out, but still relatively
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  to get to. Um, so there are three, which gets kind of confusing, but I
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  would go to all because they're all, you know, interesting. Okay, but Downing's
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  the only, the only one that is actually Downing stuff. The others are university.
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  Yeah, yeah, brilliant. And I heard a rumor about free pizza. Does that
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  still happen? Yes, yes, yes.
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  At the university fair. I don't know about Downing, but. Great. Well,
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  good luck with this this coming week and so on. And yeah,
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  thanks for, thanks for coming on the show. Thank you, thank you.
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  This week is busy with freshers welcome events, including the college societies fair
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  on Tuesday afternoon. This is a chance to see the wide array of things happening
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  at Downing and chat to the students who run them. On Tuesday evening at
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  six in the chapel, the matriculation service for undergraduate freshers takes place,
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  finishing in time for pre dinner drinks. The same thing happens on
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  Thursday for postgraduates. We really encourage you to come along and hear the chapel choir
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  and experience one of Cambridge's oldest traditions. If you'd like to
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  know more about creative arts at Downing, check out the college website and also
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  this episode's show notes for contact details. Auditions for the chapel
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  choir start on Sunday. Again, see the show notes for details.
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  Downing is a wonderfully creative community with professional events regularly
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  happening as well as student run activities. And everyone is welcome to be involved,
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  whether you prefer to take part or just observe. And there are plenty of opportunities
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  for all. Have a great week and thanks for listening.