Library and Information Services, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

Tuesday 31 May 2011

For our student teachers - Scottish Learning Festival

Scottish Learning Festival
21-22 September, SECC, Glasgow




Visit the SLF homepage here. The SLF introduces the Festival, in these words:-


The conference programme and registration for this year's Scottish Learning Festival are now available on the SLF website. The programme has all the details you need to book your place at SLF 2011.


SLF 2011 is free for everyone to attend and gives you access to:


• Inspirational key note speakers
• Lively Round Table Discussions
• Conference programme with over 140 sessions
• The largest education exhibition in Scotland
• Opportunities for discussion and networking with colleagues
• And much, much more!


The full programme of keynote and seminar presentations along with full details of the range of additional activity at SLF is only available on the SLF website. To guarantee your place at your first choice of sessions, we recommend that you book as early as possible as many sessions do fill up quickly.

National Life Stories

Oral history is something quite familiar to students on our BA Scottish Music course.  Actors researching a role might find it useful, too.

RSAMD gets a mention in the latest annual review of National Life Stories, from the British Library National Sound Archive.

National Life Stories Review and Accounts 2010/2011

Although "Review and Accounts" sounds rather severe, the report is anything but!  A great read, and we'll try to get some paper copies too.

Question: Why did RSAMD get a mention?  Mars Bar for the first student to email Karen with the answer!

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  • Sound Archive Catalogue link - Cadensa

Friday 27 May 2011

Rory Boyle new piano CD

Presented to RSAMD Whittaker Library by the composer today - catalogued - and will be ready to borrow by the end of the week!

View in the catalogue here.

Piano

Wisdom about Writing (and life in general!)

"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got."
This quote is recalled by Gina Hiatt of the Academic Writing Club. She goes on to offer more 'Writing tips from the pros':-
  • "I don't worry about inspiration. I am unable to detect the difference between what came easily and when I had to sit down and say, 'Well, now it's writing time and now I'll write.' There's no difference on paper between the two."  - Frank Herbert, science fiction writer.

  • "I'm not a very good writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter." - James A. Michener [...an author or editor of 23 books...]

  • "If you want to write, you can. Fear stops most people from writing, not lack of talent, whatever that is. Who am I? What right have I to speak? Who would listen to me if I do? You're a human being with a unique story to tell, and you have every right. Yours enlarges the circle." - Richard Rhodes, *How to Write: Advice and Reflections (Harper, 1995, p.1).



    Check out the Writing Club at: http://www.academicwritingclub.com/
    'Whittaker' can personally recommend this community, if you have a lengthy writing project ahead of you.

    Paul Rolland Workshop 5-6 August 2011 Virginia USA

    RSAMD pianists have expressed interest in Rolland's teaching, so this may be of interest to our staff and students:-

    Paul Rolland Workshop

    August 1 - 5, 2011

    &

    Reunion for Former Students
    & Fans of Paul Rolland

    August 5 - 6, 2011

    George Mason University Fairfax, Virginia, USA


    Contact: Nancy Kredel at nkredel@verizon.net for more information.









    Wednesday 25 May 2011

    Tuesday 24 May 2011

    Who cares about [academic] authority?

    New posting by Karen McAulay [aka 'Whittaker' on RSAMD's Whittaker Live] on the subject of academic authority. Visit The Thesis Whisperer, an Australian blog for doctoral candidates:-
    The Thesis Whisperer
    ... Just like the horse whisperer – but with more pages

    Grosvenor Cinema Glasgow shows live Verdi Macbeth broadcast

    Live broadcast 13 June 2011 6 pm - More2Screen Live Italian Opera Series - Macbeth

    • Revival of Phyllida Lloyd's striking staging.
    • Starring Simon Keenlyside and Martina Serafin
    • Conducted by Antonio Pappano.
    Verdi's lifelong love affair with Shakespeare first took wing with Macbeth in 1847. The composer thought the play 'one of the greatest creations of man' [...] Musically, Verdi's masterstrokes were the macabre choruses for the witches, the evocative orchestral colours and the increased role for the 'ugly and evil' Lady Macbeth. Although Verdi later revised the opera in 1865 for Paris, his earlier, more unified version of the opera is used here for this revival of Phyllida Lloyd's striking staging. Click here for more info on Live Opera Series

    Thursday 19 May 2011

    Becoming a Published Academic Writer

    July 4-6, 2011 A writing school for academics, researchers and doctoral researchers in the humanities and social sciences, focusing on academic writing. 3-day course at the Institute of Education, University of London. Details here.

    Summer School of Early Irish Harp

    17th - 23rd August 2011
    Kilkenny School of Music, Ireland
    Scoil na gClairseach - the 9th Annual Summer School of Early Irish Harp,
    presented by the Historical Harp Society of Ireland.

    RSAMD Stringfest

    RSAMD's Sixth and Last StringFest Friday 10th - Sunday 12th June Visit our Events website and look for StringFest under Tickets.

    • Fri 10th - Brodsky Quartet - International Fellow Recital
    • Fri 10th - New Instrument Collection - This concert will be performed on instruments constructed in the Academy, during StringFest
    • Fri 10th - Early Evening Concert
    • Sat 11th - Czech Chamber Music. First year students join veteran chamber musician Robert Irvine
    • Sat 11th - In Memoriam William McLeod. Chamber Music by Schubert, featuring favourites Death and the Maiden, and the Trout Quintet.
    • Sun 12th RSAMD String Ensemble, featuring music by Bach, Bartok and Elgar.
    • Sun 12th - Quartet Concert. Our three sublime string quartets perform music by Shostakovich, Ades, and Mozart.

    Interview tips webinar from Jobs.ac.uk

    Those splendid people at Jobs.ac.uk offer you a lunchtime webinar about interview technique, on
    Tuesday 14 June @ 1 pm.
    Why not sign up? It could just give you the edge you need! Details here.

    Wednesday 18 May 2011

    Uncluttered desk, uncluttered mind

    ... so 'Whittaker' decided to tidy 'his' desk. Behold! (What does this tell you about his current preoccupations?)

    Grainger Studies: an interdisciplinary journal

    The first issue of the new, peer-reviewed publication Grainger Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, has now been published to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Percy Grainger's death. It is available in print, and also freely available on the web. It has been published by the University of Melbourne Library (as the custodian of the Grainger Museum).

    Tuesday 17 May 2011

    Leadership Foundation for HE: resource series

    LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION FOR HIGHER EDUCATION _____________________________________________ 8 resource guides for policy makers - RSAMD's Whittaker Library has all of these in stock. _____________________________________________ Getting to grips with ...
    • Academic standards
    • Audit
    • Estates and infrastructure
    • Finance
    • Human Resource Management
    • Internationalisation
    • Research and Knowledge Transfer
    • Risk

    Click HERE to see further details in the Whittaker Library catalogue.

    Monday 16 May 2011

    International Review of Scottish Studies

    An open-access journal from the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada. Read the latest issue online here:- http://www.irss.uoguelph.ca/ (Vol.35, 2010) Whilst this issue doesn't include music amongst its contents, it may be worth keeping an eye on future issues!

    Simon Chadwick - Early Gaelic Harp Emporium

    Tumbala! London Yiddish Song School 14-19 August

    14-19 August 2011 Scholarships Offered
    ___________________________

    The Jewish Music Institute, SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) is promoting a one-week Yiddish song school, led by the most exceptional exponents of the genre:-

    • Shura Lipovsky of Amsterdam
    • Joanne Borts, theatre actress from New York
    • Polina Shepherd, vocalist and accompanist from former Soviet Union
    • Hilda Bronstein, prize-winning British singer

    _________________________________

    www.jmi.org.uk - Email jewishmusic@jmi.org.uk

    _________________________________
    KLEZFEST CARAVAN - can visit your department to run workshops in Klezmer music, Yiddish song and dance. Again, visit www.jmi.org.uk and click on Klezfest Caravan.

    Scottish Art 1650-2010 (City Art Centre, Edinburgh)

    Looking for inspiration?
    ________________________________________
    Exhibition
    @
    City Art Centre, Edinburgh
    Until 10 July 2011
    _______________________________
    ...

    Academic Exhaustion Syndrome

    Write - Mark assignments - Write - Examine! Followers of this blog will probably realise that I've mentioned Academic Ladder before - it's a thoroughly respectable and helpful coaching service for academic writing. Their blogpost on Academic Exhaustion Syndrome comes at just the right time of year!

    Thursday 12 May 2011

    Isle of Gigha Music Festival 24-26 June

    AllCelticMusic advised of this festival, in these words:-

    Breabach & Kathleen MacInnes head the bill for the week-end of ceilidh, gala day,concerts and 'piper's picnic' (!!). Don't know what that last bit is but if we know pipers...... So there's a great 'getaway' week-end on 'God's Isle'.
    We're also advised that AllCelticMusic has a YouTube channel which you might enjoy:-
    Check out our You Tube (www.youtube.com/allcelticmusic) page for our favourite Celtic music videos from around the world.
    http://www.allcelticmusic.com/

    Tuesday 10 May 2011

    Take care! Your profile is your cyber "you"

    Warning - your Twitter and Facebook profiles say more about you than you think. Research shows that prospective employers can get within 10% of what a formal personality profile would reveal.

    Who's going home to revise their profile tonight?!

    Monday 9 May 2011

    Stewarding at Warwick Folk Festival

    Anyone with an interest in folk music, and wanting experience in events management for their CV, might find this weekend right up their street. Follow the link to find out how to get a free weekend pass to Warwick Folk Festival,
    29-31 July.
    Or just go to the festival as a visitor - Festival website

    Wednesday 4 May 2011

    ISSMUS - International Summer School of Music at Shrewsbury

    "Whittaker" has been advised that there are still bookable places on the courses in Choral Singing, Piano, and Composition. These are courses for amateur musicians at all levels, so might be of interest to your private pupils. 13th - 20th August 2011 http://www.issmus.org/

    Vitae National Grad School

    Postgraduate self-development opportunity! . National GRADschool
    . 14 June 2011 - 17 June 2011
    Vitae is an organisation devoted to training researchers and enabling them to get the skills they need to succeed at doctoral level and beyond. From the Vitae website:-

    "GRADschools are experiential learning courses designed to develop your transferable skills as a postgraduate researcher. Many researchers who attend the course have a transformational experience, empowered to take charge of their own learning and career. GRADschools are designed to enable you to:-

    • develop your personal effectiveness
    • identify ways to communicate effectively
    • make more informed choices about your future and own and manage the next step of your career.

    For more information on what is involved in taking part on this course and what is in it for you please see our section on GRADschools."

    Opportunities!

    • meet a whole host of postgraduate researchers from a variety of disciplines, backgrounds and ages
    • work with a range of experienced, inspiring people from all over the country, or sometimes further afield, who are willing to openly share their career experiences
    • take a few days out from your research both physically and mentally, and have some space in which to consider yourself and your next steps
    • assess your career and professional progress with the use of different tools, including the new Researcher Development Framework.

    Monday 2 May 2011

    Learn to be a bard

    A quote from the website: "Bealach was set up in Applecross in 2004 to help support and encourage the use of Gàidhlig.

    As a group we ... concentrate our resources on the language itself. In that way we hope to be of value to anyone with an interest in Gàidhlig, from non-speaker to native speaker.

    Projects we have set up and supported in this area have included a pre-school group, arts and crafts, drama, live music and entertainment, local history, a DVD project, adult Gàidhlig classes and discussion groups, our own local Fèis a' Bhealaich and more." Visit the website

    Sunday 1 May 2011

    Deaf Awareness

    If you're blessed with good hearing ... if you plan to make your living through music (or you already do!) ... or if you're fighting prejudice to be a musician in spite of a hearing impairment ...