While some on-campus societies have spacious offices to call their own, the Carleton Music Student Society (CMSS) can only lay claim to a small room on the first floor of the Loeb building; this is the society’s unofficial headquarters.
“We give students opportunities, like clinics and master classes,” said Jack Schroder, president of the CMSS. “We bring performers into town.”
Catering to a variety of musical tastes is not always easy. The society has had a wide variety of performers, including an avant-garde show that Schroder laughingly described as “interesting.”
The CMSS also organizes student performances, as all music students must perform in at least one show per semester. CMSS members participate in a variety of performances that range from African drumming to a chamber music ensemble, which was performed at the Ottawa New Music Creators show at Carleton Dec. 3.
The group handles these events on their own.
“We’re not [Carleton University Students’ Association]-funded,” Schroder said. “We do bake sales and book sales, and sell tickets for performances. Jerome Ducharme, a classical guitarist from Quebec, is coming here Jan. 8, and it should be great. The Folklore Centre is selling tickets.”
Another job of the society is to liaise with the faculty on behalf of the music students.
“A big concern at the moment is rehearsal space,” Schroder said. “There are only about eight rehearsal rooms, and they’re close to classrooms, and we always get teachers telling us to be quiet.”
He gestured towards the soundproof padding on the walls, adding that the rooms were damaged when they were moved from the fourth floor, and the noise gets out.
“We’re negotiating for more space in the new buildings,” he said. “When there’s a performance coming up, we really have to practise.”
Schroder laughingly explained that one teacher became so annoyed by the noise generated by the music students that he spied on them, got the combination to the lock on the door, and barged in one day to tell them to be quiet.
“They didn’t know what to do,” Schroder said. “But we talked to the faculty. We represent the students’ interests. That’s why we exist.”